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Land Line: Mental Health & Land Health, Ag Income Decline, Canadian Eggs, Tariffs & Fertilizer, Banned Verbiage, Weather Disaster, Community Hub

By Brian DeVore
April 14, 2025

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Farmers Face One of the Highest Rates of Suicide. This Social Worker Believes the Solution is Buried in Their Land

(4/10/25) The Guardian newspaper describes how a social worker in Kansas has developed the LandLogic Model, a new way to train healthcare providers that uses farmers’ relationship to their land to identify and treat depression, anxiety, and other emotional issues within a population that suffers from higher-than-average rates of depression and suicide. Highlights:

  • The social worker, Kaila Anderson, has found that aerial photos or hand-drawn maps of farming operations serve as unthreatening tools that therapists or family doctors can use to start a discussion that eventually reveals a farmer’s underlying emotional struggle. “The common denominator,” she said of farmers, whether they grow corn or soybeans, or run a dairy operation, “is the land.”
  • Anderson’s work is built on that of Michael Rosmann, a psychologist and Iowa farmer. He is considered one of the creators of an emerging field of medicine and wellness called “agrarian behavioral health.” At the core of agrarian behavioral health is understanding why farmers farm and why they despair when they cannot. Rosmann’s own surveys found that farmers considered the loss of the ability to farm, or even the threat of such a loss, equal to the loss of a child.
  • Through LandLogic, Anderson is advancing the Rosmann’s agrarian imperative by using the land itself in treatment. In training sessions, Anderson describes LandLogic as “a cultural adaptation of cognitive behavioral therapy designed for the agricultural community.”

LSP has developed a Farm Crisis Resources web page. In LSP’s Ear to the Ground podcast episode 235, farm advocates offer advice on dealing with agricultural stress, and how we can work together for a brighter future. For more on LandLogic, click here.

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Minnesota Farm Incomes Decline Again in 2024

(4/3/25) Morning Ag Clips reports that median net farm income for Minnesota farms dropped to $21,964 in 2024, marking the lowest level this century. Highlights:

  • According to new data from the University of Minnesota and Minnesota State, farm profitability has significantly declined since 2022. The average Minnesota farm experienced a reduction in working capital, limited net worth growth, and minimal profitability for the year.
  • Crop producers experienced the greatest financial difficulties in 2024. These farmers lost about 25% of their working capital last year and had to dip into cash reserves to make loan payments. Cash crop sale prices were down 20% or more for major crops in the state.
  • The outlook for farm profitability remains uncertain for 2025 as a result of concerns about a trade war, high interest rates, and general economic uncertainty.

LSP’s Farm Beginnings Program offers opportunities for learning how to integrate holistic financial management into an agricultural business.

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This is Why Canada has Plenty of Eggs — and the U.S. Doesn’t

(3/18/25) While U. S. consumers are faced with record high egg prices as a result of avian flu outbreaks, Canadians don’t face massive shortages,  reports National Public Radio. Highlights:

  • One reason avian flu outbreaks have not hurt Canadian farmers as much is that their operations are much smaller than egg-laying operations in the United States. The typical egg farm in Canada has about 25,000 laying hens, whereas many farms in the U.S. have well over a million. Experts point out that in the massive U.S. operations, a single outbreak in one facility can have a much larger impact than it does on a single Canadian farm.
  • The typical egg farm in the U.S. has quadrupled in size since the late 1990s. “These companies aren’t making tons of money per egg,” said poultry economist Jada Thompson. “They’re selling a lot of eggs.”
  • Canada has a supply management system which guarantees even small egg farmers enough income to stay in business. “There is less incentive to grow because I can make money at this size,” said Mike von Massow, a food economist at the University of Guelph, in Ontario. “There’s still an incentive to be efficient. But there’s not a requirement to get as big.”

The outbreak of avian flu has shown yet again how vulnerable our food and farm system is as a result of consolidation and the growth of mega-CAFOs. One way to support a more resilient, diversified livestock production infrastructure is by revitalizing local processing operations. A recent LSP blog describes one such initiative taking place in Minnesota. For more on LSP’s community-based food systems work, click here.

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Sizing Up Fertilizer Imports and Potential Tariffs Implications

(4/10/25) An Ag Economics Insights analysis shows that a 10% import tariff would increase fertilizer expenses for a typical corn crop by 3.4%, or $5.17 per acre. Highlights:

  • The three main sources of crop nitrogen — anhydrous ammonia, urea, and urea ammonium nitrate — account for roughly the same share of the U.S. fertilizer market. However, they can vary widely when it comes to how much of that fertilizer is produced domestically, and how much is imported.
  • Around 11% of anhydrous ammonia is imported, while 32% and 33% of urea and urea ammonium nitrate, respectively, is brought in from other countries, for example.
  • Two other key fertilizers — phosphorus and potassium — are particularly vulnerable to price increases due to a potential trade war. Thirty-four percent of our phosphorus is imported, and a whopping 94% of our potassium comes in across the border.

For information on how to build the kind of soil that is less reliant on purchased fertilizer inputs, check out LSP’s Soil Builders web page. A recent LSP blog discusses how regenerative ag can help bring our dysfunctional relationship with fertilizers back into balance.

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Phrases Newly Banned At USDA Include ‘Safe Drinking Water’ and ‘Climate Change,’ Leaked Memo Reveals

(4/3/25) “Water conservation,” “carbon sequestration,” and “tile drainage” are just a few of the 100+ words and phrases now banned at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS), according to Sentient. The ARS is the research wing of the USDA, overseeing over 600 research projects and 2,000 scientists, some of whom study issues such as how building healthy soil can help make farms more resilient. Highlights:

  • A leaked memo written by a USDA official appears to state that staff are forbidden from submitting agreements and other contracts that use any of the forbidden words, according to Sentient.
  • Besides any wordage related to “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” restricted phrases include “climate change,” “climate resilience,” “climate smart agriculture,” “carbon pricing,” “water pollution,” “air pollution,” “soil pollution,” groundwater pollution,” nonpoint source pollution,” “rural water,” “water quality,” “PFAS,” “clean water,” “safe drinking water,” and “field drainage.”
  • “The leaked list of terms currently circulating was created by career employees tasked with reviewing active awards to ensure compliance with the President’s priorities and relevant Executive Orders,” a USDA spokesperson told Sentient in a statement.

LSP will continue to work toward creating a farm and food system that’s good for the land, people, and communities — even if it requires using banned phrases.

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The $20B Question Hanging Over America’s Struggling Farmers

(3/28/25) Farmers and ranchers across the country lost at least $20.3 billion in crops and rangeland to extreme weather last year, but there are concerns that the bulk of the USDA’s disaster payments will go into the pockets of industrial-scale operations raising commodities like corn, cotton, and soybeans. according to Grist. Highlights:

  • Texas experienced the highest losses for the third year in a row. Extreme drought, excessive heat, and high winds took out more than $3.4 billion worth of crops like cotton and wheat, and damaged rangeland. Flooding cost Minnesota some $1.45 billion in corn, soybeans, and forage, among other crops. California’ agricultural sector lost $1.4 billion to extreme weather.
  • Congress authorized nearly $31 billion in emergency assistance to help struggling producers. But the funding pot the agency plans to distribute makes up just a third of the assistance Congress approved. That $10 billion is intended for farmers growing traditional commodities, such as corn, cotton, and soybeans, and is available to those who experienced most any kind of loss, not just those stemming from extreme weather. Payouts are determined by multiplying a flat commodity rate, based on calculated economic loss, with acres planted. It significantly limits eligibility, said Billy Hackett, policy analyst at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, and funnels help away from smaller farmers into the pockets of industrial-scale operations.

LSP’s Farm Bill platform calls for, among other things, a reform of the federally subsidized crop insurance program so that it supports small and medium-sized farms that are utilizing climate-smart practices. In episode 299 of LSP’s Ear to the Ground podcast, we discuss work LSP has been doing to help farms survive (and thrive) in the age of climate change. 

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Grief Brought her Back to Western Minnesota. Now She’s Helping Restore Her Hometown

(4/7/25) A Minnesota Public Radio feature describes how Kris Shelstad has moved back to her hometown of Madison, Minn., and transformed a 15,000-foot vacant concrete block building into a hub of community activity. Highlights:

  • Madison Mercantile includes a for-profit coffee shop, and also serves as a venue for numerous community organizations to meet on a regular basis. Music lessons, an art gallery, a recycling center, and a community garden are all part of the mix. There are plans to put in a commercial kitchen for local food producers.
  • Shelstad moved from Texas back to the town of 1,500 people after her husband, Rick, suddenly died. She had retired after serving 30 years in the military and wrote grant proposals and gathered enough funding to remodel the building, which was a former lumberyard and hardware store.
  • “It was going to be a coffee house and art gallery, but then community members came in and said, ‘Hey, you should do this,’ and ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if we had that,’ ” Shelstad told MPR.

Madison Mercantile has served as a gathering spot for several recent LSP community organizing meetings centered around community food systems, local democracy, and rural economic development. Episode 284 of LSP’s Ear to the Ground podcast features a conversation with Kris Shelstad. In episode 347, LSP organizer Scott DeMuth talks about the importance of building the kind of rural communities that are attractive to returnees as well as newcomers.

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Category: Blog
Tags: avian flu • censorship • clean water • climate change • eggs • farm crisis • farm income • fertilizer • mental health • rural communities • rural economic development • soil health • tariffs • USDA • water quality

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.

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To read past issues of Land Land, see LSP’s blog page.

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Quotes of the Day

“The first therapist that I went to, he’s like: ‘So, do you have two hours every day to go sit by a lake or a pond and just reflect on things?’ I barely have 10 minutes to eat food on the farm.”

— Illinois farmer Maddie Caldwell

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 “I am sure that everyone — regardless of where they live (or their political party) — wants to have clean and safe drinking water, affordable housing, clean air, and wants to know if there’s PFAS in their soil.”

— Chellie Pingree, a member of the U.S. House Ag Committee

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“[The program] works exceedingly well for the largest farms, but leaves behind smaller farms.”

— Billy Hackett, policy analyst at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

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“We said we’re just gonna just let the community reveal itself.”

— Kris Shelstad, mastermind of Madison Mercantile

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Upcoming Events

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May 2025

Thursday May 29

9:00 am – 12:30 pm
Storytelling for Sales: Digital Marketing for Sustainable Farmers
Thursday May 29
9:00 am – 12:30 pm
Storytelling for Sales: Digital Marketing for Sustainable Farmers
Zoom Online

Storytelling for Sales: Digital Marketing Best Practices to Get Your Farm’s Next Customer is designed to help farmers grow their customer base by sharpening their storytelling and digital marketing skills—whether they’re selling through farmers’ markets, CSAs, or direct-to-retail. This Greener Pastures and Meet the Minnesota Makers workshop will cover how websites and social media can actually convert viewers into buyers to creating content that builds community loyalty.

This workshop is also designed for ag educators, professionals, and partner organizational staff who support farmers directly and want to be well-versed on the marketing best practices to support direct-to-consumer farms. 

For details and to register, click here.

Saturday May 31

10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Multi-species Pasture Walk
Saturday May 31
10:00 am – 12:30 pm
Multi-species Pasture Walk
872 320th Ave, Frederic, WI 54837, USA

The NW Wisconsin Graziers Network, River Country RC&Dand UW-Madison Extension invite you to a multi-species pasture walk hosted by JohnsonFamily Pastures LLC. The farm is located five miles east of Frederic in PolkCounty. This educational event willemphasize direct marketing, multi-species grazing, part-time family agricultureand silvopasture development. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided.

TheJohnson Family Pastures farm is home to Chris and Tamara Johnson and their twochildren. They raise grass-fed beef, silvopastured goats, and recently raised anumber of other species. The farm consists of about 160 acres of gently rollingpastures, silvopasture, and forest. Use of both temporary polybraid fencing andhigh tensile permanent fences allow for rotational grazing of small ruminants andout-wintering of beef cattle. Use of long-term farm transition strategies, cost-shareprograms, silvopasture development with goats, regenerative grazing, cattlehandling facility and bale grazing will be discussed along with answering anyand all questions from pasture walk participants.

An extensive and diversified direct marketing programhas been developed by Tamara and Chris that has included farmer markets, e-maillists, newsletters, website ordering, on-farm freezer storage, and other strategiesand tools to support direct sales and services for their customers.  Come and learn all about their successfulapproach.

For more information,contact Chris Johnson at 920-960-4475 or Lynn Johnson 715-225-9882 at NW Graziers.

June 2025

Wednesday June 25

2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
LSP-PFI Grazing Field Day at Hoosier Ridge Ranch
Wednesday June 25
2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
LSP-PFI Grazing Field Day at Hoosier Ridge Ranch
Hoosier Ridge Ranch, 15998 Wabasha County Rd 26, Altura, MN 55910, USA

Over the last 50 years, livestock have left many farms. Eric Heins is doing the reverse: bringing cattle – and their poop, pee and hooves – back to his land. Come see how Eric is using his Normande-shorthorn crosses in a variety of grazing situations. During this Land Stewardship Project-Practical Farmers of Iowa field day, you can view permanent pasture, where Eric (like everyone) is battling the cool-season grass takeover. You’ll also learn how Eric is using his cattle in cover crop mixes, prairie and woodlands.

Since purchasing the farm in 2020, Eric has converted the cropland to pasture. He also custom-farms a diverse rotation of crops, covers and small grains on neighboring farms, including an established prairie on Iowa Department of Natural Resources land. A possible bonus: Eric is hoping to have virtual fence collars by the time of the field day, but no guarantees!

A meal featuring Hoosier Ridge Ranch burgers will follow the field day.

See & Discuss

  • Cash-flowing the conversion to pasture on owned versus rented cropland
  • Stockpiling pasture for winter grazing
  • Mechanical buckthorn clearing for silvopasture
  • Grazing agreements on DNR prairie and neighboring cropland
  • A sudangrass mix after a canning pea crop
  • An extended rotation with oats, barley and Kernza

For details and to register, click here.

Saturday June 28

4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
LSP's Boots & Roots: A Celebration of Land & People
Saturday June 28
4:00 pm – 8:00 pm
LSP's Boots & Roots: A Celebration of Land & People
Dream Acres, Co Hwy 8, Spring Valley, MN 55975, USA

Join Land Stewardship Project members and supporters to kick-start the Driftless summer with an evening of good food, good music, and good times. We’ll have activities for all ages that will get you out in nature, exploring the connection between our region’s farms and your community’s food, land, and water. Bring a side or dessert to share for dinner, and the Dream Acres wood-fired oven will provide locally-sourced pizzas and flat breads. Dinner will be followed by live music and contra dancing by the Crater City String Band.  

To reserve a spot, click here.

Camping sites are available at nearby Masonic Park and Forestville Mystery Cave and Lake Louise State Parks. Camping at Masonic is rustic,first-come-first-serve, free, and does not require a reservation. Fillmore County, who manages the park, only asks that you call the dispatchers at507-765-3874 when you arrive with your vehicle information and phone number in case of emergency. State Park reservations cost $25 a night and can be made online.

July 2025

Tuesday July 15

5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Organic Fruit & Vegetable Field Day
Tuesday July 15
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Organic Fruit & Vegetable Field Day
1805 Dudley Ave, Falcon Heights, MN 55113, USA

Join U of M researchers and Extension for updates on organic fruit and vegetable research and tour the Student Organic Farm and the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station in Saint Paul. Topics include: organic insect management, integrating livestock into vegetable farms, new crops for Minnesota, irrigation strategies, and more. Free to the public.
 
For details and to register, click here.

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