About this Event
This two-day hands-on workshop, to be held in Schertz, TX on Fri/Sat March 13 & 14, will introduce the core principles of soil health and their practical application in regenerative agriculture. Designed for both new and experienced producers, the course provides actionable tools to improve soil function, enhance crop and forage quality, raise healthier livestock with fewer inputs, and strengthen overall farm and ranch profitability, including strategies for direct marketing and building your brand.
Led by experienced Understanding Ag instructors, Fernando Falomir and John Hays, participants will gain real-world insights and proven strategies to confidently implement regenerative practices while avoiding common challenges. Whether you are beginning or refining your regenerative journey, this workshop delivers practical knowledge you can apply immediately.
The workshop will take place at Behind the Oaks, a diversified “next generation” family farm just north of San Antonio that seeks to bring back the connection between people and their food.
Topics to be covered include:
· Principles of soil health
· Adaptive stewardship
· Managing brittle (dry) environments
· Infrastructure development
· Ranching economics and profitability drivers
· Stacked enterprises and income streams
· Effectively scaling-up an enterprise
· Direct to Consumer Marketing Basics and Building Your Brand
· Using Email & Social Media in Direct Marketing
Cost: $40 (plus tax & fees)
For More Info: https://www.smallproducersinitiative.org/workshops
This event is open to everyone — farmers, ranchers, landowners and agricultural enthusiasts alike!
Detailed directions and an agenda for this workshop will be emailed to those who register 2-3 days prior to the event. If you do not see that email, please be sure to check your spam. For questions, email [email protected].
INSTRUCTORS:
Fernando Falomir is a junior partner at Understanding Agriculture and a fifth-generation cattle rancher from Chihuahua, Mexico. He studied biogeochemistry at the University of Colorado and began getting involved with holistic management in 2004 when his father took over the family ranch and that is where his real regenerative ranching education began. Since graduating in 2009, Fernando has learned from world-renown grazers, traveling to countless ranches in diverse environments only to find regenerative grazing principles work everywhere. After many years of hard work following those principles, and the utilization of animals as the primary tool for land restoration, the family ranch reached a productivity of 40 acres per animal unit – down from 230! This was despite several multi-year long droughts and the hardships associated with a very low precipitation environment.
John Hays is a consultant for Understanding Agriculture and has been farming for over 40 years as a fifth-generation farmer in west-central Indiana. He owns Hays Family Farm, which he runs with his wife Jenny and their three children. John knew at a very early age that farming was his passion in life. He was heavily influenced by his grandfather and uncles who were organic farmers and always looking for the best way to steward the land without using expensive and harmful commercial inputs. John has worked in the dairy and cropping sectors. He also worked for a local grain and hog farmer and that led him into the commercial confined swine production business where he spent nearly 20 years managing, training and teaching others the best methods known within the commercial pig business. Additionally, he manages a commercial trucking business. Since 2020, he has been managing his land regeneratively. John and his family have converted all of their ground to perennial pasture and are now adaptively grazing cattle, pigs, laying hens and meat chickens on their farm very intentionally to advance soil health and build resiliency. The meats produced are all marketed directly to consumers in central Indiana and throughout the U.S.
Dr. Ken Mix is the Program director of The Small Producer Initiative at Texas State University and currently teaches entomology, soil health, and crop production, with active research on small producer needs, soil, and water resources. He is a former vegetable producer and currently runs SKM Homestead, a small livestock and mixed produce 50-acre farm in Fentress, Texas.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Behind the Oaks Farm, Greaves Lane, Schertz, United States
USD 48.19
