Location: Frank Fischer Senior Center, 20 Wisconsin Dells Pkwy S, Wisconsin Dells

$20/person. Lunch included. Register online or mail by January 30, 2026: https://www.sswig.org/events See details below.

This workshop will feature keynote speaker Tom Cotter of Cotter Farm in southern Minnesota. He’s become a vocal advocate for conservation practices that can enhance biodiversity, improve water quality, increase carbon sequestration, boost farm resiliency, ensure financial viability, and revitalize rural communities. Guest speakers include Randy Zogbaum of Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, and Craig Ficinec of the Sand County Foundation. Attendees will hear Tom Cotter’s story and how diversity and cover crops work on his operation, learn state producer led findings from the past year from Randy Zogbaum, hear about a new producer led funding opportunity from Sand County Foundation, and more!

Everybody has a story to tell. Keynote speaker, Tom Cotter, a fourth‑generation farmer from southern Minnesota, shares his story of turning a century of full tillage into living‑roots agriculture. Tom Cotter believes that when you do good things, other good things happen. He’s seen it firsthand. After he and his dad saw drastic differences four feet down with cover crops in the late 1990s, Tom added diverse cover‑crop “cocktails” after canning crops that are also grazed. As the First certified Clean Water Farm in Mower County, he raises crops and grass‑fed beef and shares practical lessons nationwide: observe, adapt, and improve.