A series of Managing for Stewardship workshops will take place in Minnesota during January and February. The workshops are for farmland owners, retired farm men and women, those inheriting a farmland investment and farmers who would like to invest in soil building on rented land.

The workshops will be offered in three separate locations in Minnesota, including Albert Lea. Participants are encouraged to bring their own landowner/renter or to attend independently. Suggested donation is $20, which includes a noon meal and toolkit. To reserve a spot and for more information, contact Robin Moore at 320-269-2105 or rmoore@landstewardshipproject.org. Registration is also available at landstewardshipproject.org/managingforstewardship2019.

The first in the series of workshops in Albert Lea will be Jan. 17 at Wedgewood Cove in Albert Lea. According to a press release, topics discussed will include soil health, review resources for landowners and farmers, have a panel of farmers and landowners to answer questions and learn how to start some of the difficult conversations about increasing stewardship on rental land.

The keynote speaker at the Albert Lea workshop will be Kristin Brennan, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service assistant state soil scientist for Minnesota. The speaker will address what soil health means, why landowners should care about it and what they can do to improve their soil health.

The second series of workshops Digging Deeper into Conservation will have a morning session for women landowners only. Lunch is included for morning and afternoon participants. All are welcome in the afternoon, which will feature panel discussions and a question and answer session with legal, financial and agency experts, as well as farmers and landowners. The Albert Lea session will be Feb. 14 at Wedgewood Cove.

The workshops are being presented by the Land Stewardship Project in collaboration with Soil and Water Conservation Districts, the League of Women Voters and the Izaak Walton League.