As a follow up to our 2025 Cultivating Resilience Winter Conference, Ottawa Conservation District has partnered up with the Michigan State University Kellogg Biological Station and Shady Side Farm to bring you a  field day focused on incorporating prairie strips into your farmland operations and crop fields. Strategically placed native prairie strips in crop fields can increase local pollinator biodiversity, improve local water quality and soil health, and can increase your farm profitability!

Attendees will learn from MSU staff and Mike Bronkema from Shady Side Farm, about the benefits of planting native prairies into and around your crop fields. Using Shady Side Farm as our example, we’ll look at soil health, improved habitat, and discuss how these prairie strips have increased profitability by planting them in low producing sections of fields. The main event attraction will include a farm tour on a hay wagon where Mike will showcase his prairie strips and talk about the site preparation, implementation, and benefits he’s seen since their establishment. Additionally, Ottawa Conservation District and the Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP) will provide information on farmer resources for planting prairie strips.

Working Agenda

• Welcome & Introduction to Shady Side Farm.
• Mike Bronkema’s motivation for putting in prairie strips
• MSU Ext Staff will review soil data from Shady Side Farm
• Learn about MAEAP and their forest, wetlands, and habitat system verification process.

• MiStrips Budget Model table – see how MSU MI Strips program identifies low producing areas of your field where pollinator strips could replace low producing crops.
• Network with OCD Staff and MAEAP Tech Andrew Booher
• Network with local native seeding companies and organizations like Pheasants Forever!

• 12:45-2:30: Farm tour with Mike, stop at stations to discuss various regenerative practices (prairie strips, composting, cover cropping, no-till, flies on cows, soil penetrometer demo, MSU Extension Rainfall and Soil Simulator)

2:30-3: Wrap up and event survey

This event is FREE and includes catered lunch.