Farming with Soil Life: Exploring Edges –

Habitat, Diversity, and Health

Montana/Great Plains

9:00 AM – 1:00 PM (Mountain Time)

This course will be presented by Stephanie Frischie, Agronomist & Native Plant Materials Specialist with the Xerces Society, Jennifer Hopwood, Senior Pollinator Conservation Specialist with the Xerces Society, and guest presenter Anna Jones-Crabtree, owner of Vilicus Farms and executive director of Vilicus Training Institute.

Participants will learn about common soil invertebrates, their ecology and roles in soil health, scouting methods, and management strategies to increase beneficial soil animal populations.

Anna will share lessons learned in the last 15 years of establishing a complex organic farming system on the Northern Great Plains. Many pictures will be used to illustrate the experiences of establishing and managing invertebrate habitat on Vilicus Farms, their 7-year crop rotation, integrating cattle, and working with people across 12,508 acres. Possible bonus material will include an update about our fall planting hedgerow project to be planted in October 2023.

This course is free to attend, but registration is required.

Closed captioning will be provided and the recording will be available to view on YouTube following the course.

For more information such as the course agenda and learning objectives, please see below. To learn more about soil life, please visit xerces.org/soil-life.

9:00 AM – 1:00 PM (Mountain Time)

Each course will cover the same core content, with specialized modules for specific regions.

The next Farming with Soil Life short course will take place on August 29th, 2023. Additional course announcements to follow. You may also visit soils for more information.

a. Gain an expanded understanding of soil animal diversity, including the ability to recognize the 12 most common groups of soil macroinvertebrates and to describe their role in soil health

b. Have greater, in-depth exposure to the life cycles and ecology of soil invertebrates, including the ability to describe the basic life cycles of at least 12 invertebrate groups and their role in the food web

c. Receive training in how to recognize common groups of soil invertebrates, particularly those with agricultural importance, including the ability to describe basic invertebrate body parts and physical characteristics

d. Learn to conduct hands-on field scouting and sampling of soil animals to evaluate species diversity in agricultural settings. This training will guide them toward being able to carry out that same scouting and sampling independently after the course

e. Learn how invertebrate diversity may be used as a rough bioindicator of soil health, and learn to compare the diversity of soil animals across fields with differing management practices; be able to draw general conclusions about soil health based upon the invertebrate groups present in a soil sample

f. Understand practical, science-based conservation strategies to help increase the abundance and diversity of soil animal life



Online Short Course Agenda

(All Times are Mountain)

Virtual Short Course Agenda:

(All Times are Mountain)

1. Welcome and Overview (9:00-9:20)

2. Basics of Soil and Soil Invertebrates (9:20-9:35)

3. Soil Invertebrate Profiles (9:35-10:40)

Break (10:40-11:00)

Quiz (11:00-11:10)

4. Scouting and Monitoring (11:10-11:20)

5. Management Practices & NRCS Programs (11:20-11:40)

6. Anna Jones-Crabtree: Exploring Edges – Habitat, Diversity, and Health (11:40-12:30)

7. Resources (12:30-12:40)

Q&A, Conclusion, and Evaluation (12:40-1:00)

To request an accommodation for this webinar, please contact raven.larcom@xerces.org.

The Xerces Society is an equal-opportunity provider and employer.

The Xerces Society embraces diversity in our program services. At the Xerces Society, a diverse, inclusive, and equitable environment is one where all participants feel valued and are treated with respect regardless of their gender identity, race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, age, sexual orientation, education and/or disability.

The Xerces Society is a nonprofit organization that protects wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitat. Established in 1971, the Society is a trusted source for science-based information and advice. We collaborate with people and institutions at all levels and our work to protect pollinators encompasses all landscapes. Our team draws together experts from the fields of habitat restoration, entomology, botany, and conservation biology with a single focus—protecting the life that sustains us. To learn more about our work, visit www.xerces.org.

Copyright © 2021 The Xerces Society

Banner image: Jennifer Hopwood