For the love of conservation and farming

Jim Birkholz says he never intended to become a farmer. “I was working for the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources and traveling all around the state meeting farmers and staff from Soil and Water Conservation Districts,” he explains. “Their stories appealed to me, but how do you get into farming if it isn’t in your family?” As the story goes, Jim told his wife Judy (in photo to left) that he was heading out to buy a fishing boat one day. That evening, he came home with a truck.

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• April 10, 2025