Land Stewardship Project

Land Stewardship Project
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Long Range Plan
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
    • Contact Us
    • Past LSP Projects
    • Employment & Volunteer Opportunities
    • LSP Publications
  • The Latest
    • 40th Anniversary Events
    • Tell us an LSP Story
    • Songs for the Soil
    • CSA Farm Directory
    • Upcoming Events
    • News
      • News Releases
      • Media Contacts
      • LSP in the News
    • Blog
    • Podcast
    • Land Stewardship Letter
    • LIVE-WIRE Sign-up
    • Myth Busters
    • Fact Sheets
    • Farm Crisis Resources
  • For Farmers & Landowners
    • New Farmers
      • Farm Beginnings Class
      • Journeyperson Course
      • Farm Dreams Workshop
      • Farmland Clearinghouse
      • Accessing Farmland
      • Beginning/Retiring Farmer Tax Credit
      • Beginning Farmer Profiles
    • Retiring Farmers & Landowners
      • Farmland Clearinghouse
      • Conservation Leases
      • Beginning/Retiring Farmer Tax Credit
      • Land Transition Tools
      • Transition Stories
    • Soil Health
      • Cover Crops
      • Grazing
      • No-till
      • Microbiology
      • Soil Builders’ Network
      • Soil Builders’ E-Letters
    • Cropping Systems Calculator
    • Conservation Leases
  • Creating Change
    • Community-Based Food Systems
      • Community Food Webs Learning Circles
    • Policy Campaigns
      • Soil Health & Climate Change
      • Healthcare
      • Factory Farms
      • Federal Policy
        • A Farm Bill For Us
      • State Policy
      • Developing Leadership
      • Caucus for Land Stewardship
    • Justice & Stewardship
    • Organizational Stewardship
    • Building People Power
  • Get Involved
    • Take Action!
    • Upcoming Events
    • Land Stewardship Action Fund
    • Connect with LSP
      • Stay Connected
      • Join, Donate, or Renew Today!
      • Shop
      • Employment & Volunteer Opportunities
      • Legacy Giving
    • Network with LSP Members
      • Farmland Clearinghouse
      • Soil Health
  • Join, Donate, or Renew Today!
  • Stay Connected
  • Contact Us
  • Shop
Search
More...

Factory Farms

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • email

Factory farms pose a serious threat to the health and well-being of rural communities. These large-scale industrial operations push family farmers off the land and put independent producers out of business. Local economies suffer as more and more land is consolidated into fewer and fewer hands. Factory farms also pose numerous environmental hazards — such as water pollution, noxious odors, and toxic air emissions — that greatly impact the health of nearby residents.

Yet, for decades, Land Stewardship Project members have used the power of local democracy to stop factory farms and build more vibrant rural communities. Through local control, townships and counties can block unwanted development, planning instead for projects that put the land and the people first.

LSP members have also worked at the state level for policies that hold factory farms accountable to higher standards. For example, members fought for policies that control hydrogen sulfide emissions and require factory farms to build covered, concrete lined basins for hog manure lagoons.

A recent blog on a factory farm fight LSP is currently involved in highlights what is at stake and what can be accomplished when community members make their voices heard.

Click Here to Get Involved with
Factory Farm Organizing

Check Out Our Latest Action Alerts

The Winona County Factory Farm Fight

During the past three years, a dairy CAFO in Minnesota’s Winona County has made repeated, unsuccessful attempts to force through an unprecedented expansion that could have profound negative impacts on the community. A major reason that, despite backing from powerful interests, Daley Farm has not been successful in ignoring common sense rules is that Winona County residents have repeatedly made their voices heard. Their message is  clear: exceeding the animal unit cap is not good for the land, water, family farms, or rural communities. Check out this page for more on their fight.

Take the Pledge: Say NO to Factory Farms

In the Upper Midwest, we know how special the land that sustains us is. Factory farms jeopardizes not only the land itself but the communities that rely on it. They threaten the water and land with pollution, force small to mid-sized farmers out of business, and weaken local economies. Join other LSP members in taking the “No to Factory Farms” pledge today.

Factory Farm Resources

• Manual: Protecting Your Township From Unwanted Development: A Guide for MN Townships on Using the Interim Ordinance

• Myth #57: Abusive Work Conditions are ‘Essential’ to Heading off a Meat Famine

• Myth #60: CAFO Digesters are a Good Public Investment

• Myth #56: Mega-Dairies = Mega-Benefits for Rural Communities

• The Money Pit: How Minnesota Property Taxpayers are Subsidizing Factory Farms

• Fact Sheet: Factory Farming’s False Promise

• Fact Sheet: Hometown Factory Farm Fighting

• Fact Sheet: Hydrogen Sulfide and Factory Farms

• Fact Sheet: Writing a Letter to Your Newspaper: Putting pen to paper can be a powerful media tool

Related Posts

  • Legislative Update: Fair Farm Economy, Resilient Climate, Soil Health, Land Access & Regional Food on the Table

    February 10, 2023

    This past fall, hundreds of Land Stewardship Project members from across Minnesota came together to build a holistic, state policy campaign — the “Minnesota Food…

    Blog
    100% Soil Healthy Campaign, COOL, factory farms, Family Farm Breakfast, farm-to-school, fish kills, healthcare, local food systems, local meat processing, Minnesota Legislature, MPCA Citizens' Board, soil health, water
    Legislative Update: Fair Farm Economy, Resilient Climate, Soil Health, Land Access & Regional Food on the Table
  • community holding signs against factory farms

    LSP Statement on Daley Dismissal of District Court Case

    March 20, 2023

    LEWISTON, Minn. — Daley Farm’s recent withdrawal of its lawsuit against the Land Stewardship Project (LSP), elected officials, and other community members is yet another example…

    News Releases
    Daley Farm, factory farms, local control, local democracy, Winona County
    LSP Statement on Daley Dismissal of District Court Case
  • Tell the Legislature to Reinstate the MPCA Board

    March 21, 2023

    The bill to reinstate public oversight of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has been moving through the Minnesota Legislature. In the Minnesota Senate, it…

    Action Alerts
    EIS, environmental review, factory farms, local democracy, Minnesota Legislature, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, MPCA Citizens' Board
    Tell the Legislature to Reinstate the MPCA Board

Contact:

Matthew Sheets, LSP organizer
e-mail, 612-767-9709

  • Creating Change
    • Community-Based Food Systems
      • Community Food Webs Learning Circles
    • Policy Campaigns
      • Soil Health & Climate Change
      • Healthcare
      • Factory Farms
      • Federal Policy
        • A Farm Bill For Us
      • State Policy
      • Developing Leadership
      • Caucus for Land Stewardship
    • Justice & Stewardship
    • Organizational Stewardship
    • Building People Power
  • Join, Donate, or Renew
  • Building People Power

Upcoming Events

×

June 2023

Saturday June 3

1:15 pm – 2:15 pm
Land Access & Leasing Options
Saturday June 3
1:15 pm – 2:15 pm
Land Access & Leasing Options

On Saturday, June 3, Wisconsin Farmers Unions will be holding a farm visit at Baldur Farm (N7659 950th St., River Falls,WI 54022) for landowners and renters looking to lease to the next generation of farmers.

Joyce Monari, a native of Kenya, has been growing two types of chinsaga, a type of green familiar to her people, for several years on Baldur Farm. She will show participants her garden, talk about her crops, and discuss the difficulty of finding land.

Juliet Tomkins and Prescott Bergh have rented land to a variety of farmers over the years, from beginning CSA growers to livestock operators. They will talk about their experiences, which have led to the contract they now use to ensure understanding between themselves and their renters before problems arise.

Light snacks and refreshments provided after the talks. Maureen and Rich, the farmers at Baldur Farm, will be on-hand to answer questions about their draft horses. Attendees are welcome to walk the farm trails.

For more information, contact the Farmers Union’s Maureen Ash at maureen7ash@gmail.com.

3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Screening of Stewards of the Land / Serán las dueñas de la tierra in Northfield
Saturday June 3
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Screening of Stewards of the Land / Serán las dueñas de la tierra in Northfield

Stewards of the Land/Serán las dueñas de la tierrais a feature documentary about Stephanie, Ian, and Alfredo, three young landless ecological farmers in Puerto Rico striving to produce healthy food for local consumption.

In this economically depressed U.S. territory, producing food locally is urgent. The archipelago sits on the path of powerful hurricanes, an increasing threat as the climate crisis worsens. Puerto Rico is highly dependent on food imports and a third of its population lives food insecurity.

The story begins when the protagonists arrive for the first time on the public lands they rent. The farms have been abandoned for decades and lack the most basic infrastructure to get started. The story follows the protagonists as they struggle to get the farms running before and after powerful hurricanes devastate the archipelago. The documentary shows the protagonists’ grit as they attempt to carve a living without land ownership or capital.

There are two opportunities to participate:

  1. Clickhereto RSVP to the Northfield event on Saturday, June 3.
  2. Clickhereto RSVP to the Minneapolis event on Sunday, June 4; co-hosted with partner organization, Copal.Haz clic aquí para español.

Sunday June 4

3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Screening of Stewards of the Land / Serán las dueñas de la tierra in Minneapolis
Sunday June 4
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Screening of Stewards of the Land / Serán las dueñas de la tierra in Minneapolis

Stewards of the Land/Serán las dueñas de la tierrais a feature documentary about Stephanie, Ian, and Alfredo, three young landless ecological farmers in Puerto Rico striving to produce healthy food for local consumption.

In this economically depressed U.S. territory, producing food locally is urgent. The archipelago sits on the path of powerful hurricanes, an increasing threat as the climate crisis worsens. Puerto Rico is highly dependent on food imports and a third of its population lives food insecurity.

The story begins when the protagonists arrive for the first time on the public lands they rent. The farms have been abandoned for decades and lack the most basic infrastructure to get started. The story follows the protagonists as they struggle to get the farms running before and after powerful hurricanes devastate the archipelago. The documentary shows the protagonists’ grit as they attempt to carve a living without land ownership or capital.

There are two opportunities to participate:

  1. Clickhereto RSVP to the Northfield event on Saturday, June 3.
  2. Clickhereto RSVP to the Minneapolis event on Sunday, June 4; co-hosted with partner organization, Copal.Haz clic aquí para español.

Tuesday June 6

11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Forever Green Winter Barley Webinar
Tuesday June 6
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Forever Green Winter Barley Webinar

The Environmental & Economic Clusters of Opportunity (EECO) grant provides an ecosystem services payment as well as risk management payments to growers enrolled in the program for winter barley, hybrid winter rye, winter camelina, and Kernza. Join us for an introductory webinar series on these four crops where we pair University researchers and Extension professionals with farmers who have trialed these crops on-farm. The webinar on June 6 will be on winter barley and will feature Jochum Wiersma (UMN Extension small grains agronomist) and Kurt Kimber (farmer, Hampton, Minn.).

To sign-up for the June 6 webinar on winter barley, click here. These presentations will be recorded for future viewing if you’re not able to make it.

Wednesday June 7

11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Forever Green Webinar on Winter Camelina
Wednesday June 7
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Forever Green Webinar on Winter Camelina

The Environmental & Economic Clusters of Opportunity (EECO) grant provides an ecosystem services payment as well as risk management payments to growers enrolled in the program for winter barley, hybrid winter rye, winter camelina, and Kernza. Join us for an introductory webinar series on these four crops where we pair University researchers and Extension professionals with farmers who have trialed these crops on-farm. On June 7, there will be a webinar on winter camelina. Presenters include Matthew Ott (UMN post doc researcher, camelina genetics) and Anne Schwagerl (farmer, Browns Valley, Minn.).

To sign-up for the June 7 webinar on winter camelina, click here. These presentations will be recorded for future viewing if you’re not able to make it.

View Full Calendar

Recent Posts

  • 2023 Minnesota Legislative Session Wrap-Up  May 25, 2023
  • Tell Lawmakers that Farmworkers Deserve Paid Family & Medical Leave May 3, 2023
  • 2023 Minnesota Legislative Session Update — 4 Weeks Left! April 25, 2023
  • It’s a Wrap: The Largest Family Farm Breakfast & Lobby Day in LSP History April 24, 2023
  • Tell Your MN House Member Today to Lower Prescription Drug Costs & Reject Poison Pill Amendments April 24, 2023

Montevideo

117 South First Street
Montevideo, MN 56265

(320) 269-2105

Lewiston

180 E. Main Street
Lewiston, MN 55952

(507) 523-3366

Minneapolis

821 E. 35th Street #200
Minneapolis, MN 55407

(612) 722-6377

  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 Land Stewardship Project. All rights reserved.

https://landstewardshipproject.org/factory-farms