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Report Accuses Corporate Dairy of ‘Greenwashing’

(6/1/26) The Wisconsin Examiner reports on a study showing that claims by the largest meat and dairy companies that their practices are sustainable are mostly “greenwashing” and are based on unsubstantiated claims. Highlights:

• The report, published in the journal PLOS Climate, assessed publicly made environmental claims and promises of the 33 largest meat and dairy companies in the world. The corporations assessed include Saputo Cheese, Tyson Foods, JBS, Hormel Foods, Dairy Farmers of America, and Nestle.
• Since 2021, the corporations made 1,233 environmental claims but, according to the report, 98% of those claims can be called “greenwashing” — defined as “the dissemination of false or deceptive information regarding an organization’s environmental strategies, goals, motivations, and actions” — because they were made without supporting evidence. Only three of the claims were backed with actual peer reviewed studies.
• The report’s authors argue that it’s important to assess the claims of these companies because corporate meat and dairy operations cause a huge proportion of global greenhouse gas emissions. One estimate is that collectively, the top five emitters (JBS, Marfrig, Tyson, Minerva, and Cargill) account for approximately half of total greenhouse gas emissions among the 45 largest meat and dairy companies, and that their combined emissions exceed the emissions of individual major oil companies, including Chevron, Shell, and BP.
• The environmental organization Clean Wisconsin recently released a report outlining the steps Wisconsin’s agricultural industry will need to take to help the state achieve its climate emissions goals. The research found that reducing nitrogen fertilizer use, reducing the amount of acreage used for corn-based ethanol production, practices such as no-till and cover crops, better livestock management, and the planting of perennials instead of commodity crops would help put that state on the right track.

Looking for a way to counter the the corporate ag narrative? Check out LSP’s Myth Buster series.

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Minnesota Lawmakers Boost a Tax Credit That Helps Young Farmers

(6/3/26) Minnesota Public Radio reports that the Minnesota Legislature recently removed a budget cap on a tax credit program for one year as a way to support more beginning farmers. Highlights:

• In 2017, LSP and other groups pushed the Minnesota Legislature to create the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit to incentivize established farmers to rent or sell equipment, livestock, and land to beginning farmers. The program also provides financial support for beginning farmers who enroll in a training initiative like Farm Beginnings.
• The program has been extremely popular. For example, in January 2026 the program’s budget was drained after one day of applications, resulting in approximately 300 farmers being turned away. In 2024, about 40% of farmers who applied for the credit were turned away, and in 2025, it was more than half.
• Thanks to lobbying on the part of LSP and its allies, this year lawmakers agreed to remove the cap on Beginning Farmer Tax Credit funding for the remainder of 2026. It’s unclear what the funding situation will be after 2026.

The Minnesota Beginning Farmer Tax Credit Program is currently accepting applications. Deadlines: July 17 for leases; Nov. 1 for sales & tuition reimbursement. For details, click here. For a run-down of how other LSP priorities fared during the 2026 legislative session, check out this blog. LSP’s Farm Beginnings course is now accepting applications for its 2026-2027 session. The early bird discount deadline is Aug. 1. Details are here.

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Forever Green Taps Kevin Smith to Help Lead Next Phase of Continuous Living Cover Push

(6/3/26) Agweek reports that a small grains researcher has been named co-director of the University of Minnesota’s Forever Green Initiative. Highlights:

• Kevin Smith, a professor in the University of Minnesota’s Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics and one of the region’s best-known oat and barley breeders, will become co-director of the Forever Green Initiative June 15, alongside current co-director Mitch Hunter.
• Forever Green was launched in 2012 by the late U of M plant scientist Don Wyse as a way to promote “continuous living cover” agriculture, and over the years it has worked to help farmers integrate winter annual and perennial crops into farming systems to reduce erosion, improve water quality, and create new market opportunities. Forever Green’s portfolio includes roughly 15 crops at different stages of development and commercialization. Research and outreach related to Kernza, the world’s first commercially viable perennial, is one of Forever Green’s most well-known initiatives.
• Smith’s appointment also comes as oats gain renewed attention in southern Minnesota, driven partly by the construction of the farmer-backed oat processing plant in Albert Lea. Earlier this year, Smith unveiled MN-Amber, the first oat variety developed entirely after Minnesota’s oat breeding program was restarted following a seven-year hiatus. The variety was designed specifically for food-grade markets, emphasizing protein content, test weight, and beta-glucan levels valued by processors.

LSP has partnered with Forever Green to develop resources related to growing and managing crops like Kernza. Check out videos and podcasts related to these crops on LSP’s web page. LSP’s small grains web page is here. You can read more about Don Wyse’s legacy in this LSP blog.

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Rural Minnesota’s Grocery Stores are Changing Plans, Hands

(6/4/26) The Minnesota Reformer describes how a food co-op in Detroit Lakes, Minn., is helping supply eaters with locally produced food, defying the trend of independent grocery stores closing in rural communities. Highlights:

• Manna Food Co-op opened in 2017 and grew out of the local farmers’ market in Detroit Lakes, which has a population of almost 10,000 people. The co-op now works with over 40 vendors within 100 miles.
• At last count, roughly 250 independent grocers — out of the more than 1,700 statewide — serve Minnesotans who live in the 400 or so small towns and cities of fewer than 10,000 people. They serve as a bulwark against state and national trends. As Investigate Midwest reported last year, citing USDA data, the top four grocery chains controlled 13% of nationwide sales in 1990, climbing to 34% in 2019.
• State support for local food businesses exists but is overextended: Minnesota’s Good Food Access Program received nearly three times more grant requests than available funding in 2025. Across the Midwest, other communities are attempting to retain a local source of retail food. In Conway Springs, Kan., a teacher and a welder built a replacement grocery store by hand after their town went without one for years.
• “People get excited about local foods,” said Ryan Pesch, co-manager of Manna. “It’s not sexy, but if you consistently work with a set of vendors and farmers over time, you can build a working supply chain so that you consistently have good products on the shelf every day.”

Check out our Ear to the Ground podcast interview with Ryan Pesch here. For information on LSP’s community based food system’s work, click here.

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Foreign Suppliers Play a Key Role in US Fertilizer Markets

(6/3/26) The Investigate Midwest “Data Harvest” project describes U.S. agriculture’s dependence on foreign sources of fertilizer. Highlights:

• Although the country produces most of its nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers domestically, it still imports millions of tons of fertilizer products and raw materials. Nearly 39.4 million tons of fertilizer entered the country in 2025. Another 12.4 million tons arrived during the first three months of 2026, according to the USDA.
• Nowhere is that dependence more apparent than in the potassium market. U.S. imported about 8.7 million tons of potassium fertilizer between April 2025 and March 2026, and nearly nine out of every 10 tons came from Canada.
• The U.S. relies less heavily on foreign suppliers for nitrogen fertilizer, but imports still play an important role. During the same period, the country imported about 6.1 million tons of nitrogen fertilizer, with Russia and Canada supplying more than half of the total.
• Tensions involving Iran have renewed concerns about shipping routes that carry fertilizer products and the natural gas used to manufacture them. Although prices have retreated from their 2022 highs, fertilizer remains one of the largest expenses for U.S. farmers. USDA data show farmers spent $33.8 billion on fertilizer in 2024, accounting for about 7% of total farm expenditures.

LSP’s Myth Buster No. 64 takes on the conventional wisdom that higher fertilizer applications always result in bigger yields and more profits. Looking for ways to reduce your farm’s reliance on purchased fertility? Check out LSP’s Soil Health web page for resources on building soil health profitably. 

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CHS to Shutter Three Southern Minnesota Grain Elevators

(6/2/26) The Minnesota Star Tribune reports that one of the region’s largest co-ops is planning to close or sell three Minnesota grain elevators after the fall harvest. Highlights:

• CHS, the Inver Grove Heights-based agriculture co-op, said it is divesting its Kasson, Ostrander, and Wykoff facilities where crop farmers store and sell their grains because they are increasingly delivering their harvest directly to larger corn and soybean processing facilities and river terminals.
• CHS didn’t provide details about job cuts from the decision, but the co-op’s grain elevators and ag retail locations in southeastern Minnesota employed about 110 people as of June 2025. CHS operates similar storage and processing facilities in approximately 60 Minnesota towns.
• The closures are occurring amid a larger reshaping of Minnesota agriculture and a period of financial stress for CHS. Crop farmers are facing high input costs and revenue that’s not keeping up, and the strength of the farm economy directly influences the financial results of the farmer-owned co-op.

LSP’s Farm Crisis Resources web page has information for farmers facing financial, weather-related, or emotional distress. In episode 389 of LSP’s Ear to the Ground podcast, Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Odette talks about why it’s important for farmers and other rural residents to document and report possible examples of unfair marketing practices and antitrust violations.

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Making the Grazing Gamble Pay Off

(5/25/26) Agweek describes how Vance and Bonnie Haugen’s commitment to managed rotational grazing has paid off on their farm in southeastern Minnesota. Highlights:

• For several years, the Haugens milked cows on the grass-based operation, but market forces and consolidation forced them to sell their dairy herd in recent years and transition fully to beef cattle production. Today, Springside Farm has 140 beef cow-calf pairs across 270 acres of managed pasture.
• Managed rotational grazing has helped increase the soil’s organic matter, while slashing erosion and runoff. The stocking density of the farm has tripled and the pasture-based system has made it possible for the Haugens’ son, Olaf, to take over the operation.
• According to a USDA Economic Research Service study from 2022 , about 40% of U.S. cow-calf operations report using some form of rotational grazing, although fewer than half of those operations use intensive systems with frequent paddock moves and tightly managed rest periods. Adoption rates are highest in the northern Plains and western Corn Belt, where nearly half of operations use rotational grazing systems.

For more information on how to build soil health profitably utilizing practices like managed rotational grazing, check out LSP’s Soil Builders’ web page. For more on the Haugens’ use of soil-building practices, check out this LSP blog from 2019.

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