A Shared Threat Prompts a Shared Vision for a New Farm As the land auction progressed, it looked like the parcel was on its way to exchanging hands at a decent price. But the landowner grew increasingly anxious about the guy who was likely to get the highest bid—he was a well-known owner of large-scale… Read More →
DECORAH, Iowa — A farm tour on creative ways to get access to farmland will be held Sunday, Sept. 29, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Humble Hands Harvest in Decorah (2741 Hidden Falls Road). This Land Stewardship Project (LSP) event is free but RSVPs are required. To reserve a spot or for more… Read More →
There are upsides to launching a farm on raw, open land: no broken-down outbuildings or junk piles to deal with, the ability to truly start anew from the soil up. Then…there’s the other side of the fence, so to speak. “I decided to move the sheep before they move themselves,” says Hannah Bernhardt with a… Read More →
Humble Hands Harvest’s entry into agroforestry is being supported by its vegetable operation — setting the stage for a new approach to farming a rugged landscape long into the future. More Information • Humble Hands Harvest • Savanna Institute • Sustainable Iowa Land Trust (SILT) • LSP’s Farm Beginnings Course • Ear to the Ground podcast 227: From… Read More →
There’s a bit of a disagreement over how many enterprises were originally on a certain wish list when Hannah Frank and Justin Thomas were considering launching a farm. “Didn’t we have, like, 40 different enterprises on our goal sheet?” Thomas asks Frank on an overcast day in July while the couple stands next to a… Read More →
Emily Minge began working in LSP’s Policy Department in January 2018 as the coordinator for the Family Farm Breakfast at the Capitol. Following the breakfast, she stayed on staff through the summer of 2018 to support the department’s work fighting the proposed Catalpa factory farm in southeastern Minnesota’s Fillmore County. She then left for the… Read More →
Hannah Bernhardt and Jason Misik couldn’t afford prime farmland brimming with infrastructure. But sweat equity and soil health are helping them transform a marginal piece of ground far from Corn Country.
How Farm Beginnings helped Hannah Frank and Justin Thomas whittle their enterprise “wish list” down to a sustainable size. More Information • LSP’s Farm Beginnings Course • Rue de Bungaloo Farm You can find LSP Ear to the Ground podcast episodes on Spotify, Stitcher, iTunes, and other podcast platforms.
Researcher Emily Reno started out doing a simple market analysis for a Latino produce cooperative, but ended up gaining new insights into the barriers and opportunities involved when any farmer seeks to sell local food on a wholesale basis.
During the recently concluded session of the Minnesota Legislature, Land Stewardship Project members and partners worked to win record investments in sustainable and regenerative agriculture, small and mid-sized farmers, and rural communities after decades of underfunding. We won a MinnesotaCare Public Option, as well as historic investments in the Emerging Farmers Office at the Minnesota… Read More →
