NOTE: On Monday, Jan. 30, farmers and rural residents of Goodhue County’s Zumbrota Township gathered at the headquarters of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). They expressed their outrage that the MPCA prioritized rubber-stamping a proposed factory hog farm above protecting their community. Life-long township resident David Post made the following statement during the press…  Read More →

For an artist, it’s always nice to get a little public recognition—it helps make up for all those hours spent alone in the studio. So when Deborah Foutch’s piece, “Soil Horizon,” won a blue ribbon at the Minnesota State Fair in 2015, she was thrilled. But even more exciting was that the artwork—it uses various…  Read More →

NOTE: At the Land Stewardship Project’s event celebrating the passage of the Winona County frac sand ban in southeastern Minnesota, LSP Winona County Organizing Committee members reflected on their involvement and the work that went into organizing the successful campaign for a ban. Committee member Cathy Groebner of St. Charles, Minn., gave these remarks at…  Read More →

My family and I operate a dairy farm in Goodhue County’s Zumbrota Township in southeastern Minnesota. My father bought our farm in 1942, and I have lived on this land my whole life. My wife, my sister, my brother and I milk cows and raise corn, soybeans and alfalfa. We’re proud of the life we’ve…  Read More →

“Upon this handful of soil our survival depends. Husband it and it will grow our food, our fuel, our shelter, and surround us with beauty. Abuse it and the soil will collapse and die, taking humanity with it.” This quote was taken from the Vedas Sanskrit Scriptures, which date back to 1500 BC. For a…  Read More →

“What? Did you sell your cows?!?” This was the response from my neighbor, who had stopped by several years ago after seeing my pasture covered with 2.5-foot-tall grass. “I have never seen this pasture with grass longer than a golf green in nearly 30 years; you must have sold the cows!” This is a good…  Read More →

Andy Marcum’s eye-opener was when he walked a ridge on his farm soon after snowmelt and noted the ground was speckled with the delicate, purple pedals of pasque flowers—more than he’d ever seen in his life. For Dan Jenniges, the aha moment came when he realized that he was grazing more cattle on fewer acres,…  Read More →

On Monday, Dec. 12, I attended the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s (MPCA) public informational meeting at Zumbrota City Hall. Fellow Zumbrota Township neighbors packed the conference room to show that we have serious concerns about a factory hog farm threatening to move into our neighborhood. We called on the MPCA to do a thorough and…  Read More →

After a lifetime of working for others in agricultural jobs, and retired after a career with the postal service, Tom Hoekstra and his wife, Lisa, bought a 150-acre farm outside of Plainview in southeastern Minnesota. Tom was 59 when they bought the farm in 2009. Right after their purchase, they immediately went to work re-building…  Read More →

After receiving my degree from St. Olaf College last spring, I have returned to the family farm outside Caledonia, Minn. I come home with a deeper understanding that soil rich in organic matter and biota can function more efficiently than biologically deprived soils. Having grown up on this small southeastern Minnesota beef and crop farm,…  Read More →