Land Stewardship Project

Land Stewardship Project
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Long Range Plan
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
      • LSP Board Committees
    • LSP Steering Committees & Working Groups
    • Contact Us
    • Past LSP Projects
    • Employment & Volunteer Opportunities
    • LSP Publications
    • Financial Statements
  • The Latest
    • Community Care
    • 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
    • Farmland Clearinghouse
    • New Farmers
      • Farm Beginnings Class
      • Journeyperson Course
      • Farm Dreams
      • Accessing Farmland
      • Farmland Clearinghouse
      • Beginning/Retiring Farmer Tax Credit
      • Beginning Farmer Profiles
      • Fresh Voices Podcast Series
    • Retiring Farmers & Landowners
      • Farmland Clearinghouse
      • Farm Transition Course 2026
      • Conservation Leases
      • Beginning/Retiring Farmer Tax Credit
      • Land Transition Tools
      • Transition Stories
    • Soil Health
      • Cover Crops
      • Grazing
      • No-till
      • Microbiology
      • Kernza
      • Soil Builders’ Network
      • Soil Builders’ E-Letters
      • Soil Health Steering Committee Members
      • Ear Dirt Soil Health Podcast Series
    • Cropping Systems Calculator
    • Conservation Leases
  • Creating Change
    • Community-Based Food Systems
      • Ear Bites Community-Based Food Podcast Series
    • Policy Campaigns
      • Soil Health & Climate Change
      • Healthcare
      • Factory Farms
        • Anti-Competitiveness & Price Gouging
        • LSP Powerline Story Center
      • Federal Policy
        • A Farm Bill For Us
      • State Policy
        • MN Farm, Food & Climate Funding
      • Developing Leadership
    • Justice & Stewardship
    • Organizational Stewardship
  • Get Involved
    • Your Membership Matters
    • 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
    • Farmland Clearinghouse
  • Join, Donate, or Renew Today!
  • Stay Connected
  • Contact Us
  • Shop
Search
More...

Land Line: CAFO Control, Cancer in Farm Country, Nitrates, Soil Health, Farm to School

March 19: An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities

By Brian DeVore
March 19, 2025

Share

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • email

Something Smells With the Feedlot Trend, and it’s More Than Just the Manure

3/16/25
Ron Way, former assistant director of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, writes in the Star Tribune about how factory farms have transformed the landscape in southern and central Minnesota. Highlights:

  • Since the 1970s, backers of large-scale, industrialized livestock production have successfully worked to weaken state and federal regulations related to how much pollution CAFOs can produce.
  • In many cases, local officials have yielded under pressure from Big Ag, making it possible for CAFO owners to circumvent local zoning rules.
  • “Collateral damage” has resulted in the form of external costs borne by the public, including polluted air and water, and tense situations that pit neighbor against neighbor.

On March 18, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld Winona County’s right to control the size of livestock CAFOs when it rejected a request to appeal a lower court’s decision. This is the latest in a yearslong battle involving LSP members and other citizens in the county as they fight to have a say in the future of their community. For more information on the Supreme Court’s decision, click here.

♦ ♦ ♦

Some Parts of Minnesota’s Farm Country Have High Cancer Rates, but the Causes Aren’t Clear

(3/7/25) The Minnesota Reformer reports that Minnesota has one of the highest cancer rates in the country. There were 34,000 new diagnoses in 2021, the latest year for which complete data is available, adding up to the sixth-highest per-capita rate in the country. Counties in parts of western Minnesota’s farm country have seen the biggest increases in new cancer diagnoses since the mid-2000s, and they also have the state’s highest rates of new diagnoses today. Several counties in the Twin Cities metro, by contrast, have experienced decreasing rates of cancer diagnoses. Highlights:

  • Rates of colorectal cancer diagnoses and death are roughly 30% higher in northwest and southwest Minnesota than they are in the Twin Cities.
  • In recent years, researchers have increasingly found evidence of links between exposure to various agricultural chemicals and the development of some types of cancer. Fertilizer byproducts can make their way into drinking water, for instance, potentially increasing the risk of colon, kidney and stomach cancer.
  • A 2024 literature review concluded that “women in rural regions are at risk for exposure to pesticides by equipment decontamination, unprotected clothes washing, pesticide drift, chemical spraying in the field, and other routes of exposure in the household,” and that that exposure could augment the risk of breast cancer development.

Back in 1998, the Land Stewardship Letter reported on research in areas like northwestern Minnesota that showed connections between exposure to even low doses of pesticides and birth defects, among other health problems. Check it out here.

♦ ♦ ♦

Olmsted County Requests $9 Million in State Support to Help Neighbors Protect Soil Health

(3/6/25) Officials are hoping to expand the success of Olmsted County’s Groundwater Protection and Soil Health Program to an 11-county region in southern Minnesota, reports the Rochester Post Bulletin. The program, which has proven to be a popular avenue for farmers to diversify their operations in a way that reduces nitrate pollution, was launched in 2022 with federal pandemic-relief funds. Highlights:

  • The Olmsted County program provides payments to farmers who put in cover crops, diversify their corn-soybean rotations with small grains, and replace row crops with perennial forages.
  • The Olmsted County Soil and Water Conservation District, which administers the program, is finding that farmers who enroll in the program often convert additional acres to conservation practices, despite the fact that they are not eligible for payments on those additional acres.
  • Olmsted County SWCD manager Skip Langer told the newspaper that statewide studies show such soil-friendly practices can reduce nitrates in neighboring waterways by 27%, but local efforts have seen greater results. “We are seeing a 30% reduction in nitrates,” he said.
  • The Olmsted County Board of Commissioners has unanimously approved efforts to seek $9 million for program expansion from the state’s Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund, which generates funding through the Minnesota Lottery. Bills are being proposed at the Minnesota Legislature that would help fund the expansion.

LSP is supporting several soil health proposals during the current session of the Minnesota Legislature. Among those proposals is one that would expand the Olmsted County Groundwater Protection and Soil Health Program to other areas of the state. For more on the program, check out LSP’s coverage in the Ear to the Ground podcast and the Land Stewardship Letter.

♦ ♦ ♦

The State of Minnesota’s Soil Health

(3/10/25) A new analysis by University of Minnesota Extension has combined remote sensing, USDA Agricultural Census data, and state-reported cost-share figures to develop a baseline estimate of how many acres in the state are being managed using practices like cover cropping and minimum till, according to Morning Ag Clips. Highlights:

  • Minnesota is seeing more residue being left on fields to protect the soil surface — from an average of 36% of the field covered by residue in 2016 to 64% in 2020.
  • However, despite greater cover crop use (a 24% increase in acreage since 2017) and an increase in spending on cover crops ($12,103,000 was spent on cover crop seeds in 2017 and $20,527,000 in 2022), only 2.28% of cropland acres were cover cropped in 2022.
  • No-till practices increased by 16.7% between 2016 and 2020, but overall only 5% of Minnesota cropland is managed using no-till.

For information on building soil health profitably, check out LSP’s Soil Builders’ web page.

♦ ♦ ♦

USDA Cutting Millions of Dollars that Minnesota Schools, Child Care Centers and Food Banks Used to Buy Local Food

(3/13/25) The Star Tribune reports that the USDA is axing the Local Food for Schools and Child Care Cooperative Agreement and a second program that allowed food banks to buy food locally. Highlights:

  • As a result of the USDA order, about $660 million will no longer be available to schools and child care facilities across the nation.
  • The Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program was slated to provide about $500 million this year so that food banks nationwide could purchase food from local farmers.
  • The USDA had signed agreements with Minnesota to provide $13.2 million for schools and child care centers, and $4.7 million for the food bank program during fiscal year 2025.

During LSP’s recent Family Farm Breakfast and Lobby Day at the Capitol, our members and allies talked to lawmakers about the need for the state to prioritize funding of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Farm to School & Early Care Program so farmers who were already planning on producing food for schools and early care programs in 2025 are not left in the lurch. For details on how to get a message to federal lawmakers about the importance of local food programs, as well as farm conservation initiatives, see LSP’s action alert. Farmer and LSP soil health organizer Shea-Lynn Ramthun was recently featured on a Minnesota Public Radio call-in show related to the impacts of funding freezes on agriculture; an Agweek article also covered the issue. An LSP blog describes how the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program was benefiting food banks and farmers in western Wisconsin.

♦ ♦ ♦

 

 

 

Category: Blog
Tags: CAFOs • cancer • groundwater • local democracy • nitrates • Olmsted County Groundwater Protection and Soil Health Program • pesticides • soil health

LSP Land Line

LSP Land Line is a regular round-up of local, regional, and national news that touches on the work of the Land Stewardship Project. We can’t include everything, but if you have a news item to submit, e-mail Brian DeVore.

Quotes of the Day

 “We still have a lot to learn about the role of agricultural chemicals and risk of cancer.”

— Jen Poynter, a University of Minnesota epidemiologist

♦ ♦ ♦

“I’m a huge proponent of the program, and I hope we can determine how to fund it and expand it regionally.”

— Michelle Rossman, farmer & Olmsted County Commissioner

♦ ♦ ♦

“Factory farms drive down property values, and they pit neighbor against neighbor in often-heated debates about the worth of it all. Many who could afford to have moved out. Their loss, coupled with far fewer farms, has hollowed out rural America, emptying schools and shuttering small-town storefronts.”

— Ron Way, former assistant director of the MPCA

♦ ♦ ♦

LSP in the News

Check out recent media stories featuring LSP’s work here.

Upcoming Events

×

October 2025

Saturday October 18

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Pasture Walk: Real World Tools to Extend the Grazing Season
Saturday October 18
1:00 pm – 3:00 pm
Pasture Walk: Real World Tools to Extend the Grazing Season
Nestingen Road, Nestingen Rd, Coon, WI 54667, USA

Valley Stewardship Network will host a pasture walk demonstrating various strategies for extending the grazing season. The event will be held on the Zinn Family Farm in rural Westby.

As input costs rise, livestock producers may want to consider extending the grazing season. Stockpile grazing and bale grazing are two proven methods to achieve this goal. 

The Zinn Family has been utilizing these practices for years on their rural Westby farm. Join us to see stockpiling, bale grazing, and winter water systems in a real-world setting.

For more information, or to RSVP, contact Evan Dvorsak at 608-632-6166 (call/text) or evan@valleystewardshipnetwork.org. Snacks will be provided. Details are also available in this flier.

Funding for this event is provided by the USDA’s Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI).

Thursday October 23

8:30 am – 4:00 pm
Farm to School & Early Care Grants Deadline
Thursday October 23
8:30 am – 4:00 pm
Farm to School & Early Care Grants Deadline
Online

School is back in session and this week’s cool temps definitely remind us all that fall is just around the corner. This time of the year also means that the application period is open for Minnesota’s Farm to School and Early Care grants.

Earlier this year, the Land Stewardship Project and our partners were successful in expanding funding for the AGRI Farm to School and Early Care program. The application window for the next round of funding is now open and will close at 4 p.m. Central Time (CT) on Thursday, October 23.

APPLY FOR FUNDING HERE

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is serving up two funding opportunities to help schools and early childhood education (ECE) centers buy Minnesota-grown and -raised foods. 

1.    First Bite Grants: Up to $5,000 (no match required) to kickstart local food purchasing through intentional, high-impact activities. 
2.    Full Tray Grants: Up to $35,000 (1:1 match required) to help experienced schools and ECE centers increase or expand their local food purchases. 

Equipment funding: First Bite and Full Tray applicants can also request up to $25,000 (1:1 match required) to support the purchase of kitchen equipment that will enhance their capacity to buy, prepare, and serve local foods.  

 These grants are open to: 
•    Public or private K-12 schools or school districts in Minnesota that participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP)
•    Early childhood education (ECE) centers that participate in the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) in Minnesota

MDA encourages schools, districts, and ECE centers serving sovereign tribal nations to apply. 

 Local Tots Cost-Share Program
There are also funds available to reimburse family child care providers for buying Minnesota-grown and -raised foods used for meals and snacks as part of the the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP):

Interested providers must submit a Local Tots Cost-Share program Letter of Intent to participate. Award amounts will be up to $1,000 and there is a 1:1 cash match required for providers who received a Local Tots Cost-Share award in 2025. There is no cash match required if you are new to the program. 

Applications are due by 4 p.m. Central Time (CT) on Thursday, October 23, 2025. 

 Program details and online applications are available at http://www.mda.state.mn.us/farm-school-early-care-programs or by contacting the Grants Team at MDA.AGRIgrants@state.mn.us. 

 Want to learn more about eligibility, allowable expenses, and how to apply?

 Join the MDA for a virtual info session: 
First Bite and Full Tray Grant Info Session 
September 15, 2025, 2-3 p.m.
Register here

 Local Tots Cost-Share Info Session – for family child care providers
September 18, 2025, 1-2 p.m.
Register here

Farmers: Are you Interested in selling to a school near you? 
Send this opportunity along to the food service director at schools near you or connect with a Regional Local Food Coordinator to help you make connections with schools, childcare settings, and other opportunities to sell locally. These positions are supported by the Department of Education and Renewing the Countryside.

Saturday October 25

1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Book Event: We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy
Saturday October 25
1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Book Event: We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy
Madison Public Library - Central, 201 W Mifflin St, Madison, WI 53703, USA

The Johnson Center for Land Stewardship Policy is excited to share that one of our its primary pillars of work — a published collection of Paul Johnson’s writings —  is set for release on Oct. 2.  The book features a brief biography and a discussion of Paul’s ideas within the historical and future contexts of private lands conservation. 

During the Wisconsin Book Festival, Curt Meine will talk about the book in a discussion with author Sonja Trom Eayrs (Dodge County, Incorporated), in a session on “The Fight for Rural America.” 

For details on We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy click here.

Wednesday October 29

4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Book Event: We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy
Wednesday October 29
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Book Event: We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy
The Harkin Institute for Public Policy & Citizen Engagement, 2800 University Ave, Des Moines, IA 50311, USA

The Johnson Center for Land Stewardship Policy is excited to share that one of our its primary pillars of work — a published collection of Paul Johnson’s writings —  is set for release on Oct. 2.  The book features a brief biography and a discussion of Paul’s ideas within the historical and future contexts of private lands conservation. 

For details on We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy click here.

Thursday October 30

5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Book Event: We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy
Thursday October 30
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Book Event: We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy
Ames Public Library, 515 Douglas Ave, Ames, IA 50010, USA

The Johnson Center for Land Stewardship Policy is excited to share that one of our its primary pillars of work — a published collection of Paul Johnson’s writings —  is set for release on Oct. 2.  The book features a brief biography and a discussion of Paul’s ideas within the historical and future contexts of private lands conservation. 

For details on We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy click here.

View Full Calendar

Recent Posts

  • Action Alert: Protect Local Control & Include Farmer Voices for Conservation October 15, 2025
  • Environmental Sustainability: Birds, Biology & Balance October 14, 2025
  • Economic Sustainability: Financial Field-Talk October 14, 2025
  • Local Democracy Challenge Launched by LSP in MN October 1, 2025
  • As Avian Flu Reemerges in Minnesota, White Paper Asks: Are Factory Farms the Victims or the Vectors? September 25, 2025

Montevideo

111 North 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 © 2025 Land Stewardship Project. All rights reserved.

https://landstewardshipproject.org/land-line-cafo-control-cancer-in-farm-country-nitrates-soil-health-farm-to-school