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Carl Wepking - Program Manager for Grassland 2.0 (and zoom wrangler)

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Carl Wepking - Program Manager for Grassland 2.0 (and zoom wrangler)

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Hello! I'm late to the padlet party. I'm Carl.

In addition to aiding in project management for the Grassland 2.0 project, I'm also a scientist. I'm a microbial ecologist / soil ecologist that focuses on how land management decisions effect the life within the soil, and how the functions we rely on from soils are impacted.

I grew up in Wisconsin -- born in Lancaster, split time between Milwaukee and Grant Co. And bounced around the country for a while after college (Alabama, Portland OR, Virginia, Colorado) before coming back to Wisconsin in 2019.

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I serve as Director of Special Projects at Wisconsin Farmers Union. Our organization is a member-based organization rooted in true grassroots democracy. Our core values are cooperation, education, and civic engagement - and we push for positive changes in the agricultural and food systems on these three fronts. Annually, our members review our policies and our staff prioritizes the policies and "Special Orders of Business" highlighted by our members to guide our work. We are focused on strengthening farmer and rural communities by creating a structure in which more people can thrive.

I live in northern Dunn Co. and also run a grass-based farm called Blue Ox Farm with my partner and new kiddo. From this position, I've engaged in the work of several organizations as we seek to make our operation continually more just, more ecologically beneficial, and a better "direct action" for our broader community.

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Yimmuaj Yang, Community Director, Groundswell Conservancy

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Yimmuaj Yang, Community Director, Groundswell Conservancy

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Groundswell Conservancy is a land trust based in Madison. I lead our effort in equitable access to land for the BIPOC community. We own two community farms where we have created land access and land tenure for HMoob growers and Neighborhood Food Solutions, a Black-led non-profit that provides support and mentorship to youth and recently released incarcerated adults. Although my family never had the privilege to own land, I have always been connected to land in many ways (growing food on leased land, playing on hillsides or under bushes, going on walks in parks, etc). I love cooking, baking, and spending time with my husband and two daughters. We do our best to enjoy hiking but we're careful about where we go because our lived experience have taught us we are not welcome in many places. Nevertheless, land is healing!

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I serve as the Government Relations Director for Wisconsin Farmers Union, a family farm, member-driven organization committed to enhancing the quality of life for family farmers, rural communities, and all people through educational opportunities, cooperative endeavors, and civic engagement.

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Margaret Krome,Policy Director, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute

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Margaret Krome,Policy Director, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute

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I work in the field of sustainable ag policy, at the federal and state levels. Have spent a lot of the last two years trying to get the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative funded. Also coordinate the Uplands Farmer-Led Watershed Group in Iowa County. For the last decade, I've placed a priority on hiring BIPOC staff and helping to bring them into policy positions after they leave MFAI and have worked to fund various initiatives aimed at engaging BIPOC communities, some more successful than others. I'm very interested in thinking about what it takes to be intentional about supporting BIPOC farmers in many ways ($$, land access, market support, cultural community support, culturally appropriate technical assistance) in using soil health as a lens to enter into and prosper in agricultural enterprises.

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Hi Everyone! Pete Huff from the Wallace Center! I'm based in Menomonie, Wisconsin - on the banks of the Red Cedar River. At the Wallace Center, I serve as the Co-Director and work with our Resilient Ag & Ecosystems team. Together, we run the Pasture Project - a multi-year effort to advance regenerative grazing and associated value-chains in the Midwest. Outside of work, I'm always doing things in my small town - volunteering, canoeing, gardening, etc. Living in a rural community, I see the opportunity to connect people through economic justice and participatory democracy!

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Pete Huff - Personal Photo - October 2017

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Andrew Bernhardt - DATCP Ag Program Specialist in Organic, Grazing, Specialty Crops and Underserved Farmer Outreach

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Andrew Bernhardt - DATCP Ag Program Specialist in Organic, Grazing, Specialty Crops and Underserved Farmer Outreach

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I recently returned to Wisconsin after living in the Twin Cities for 5 years where I was fortunate enough to work at a non-profit food hub called The Good Acre, that helped beginning and immigrant farmers access support and new markets. Prior to that I worked at UW-Extension as a statewide specialist in local food systems development work.

I am excited to be back in Wisconsin at DATCP in a position where I can help underserved and beginning farmers who run small to mid-scale farm operations access the resources they need to scale-up and succeed. Systems are strengthened by diversity, and I look forward to helping foster more diverse local agriculture systems that sustain farm families and communities, ensure access to healthy foods, and maintain local economies.

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Hi! My name is Evelyn Reilly, I recently graduated from the U of M with a Master's in Agronomy and Agroecology. I now work with Green Lands Blue Waters, an organization focused on increasing perennial cover in agriculture in the Midwest. We want to be sure that equity and justice are incorporated into the work we are doing, and we want to learn more about how best to do that.

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Rebecca Power - North Central Region Water Network and Grassland 2.0 and  

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Rebecca Power - North Central Region Water Network and Grassland 2.0 and  

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Hello everyone! I'm nested in the UW-Madison Division of Extension. I'm passionate about watersheds and how we interact with them. I live in SE Wisconsin in the middle of the amazing Chiwaukee Prairie and on the shores of Lake Michigan.
I started my career doing savanna, prairie and wetland restoration with a private consulting firm and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Since joining extension, I've been approaching ecological stewardship through a water lens.

Morning runs along the lake help keep me sane, as does create art in conversation with the places I love.

Looking forward to conversations with you over the coming weeks and beyond . . .

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Robin Moore, Organizer with Land Stewardship Project

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Robin Moore, Organizer with Land Stewardship Project

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Hello!  I live in western MN, have farmed in many different capacities - especially small scale hog and chicken production. I have lived in community with another family and have never owned land, and have always pushed on conversations about farming, land access, and land relationship to encompass a bigger conversation than just single party land ownership - among other limitations.

In LSP my work lately has focused on the support of non-operating land owners to engage with farmers and act on their conservation values... as well as start to name and act on their social values. I am so new to all of this, even though it's what I've thought about my whole life. I have so much to learn and understand, so many dots to connect - I look forward to these conversations to help me do better in work and in life.

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Liz Stelk - Illinois Stewardship Alliance

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Liz Stelk - Illinois Stewardship Alliance

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Hello all. I have served as executive director of Illinois Stewardship Alliance for the past five years. I live in south suburban Homewood, IL, where I raise two sons with my husband. After a career in grassroots organizing, a decade ago, I went to work on an organic produce farm that was based on a cow-calf operation in southwest Montana. I learned that I don't have what it takes to be a farmer myself, but that I wanted to work with farmers and ranchers. Since then, I've developed a background in livestock market issues, challenges for pasture-based livestock, processing challenges, and policy barriers for regenerative ag. I'm interested in how we make a just and fair transition to regenerative ag that will keep farmers and ranchers on the land.

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Meghan Filbert - Practical Farmers of Iowa 

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Meghan Filbert - Practical Farmers of Iowa 

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Passionate grazing advocate, livestock farmer and professional working with PFI's member-farmers.

As PFI's livestock program manager, my expertise includes livestock integration into cropping systems, adaptive and holistic grazing, cover crop grazing, and meat marketing. I am a beginning farmer in central Iowa using goats and sheep to reclaim Iowa's native oak savanna ecosystem.

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Dairyman and grazier. I’m interested in unique business structures that can facilitate demographic shifts and open up dairy business ownership to aspiring individuals. I have had Hispanic employees my entire career and many have had very positive impacts on my life and business. Now I’m hoping to pay it forward by providing a world class working environment, advanced education and training, and maybe someday a chance to own and operate a dairy.

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Good day,

My name is Isaiah Skenandore, owner of Skenandore Farm LLC with my wife and three children.  We rotationally graze cattle and horses, pasture raise meat birds, keep a small fleet of layers, grow quality horse and cattle hay specializing in small squares, and make maple syrup on an open fire.

This will be our third year grazing cattle after utilizing the EQIP program in 2019 to put in all season waterers, fencing, pasture grasses, and a high use pathway.  We currently have 18 head of cattle with the goal of 30, and we processed our first two steers this year.

I enjoy working with the cows and making hay in the summer, hunting, riding my horse Niko on trail rides, and providing the best childhood for children.

Isaiah

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I'm a professor at UW-Madison. My research examines the people and policy dimensions of ecosystem, forestry, and agricultural management. I'm part of the Grassland 2.0 project and lead the policy team. I love to learn about how people relate to land, water, food, and all forms of life, and how we do that together in equitable and reciprocal ways. I'm interested in how policy and governance shape our options for conservation and agriculture.

I'm thrilled to be working with Ana and Erin on justice in transitions to grazing and other types of agriculture. I'm inspired by all the great people I've met and the progress we can make in the upper Midwest.

I love to be outdoors hiking, skiing, biking, observing the seasons and learning to hunt. I love to cook and do artwork with my two kids (ages 4 and 9).

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Michelle Miller - Assoc Director at UW-CIAS

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Michelle Miller - Assoc Director at UW-CIAS

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Greetings! Michelle Miller, here. I work with big teams of people to accomplish difficult goals with as much fun as possible. I work at the University of Wisconsin -Madison as a food systems researcher. I am a practicing economic anthropologist, with regional planning and restoration ecology training. At the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, we engage with communities to understand their vision and concerns and then link them to campus faculty and other resources to realize their vision.

My roots are deep in the Great Lakes region. I've worked at multiple points in the food system - in tomato hoop houses for farmers market, at a large apple orchard, in restaurants as a cook and dishwasher, on the board of a food coop, on pesticide reduction policy and supporting farmer networks. I grew up in Wisconsin Farmers Union and participated in the youth leadership program.

My current work is supply chain focused, looking for ways to show what the structure of the food system is so that we can strategically reshape it to better serve our needs. Power and concentration in the food system is at the heart of this work.

I love improvisation - music, dance, spoken word, cooking, really anything. I try to improvise everyday as a spiritual practice and a way to spend time in the House of Invention. Water sports rank high on my priorities list, as does travel of any sort.

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Lori Stern-Executive Director, Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service

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Lori Stern-Executive Director, Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service

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Hello all. I have been at the helm of MOSES since September 2021. Prior to coming back to nonprofit management I was nourishing my community with amazing local, organic ingredients at my restaurant in New Glarus, Wisconsin. I believe in living my values and being in the world the way I want the world to be.

The pandemic created an opportunity to close the restaurant and return to trying to impact big, intractable issues in our food and farming system. I have taken MOSES through values clarification and an updated strategic plan that centers our work on justice, equity, and providing ecosystem support for regenerative and organic agriculture. We will be changing our name to Marbleseed come spring to more accurately reflect this commitment.

My wife and I live on a small farm in South Central Wisconsin. I love the quiet and rolling hills, training sessions with our corgi pup Flynn, and time with our adult kids and grandkids.

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Anne Redmond - Business Development for Regenerative Agriculture Alliance

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Anne Redmond - Business Development for Regenerative Agriculture Alliance

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Hello all, I work as Business Development Director at the RAA out of my apartment in Minneapolis, MN. The role consists of what we call Ecosystem Project Management ~ I manage projects so that they stay aligned with the regenerative poultry-centered ecosystem that the RAA exists to create; and all of the shifting and re-shifting parts that it entails.

The RAA is focused on ecosystem management because only systems are regenerative, and only regenerative systems are capable of solving the ills of today. A regenerative system is a food sovereign system ~ one where the governance, ownership, and control of the system's physical and organizational infrastructure are in the hands of the farmers and people who work in it.

I came to the RAA after completing my MBA at the University of St. Thomas in 2020. Prior to that I worked in   full truckload transportation and the food service industry. I grew up in St. Paul, MN and hold a double BA in Russian Language & Literature and Comparative Literature from UW-Madison (2015). I began Russian in high school, studied abroad there 2+ years, and have tested at superior-level proficiency. A proponent of language-learning, I would like to see the humanities, business, and agriculture unite.

My happy places are in cold lakes, deep woods, or sunny mornings with my pet canaries, zebra finches, and Rachmaninov.

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Hola and hello!  I am a Faculty Associate in the Department of Horticulture, at the University of Wisconsin - UW-.  I am an instructor of tropical horticulture and I lead a study abroad program to Costa Rica (almost) every year (except when the pandemic prevents us to fly abroad).   I also do international research, in Latin America, on agroecological practices adopted by smallholder farmers.   Currently, I am working with Indigenous groups from Wisconsin and Mexico, as well as with academics from UW and Mexico to co-create a set of guidelines for the fair, transparent, participatory and mutually respectful use of plant genetic resources.

I love to learn about other cultures, their languages, their foodways, their dances, their traditions. I love being in nature and exploring natural areas with my family. I am pumped every time I have the chance to learn with and from each other.

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Ana Fochesatto - organizer & facilitator

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Ana Fochesatto - organizer & facilitator

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Hi everyone! This is Ana :) I'm a PhD student in Environment & Resources at UW-Madison. I'm also a Research Assistant on the Grassland 2.0 project where I contribute mostly to the policy team by studying the human dimensions of transitioning to grazing in the Midwest.

My research interests lie at the intersection of identity, agriculture, and justice. I'm happiest when I'm working closely with community members on projects that better serve our common well-being.

I grew up partly in Alaska and partly in Argentina. Over the past few months, I finally had a chance to see my family in Argentina. During that visit, I got to hang out in one of my favorite places with some of my favorite critters - a beautiful rec area on the shore of the Uruguay river full of curious capybaras (carpinchos).

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Hello everyone, my name is Ted Krauskopf.  I live on this 200 acre farm with my wife Linda at Highland, Illinois in Madison County about 30 miles north west of St. Louis, Mo.  We have 3 grown children, and 5 grandchildren.
I worked off farm and farmed part-time until I retired from the off farm job in 2007. At that time an EQIP contract helped me transition to a grazing operation on the home farm.

In 2014 our farm became one of the demonstration sites for The Pasture Project in Illinois.  Using what I learned from their team soil health improved and all the wins that go along with it.  Today I'm enjoying watching the farm improve as the various aspects of soil health come back into balance.

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Hi everyone! I'm a graduate student in the Environment & Resource program at University of Wisconsin-Madison. My work focuses broadly on building just and sustainable food systems. Some of my past research was on wild bees in agroecosystems and bees still hold a special place in my heart.

We're truly excited to share what we've heard in our interviews and to learn from all of you at these workshops!

I love doing anything outdoors from picnics to backpacking. When not outdoors, I also enjoy cozy evenings playing board games and sharing food with friends. In the picture I'm attempting (and mostly failing) to take pictures of bees and enjoying the sunny day

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Mia Ljung - facilitator & Community Development Extension Educator

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Mia Ljung - facilitator & Community Development Extension Educator

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My name is Mia Ljung and I live in Appleton, WI. I work as a Community Development Extension Educator in Outagamie and Winnebago counties focusing on economic development with Entrepreneurs of Color. I grew up in Stockholm, Sweden, and am aching to go back (fingers crossed!) this summer to see my family, after being away from them for 3 years due to the pandemic.

I was glad to be invited to help facilitate the Justice in Transitions workshop series, as I am a learner myself and working closely with the American Farmland Trust and Alison Volk to build strategies to increase farmland access to farmers of color.

Some things I love  are... the ocean, having picnics with my girls, and getting to know new people on a deeper level. Here's a pic with my girls at the 1000 Islands Nature Reserve in Kaukauna <3