Land Stewardship Letter

The Land Stewardship Letter is the official publication of the Land Stewardship Project, a private, nonprofit organization.

Subscription Information

Members of the Land Stewardship Project receive a hard copy of this newsletter as a benefit. Annual membership dues are $35. Address all membership inquiries to Clara Sanders via e-mail or at 612-400-6340. Click here for detailed information on becoming a member of LSP today.

Inquiries

Address all inquiries pertaining to the editorial content of the Land Stewardship Letter to Brian DeVore, 4917 Nokomis Avenue South, Minneapolis MN 55417; phone: 612-816-9342, e-mail.

Printed Copies

Some paper versions of Land Stewardship Letter back issues are available at no cost. For more information on ordering back issues, call 612-816-9342 or e-mail Brian DeVore.

Online Format

Issues of the Land Stewardship Letter can be downloaded in pdf format. We also have recent issues available in an online readable format.

**Recent issues of the Land Stewardship Letter:**

No. 1, 2022, Land Stewardship Letter

LSP’s New Executive Director ♦ Lorraine Redig’s Words of Wisdom ♦ The 2023 Farm Bill ♦ 2022 Legislative Update ♦ Land Stewardship Action Fund ♦ Tiny Milk Enterprise ♦ Incubating Immigrants ♦ Creeping Crawlers in the Dark of Night ♦ Johnson-Su Bioreactors ♦ In Search of Water & the Fungus Among Us ♦ Tell Us an LSP Story

No. 2, 2021, Land Stewardship Letter

A Season of Field Days ♦ Dave Serfling’s Policy Breakthrough ♦ Manure Methane’s False Promise ♦ Minnesota Legislative Preview ♦ Drought Assistance ♦ The Unpalatability of Food Concentration ♦ A CAFO Stymied ♦ Soil Health’s Wonder Field ♦ Journeyperson Paces a Farm ♦ A Commons Approach to Land Access ♦ Building Community Food Webs ♦ CSA Directory ♦ A Revamped Website

No. 1, 2021, Land Stewardship Letter

LSP Leadership Change ♦ 2 Decades of Farm Beginnings ♦ A Few Words for Water ♦ Raw Deal on Farmland ♦ Seeing Whiteness in the Food System ♦ Reawakening Native Farming’s Heritage ♦ Hybrid Rye Takes on an Evolutionary Monster ♦ Meditations with Cows

No. 3, 2020, Land Stewardship Letter

Sustainable Vs. Regenerative ♦ Dennis Johnson’s Deep-Rooted Legacy ♦ Fake Meat’s False Promise ♦ Farmers Speak Out on Soil & Climate ♦ Rural Justice Video Series ♦ Letting Livestock do the Soil Health Work ♦ Grazing Photo Contest ♦ Soil Health Music Videos ♦ LSP Soil Health Reports ♦ Farm Beginnings: An Enigma in Corn Country ♦ 2021 CSA Farm Directory

No. 2, 2020, Land Stewardship Letter

Rural Stress ♦ Big Meat’s Big Lie ♦ Legislative Wrap-up ♦ Organizing & Social Change Cohort ♦ Shocks to the System ♦ Lack of Local Meat Processing ♦ Racism is Not Sustainable ♦ A Caver-Farmer’s Report from the Underground ♦ Farm Transition Power Team ♦ SILT’s Removal of the Spectre of Speculation ♦ Farm Transition Tools ♦ Registered to Vote? ♦ Losing Farmers, Losing Community

No. 1, 2020, Land Stewardship Letter

New ED ♦ Frac Sand Ban ♦ The Voices of the Farm Crisis ♦ The Power of Small Group Discussions ♦ Insects, Ag & Economics ♦ Power Walking Pastures ♦ That Farm on Highway 40 ♦ Wildling ♦ Making a Wager on Smaller Dairy Farms ♦ Ag’s Climate Change Potential ♦ Channeling Water’s Profitability ♦ A New Generation of Soil Generators ♦ Fulfilling a Social Contract with Carrots

No. 3, 2019, Land Stewardship Letter

Sustainable Ag Oral History ♦ Mega Dairies & Local Economies ♦ Partners on the Food Marketing Front ♦ Developing Financial Skills ♦ Farm Crisis Statement ♦ Standing Up to a Factory Farm ♦ Talking Trade ♦ Renting It Out Right ♦ Conservation Leases Toolkit ♦ Farm Transition Planning ♦ Science of Soil Health Resiliency ♦ Report from the Soil Health Underground ♦ Farming for the Long Haul

No. 2, 2019, Land Stewardship Letter

LSP’s New Long Range Plan ♦ Mark Schultz Retires ♦ Racial Justice Cohort ♦ Carbon’s Crisis Management Potential ♦ Legislative Wrap-up ♦ A Healthcare Victory ♦ Farm-to-School ♦ Power of Perennial Roots ♦ Leases that Fit Your Values ♦ Soil Builders’ Network ♦ Grazing Financials Fact Sheet ♦ Suzanne Swanson Poetry ♦ Relentless Business of Treaties ♦ Farming for the Long Haul

No. 1, 2019, Land Stewardship Letter

Remembering Dean Harrington & Chris Blanchard ♦ Land Gifts & Indigenous Lands ♦ Nitrogen Fertilizer’s Limitation ♦ Frac Sand Case ♦ Family Farm Breakfast ♦ Healthcare Victory ♦ Factory Farms ♦ 2019 Legislative Session ♦ Rooting a Landownership Relationship in Soil ♦ Local Foods Initiative ♦ Rallying Around a Beginning Farmer ♦ Integrating Crops & Livestock ♦ Storm Lake

No. 4, 2018, Land Stewardship Letter

Respect Our Mother ♦ Land Sharing Vs. Land Sparing ♦ LSP Youth Summit ♦ Farm Financial Stress ♦ Hidden Figures of Soil Health ♦ Soil Health Pocket Guide ♦ Tale of the Soil Health Trench ♦ Talking Smart Soil ♦ Grazing Fact Sheet ♦ Land-Based Launching Pad ♦ Landowner-Renter Workshops ♦ Farm Dreams ♦ Farm Beginnings ♦ Beginning Farmer Podcast ♦ Dirt to Soil ♦ Wildly Successful Farming

No. 3, 2018, Land Stewardship Letter

The War on SNAP ♦ Journalists Get the Scoop on Soil Health ♦ Farm Beginnings Field Days ♦ Fighting Factory Farms ♦ Healthcare Petition ♦ Our Minnesota Future ♦ Land Stewardship Action Fund ♦ Cropping Systems Calculator ♦ Soil Health & Profits ♦ Soil Health Pocket Guide ♦ Climate Conversation ♦ Ecological Agrarians ♦ Farm Dreams ♦ Wildly Successful Farming

No. 2, 2018, Land Stewardship Letter

Bold Solutions Call for Bold Actions ♦ Family Farm Breakfast ♦ Remembering Dwight Ault ♦ Legislative Update ♦ Federal Farm Bill ♦ Private Insurer Waste ♦ Ray Archuleta’s Soil Passion ♦ The Currency of Carbon ♦ Climate Video ♦ Calculating Erosion’s Cost ♦ Beginning Farmer Tax Credit ♦ Farm Stress: Never, Ever Ignore the Problem ♦ When Nature Bites Back ♦ The Driftless Reader

No. 1, 2018, Land Stewardship Letter

Climate Change, Agriculture & Energy ♦ The Economics of Working Lands Conservation ♦ Crop Insurance: A Torn Safety Net ♦ Healthcare ♦ A Vision for Rural Minnesota ♦ Call to Save CSP ♦ Bringing Soil Health of Congress ♦ Racial Justice Cohort ♦ Farm Dreams ♦ Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship ♦ Making Connections in Mexico ♦ CSA Farm Directory ♦ Ten Plants that Changed Minnesota

Upcoming Events

September 2022

Tuesday September 27

All Day: LSP Monthly Virtual Policy Organzing Meeting

LSP Monthly Virtual Policy Organzing Meeting

Tuesday September 27

Join LSP as we launch our first of many Monthly Virtual Policy Organizing Meetings! On the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. we will gather to learn about what is happening at the state, local, and federal level; take collective action together; dive into an issue campaign of your choice; and break out into regional groups to build relationships with other LSPers in your area. For more information or to register, see https://secure.everyaction.com/Kcxzxu1pB0mYNb5LFrXvbA2.

Friday September 30 – Sunday October 2

Upper Minnesota River Valley Arts Crawl

Friday September 30 – Sunday October 2

Planning on joining the Meander Art Crawl in the Upper Minnesota River Valley Sept. 30-Oct. 2? While checking out the art, munch on local foods produced by LSP member-farmers and others that will be featured at various Meander stops. For a complete list, click here.

Friday September 30

9:00 am – 2:00 pm: Field Day on Test Plots, Cover Crop Interseeding, Pollinators & Grazing

Field Day on Test Plots, Cover Crop Interseeding, Pollinators & Grazing

Friday September 30

9:00 am – 2:00 pm

Test plots, interseeding and grazing cover crops, fencing around crop fields, pollinator plantings and transitioning to organic will be the focus of a Land Stewardship Project field day Friday, Sept. 30, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Lawler farm near Eyota (930 70th Ave. NE). Although much of the Lawlers’ home farm is organic, the test plots are managed conventionally, and the field day is open to all producers. The event is free and lunch will be provided. To reserve a spot, contact LSP’s Maura Curry at 651-249-6308 or mcurry@landstewardshipproject.org, or visit bit.ly/LawlerFieldDay.

Directions: From Highway 14, turn north onto 55th Avenue NE, then take a right on Collegeview Road E., and a left on 70th Ave. to arrive at the home farm. The field day will take place at University of Minnesota test plots down the road from the farm.

Steve, Tim and Joe Lawler operate a seventh generation row crop and beef cattle farm. The Lawlers believe that in order to be true stewards of the land, soil health and regeneration must be the foundation of their enterprises. Steve is a registered soil scientist and has worked in the private sector, along with various state and federal agencies, promoting, researching and implementing soil health and conservation best practices. Tim has a degree in agronomy and spent his early years in Brazil educating and working directly with farmers and ranchers. He recently retired from a career in agribusiness. Joe has a degree in accounting and works in the energy sector.

Besides providing a look at their use of soil health practices to raise crops, the Lawlers will present information on their livestock production enterprise. Nutrient management, grazing and watering considerations will be discussed. Along with cover crop and livestock integration, the Lawlers would like to share other practices they have implemented, including no/minimum-till, shelterbelts, rotational grazing and stream bank fencing.

October 2022

Saturday October 1

8:30 am – 1:30 pm: Agroecology in Plants & Soil Health Workshop Series: Life in Soil

Agroecology in Plants & Soil Health Workshop Series: Life in Soil

Saturday October 1

8:30 am – 1:30 pm

Minnesota State College Southeast is putting on a new series in agroecology, with an emphasis on plants and soil health. This series is designed to encourage and support the planning, development, and production efforts of local urban gardeners and farmers. All different types of adult learners interested in applying ecological principles in the management of plants and soil are invited to attend. The series will be taught by Bruno Borsari. For details on the entire series, check out this flier.

To register, click here.

Sunday October 2

4:00 pm – 7:00 pm: Soil Health Deep Canvass — MN Senate District 24

Soil Health Deep Canvass — MN Senate District 24

Sunday October 2

4:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Join us in calling voters in Senate District 24 (Olmsted and Dodge Counties) to have in-depth and values-based conversations about why we need to elect state legislators who will champion public investments in our soil and climate. Before we dive into the calling, we will be reviewing the script and who we’ll be calling, and answering any questions you have. Attend via Zoom or in-person at the Land Stewardship Minneapolis office.

This is critical organizing work that will make a difference in this fall’s election and beyond, so we hope you can be a part of this work with us!

To register, click here.

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