TNC supports conservation agronomists—experts that help farmers grow healthy crops while protecting our soil and water. We’re providing education and resources to these experts who work on the ground with farmers to advise on conservation practices that also help their bottom lines.

For example, TNC directly works with a conservation agronomist at Centra Sota Cooperative, which influences more than 600,000 acres across central Minnesota. This agronomist visits farms to give tailored guidance on adopting conservation practices such as cover crops and no-till. They also advise farmers on accessing financial incentives and acquiring the necessary equipment to implement these practices.

Today, the vast majority of what is grown in Minnesota is corn or soybeans. That’s because our systems are built around these crops, and the incentives to grow them are lucrative.

Corn and soybeans are important, but our overdependence on them has led to degraded soil health and water quality and vulnerability to pests and swings in the market. A more diverse agricultural system, like diversity in nature, can make our food system stronger and more resilient.

The challenge is our agricultural supply chain is built around corn and soybeans. We’re working to empower farmers to grow and sell other crops, like oats.

Oats have proven to use less fertilizer, lead to less nutrient runoff and improve soil health. Plus, the market is growing as oats and oat-based products gain traction among consumers.

What happens on the field is influenced by agricultural policy. We advocate for policies and investments that benefit both farmers and nature and demonstrate ways that we can make big improvements to the way we care for the land that feeds us.

Lack of the right equipment is one of the main barriers farms face when adopting soil health practices, but our work in partnership with agribusinesses to encourage adoption of soil health practices influenced the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) to launch the Soil Health Financial Assistance Program, one of the first ever grants that reimburses farmers, producer groups or Soil and Water Conservation Districts for the purchase or retrofitting of equipment. Over three rounds of funding, the Soil Health Financial Assistance Program has allocated more than $6 million toward helping spread regenerative soil health practices across Minnesota—a great example of how TNC moves the needle on sustainable agriculture in strong partnership with others.

Andrea Eger brings 15 years of agriculture experience to her role as a regenerative agriculture project manager at The Nature Conservancy. She first fell in love with agriculture while working on diversified vegetable farms and has never looked back. Since her years on the farm, she has also worked as an agricultural education, program and project manager, where she developed and strengthened partnerships, created resources for farmers to grow their businesses and advocated for adoption of regenerative practices. She is working with the TNC team to expand regenerative farming practices that improve soil health, help combat climate change, create more resilient farms and protect water and wildlife.

Contact Andrea at andrea.eger@tnc.org.

Peter Mead joined The Nature Conservancy in 2020 in a new role as the agriculture project manager for the Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota chapter. He works to steward, facilitate and leverage new and existing relationships with landowners, farmers, producer groups, conservation partners and the supply chain to implement programs and strategies that lead to increased adoption of sustainable practices, including soil health, nutrient management and enrollment in emerging ecosystem service markets. Peter has nearly two decades of experience in federal, state, local and private conservation delivery, a keen interest in regenerative agriculture and has long been an advocate for systemic, realistic changes in land management that foster healthy soils, improved water quality and resiliency across Minnesota’s agricultural sector.

Contact Peter at peter.mead@tnc.org.

David started working on farms in the late 1990s, focusing mainly on specialty crops. He and his wife, Melinda, started Hog’s Back Farm in Arkansaw, Wisconsin in 2002 and ran a successful certified-organic CSA farm for 15 years. They produced fruits, vegetables, organic hay and small grains, along with heirloom flour corn, pastured broilers, turkeys and laying hens. Along the way David built a strong understanding of natural nutrient cycling and how that can impact farm profitability. David has presented at many farm conferences and workshops, and in 2017 he started providing technical assistance full-time to other farmers through his work as the Farm Program Director at The Good Acre food hub. He also served on the Fruit and Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee for the USDA. He joined TNC in 2023 as associate director of agriculture to bring his unique combination of on-farm and program management skills to the team.

Contact David at d.vaneeckhout@tnc.org.