The Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association has set its dates for this year’s Regenerative Agriculture Conference.
The annual MFGA event will take place this fall at Brandon’s Victoria Inn, Nov. 12-13.
WHY IT MATTERS: The Regenerative Agriculture Conference has become one of the MFGA’s flagship events, drawing hundreds of producers, speakers and industry every year.
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The one-and-a-half-day event this year has a theme of “enriching land, lives and livelihoods,” backed up by a tradeshow and lineup of national and international speakers.
This year’s event will also include a free kids program, in partnership with Holistic Management Canada. The addition will support families attending the conference, the MFGA has said.
“As we’ve continued to look for keynotes that kind of push the envelope … what I really want to know is how you could take (regenerative practices) onto the farm,” said Duncan Morrison, the association’s executive director.
2025 conference speakers
Featured keynote speakers include Michael Ferguson, co-founder of Collective Impact and a fourth-generation farmer from Melfort, Sask. His keynote will focus on how shifting perspectives can lead to lasting changes on farms.
The producer’s bio notes his 15 years of experience consulting with producers across North America. A description of his keynote says Ferguson will share insights on how new technology, management practices and adapting to economic challenges can promote sustainable farming.
As a farmer with a background in finance, Ferguson’s work emphasizes continuous improvement in agricultural practices.
Rob Wunder, a fourth-generation farmer from Foam Lake, Sask., will will discuss his family’s journey towards regenerative farming, including the implementation of soil health principles, compost production and the building of a diversified farming system that incorporates both livestock and crop production.
Wunder’s farm, which has been committed to regenerative practices since 2013, focuses on profitability and sustainability for the next generation of farmers.
“Rob is a really generous human…. He’s done a lot of stuff around the biologicals on their farm and how he’s worked within his family, the trial-and-error-approach,” Morrison said.
“They’re motivated by doing and trying different things so that they can pass them off as knowledge and learning to their own family.”
Kimberly Cornish, executive director of the Food Water Wellness Foundation, will showcase a Canadian approach to ecosystem services markets, focusing on high-resolution soil and carbon mapping, innovative sampling techniques and site-specific modelling.
She will discuss her work with the Regenerative Alberta Living Lab and the development of an ecosystem services registry, designed to reward land stewardship while providing market opportunities for farmers and ranchers.
“Kim … is really keen on acquiring data from producers to use, and (conducts) producer-benefiting projects,” Morrison said.
Also speaking at the convention is Tom Krawiec, a researcher and author. His presentation will focus on the methods he has developed to simplify ranching tasks so that they can be easily managed by individuals of all ages.
Krawiec’s journey in ranching began in 2000 when he was managing a small operation with 40 cow-calf pairs and 70 hogs on 373 acres. By 2007, he had scaled up his operation significantly while also reducing daily labour needs. Krawiec is the author of Ranching Like a 12-Year-Old (2022), which outlines his ideas on grass management, animal handling and ranching as a business.
“I think that Tom has worked really hard on his grazing insights, and I think that he was starting to really try and better understand why grazing is presented as sometimes so complex,” Morrison said.
“I think his key point is, you can find your grazing sweet spot, and it’s this straightforward application of that.”
For more information about the 2025 Regenerative Agriculture Conference and to register for the event, visit the MFGA website.
