2025 in Review
Another year has flown by, filled with top-notch learning opportunities, meaningful conversations, and time together in the field at Fields of Sinsinawa.
It may feel like a distant memory now, but back in mid-March we kicked off the season with a fantastic turnout for Sowing Success at UW–Platteville. Farmer Alex Frasier, who traveled from Faulkton, South Dakota, shared insights into his companion cropping system, where soybeans are interseeded with rye, oats, flax, and radish to strengthen soil biology and improve yields.
We also heard from Iowa farmer Landon Plagge, who is building Green Acres Milling, a new oat-processing facility in Albert Lea, Minnesota. Landon outlined several reasons for launching the project:
- Nearly 97% of oats imported into the U.S. come from Canada
- In Canada, oats may legally be desiccated with glyphosate before harvest; in the U.S., this practice is prohibited
- Canadian oats are often processed alongside other grains, leading to gluten cross-contamination averaging 170 ppm per shipment
- Green Acres Milling will handle oats exclusively and buy directly from farmers, ensuring full traceability and identity preservation
Additional insights came from Soil Advisor Rick Bieber and a producer panel featuring Board Member Nathan Koester, Land Committee member Greg Thoren, and Viroqua-area farmer and rancher Kent McClurg. Special thanks to Dennis Busch, research manager at UW–Platteville’s Pioneer Farm, for hosting us, and to Board Member Jen Volenec for making sure everyone was well fed.
Fields of Sinsinawa Library
Yes—you read that right. Fields of Sinsinawa has a lending library! Thanks to member Beth Baranski (see next page), we’ve begun assembling a small but mighty collection of soil- and agriculture-related books. If you’d like to borrow a title, please email juliagerlach442@gmail.com, and we’ll get it to you.
Member Spotlight: Beth Baranski
If you haven’t met Beth Baranski yet, you should. Beth has a quiet way of bringing people together—equal parts warmth, curiosity, and steady resolve.
Beth lives in Galena, Illinois, with her husband, Jim, where the two run an architectural firm rooted in thoughtful design and community connection. Their son, Alex, lives in Japan, where he works in artificial intelligence—a reminder that Beth’s world stretches well beyond county lines, even as her work remains deeply grounded in place.
Plow & Pen
The following poem was written by Jerry Volenec, owner of Hardscrabble Farms in Montfort, WI, and husband of Board Member Jen Volenec.
Jerry says, “I don’t know if everyone realizes this, or if it’s something you learn as a farmer. I wrote this from an old corn crib. It happens to be one of my favorite places. It’s infested with sparrows, but I look past that. The thing with these buildings we build…They are alive. I didn’t always understand this, just like I didn’t understand until recently that the soil is alive.”
These Things We Build…
A house, a barn, a corn crib, need life in them.
They need breath.
Without, they decay. Just a bunch ofdead stuff nailed together.
But.
If you put life in them, give them lungs and a heartbeat, they might still weather, but the life in them will sustain them.
To the sparrows, I’ve added sheep.
Before the sheep, I added me.
After the sheep and me, my family.
Life.
This old corn crib is tired, but it’s alive.
It’ll stand.
Same for the soil.
It needs life in it and on it.
It needs animals.
It needs a family.
It needs me.
Livestock + Crop Farming = The Stock Cropper
This spring, Fields of Sinsinawa acquired a unique mobile barn known as the Stock Cropper Clustercluck 5000.
The Stock Cropper is an innovative approach to combining livestock and cropping in one integrated system of alternating strips of corn and annual pasture. In this system, animals feed the crops and crops feed the animals—a closed-loop design developed by Buffalo Center, Iowa, farmer Zack Smith, who spoke at our 2024 Soul of the Soil Conference. As the Stock Cropper team describes it: “It’s sort of a clustercluck. But also genius.”
Upcoming Events
Fields of Sinsinawa is planning several events in the coming weeks, including:
Movies that Matter, a six-week movies series, January-March, 2026
Improving Soil & Water Quality from the Ground Up, January 16, 2026
Grounded Gatherings: Coalition Coffee Clutch, January 29, 2026
Roots to Results: An Advanced Soil Health Program, Feb. 9-10, March 24-25, June 16-17, and Sept. 22-23, 2026
Midwest Cover Crop Council Conference, February 11, 2026
Grazing Workshop with Steve Kenyon, Dates TBD
Soul of the Soil 2026, August 25-26, 2026
This is just the beginning. Stay tuned for more event announcements to come.
David Brandt Receives Posthumous Honor
Congratulations to David Brandt, whose legacy continues to inspire Fields of Sinsinawa. On May 6, 2025, Dave was posthumously inducted into the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) Hall of Fame during the 18th annual Conservation in Action Tour in Sioux Falls, SD. CTIC Executive Director Ryan Heiniger presented the award, highlighting Dave’s enduring reputation as a generous mentor and coach to fellow farmers. His son, Jay Brandt, and daughter, Amy, accepted the honor on his behalf.
