On Wednesday, April 22nd, Farm and Forest Growers Cooperative was selected to receive the Collaborative Adaptation award at the 2026 Minnesota Climate Adaptation Awards. The annual ceremony was held on Earth Day at the University of Minnesota’s Bell Museum, where awardees and attendees gathered to celebrate innovative projects and achievements in climate mitigation and adaptation in Minnesota. 

During the ceremony, Director of the University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership Heidi Roop acknowledged the impact climate change is already having on the state, but emphasized that work Minnesotans are currently doing to mitigate and adapt to climate change is worth celebrating. The ceremony featured winners in the following categories: Organizational Adaptation, Collaborative Adaptation, Transformative Adaptation, Creative Climate Communications, Individual Adaptation, and Individual Lifetime Achievement.

Farm and Forest Grower Cooperative Coordinator Stefan Meyer accepted the Collaborative Adaptation award and thanked Dr. Julie Etterson, whose research and work on Forest Assisted Migration was the impetus of Farm and Forest Growers Cooperative. The cooperative officially formed in 2023 and currently has 20 small-scale farmers and growers in northern Minnesota who raise thousands of tree seedlings annually from seed gathered in southern and central Minnesota from a broad variety of native species. Seedlings grown by cooperative members are planted over 200 miles north of the mother populations, where they will be better adapted to the conditions brought by climate change, thus supporting the survival of Minnesota’s Northwoods. The cooperative was a recipient of MFU’s Cooperatives for Climate Grant in 2023. Click here to learn more about Farm and Forest Growers Cooperative: https://farmforestgrowers.com/