Land Stewardship Project

Land Stewardship Project
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Legacy Giving

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Bequests

A bequest (or planned gift) goes a long way toward ensuring the Land Stewardship Project’s long-term impact in the generations to come. The most common planned gifts are made through wills or trusts, but many people choose to make legacy gifts to LSP through retirement accounts, pension plans, life insurance, charitable trusts, securities, gift annuities, and even gifts of real estate. LSP is set up to accept any of these types of gifts. It simply requires you to direct those in charge of your finances to include a bequest to LSP. Please contact Josh Journey-Heinz, LSP major gifts officer, via e-mail or at 612-400-6347 for more resources to aid you in this process.

Gifts of Stock

Gifts of stock are a great way to support the Land Stewardship Project with a major gift. As per policy, LSP sells any and all stocks that we receive within a few days of attaining them. This ensures those funds go right to work and not be subject to long-term risk. Gifts of stock have made a great deal possible at LSP over the years. Contact Josh Journey-Heinz, LSP major gifts officer, via e-mail or at 612-400-6347 for the instructions your broker will need to get it done.

Required Minimum Distributions (or RMDs)

If you have been able to contribute to a tax-deferred 401(k) or IRA, income tax is due on that money when you take withdrawals in retirement. Annual withdrawals from these retirement accounts are typically required after age 70 1/2, and the penalty for skipping a required minimum distribution is 50% of the amount that should have been withdrawn. Why not avoid that penalty by donating that money directly to the Land Stewardship Project (501c3)? If you are over 70 1/2 and have an IRA that requires a minimum distribution, ask your IRA broker or tax planner how your retirement account can be used to help grow LSP’s work AND reduce your tax bill.

Gifts of Land

The Land & Stewardship Legacies initiative provides a way for your family’s legacy on the land to continue by using it to support LSP’s work or to provide opportunities for a new generation of stewardship farmers. LSP is able to accept gifts of farmland or other real estate from members or other friends of our organization. The Stewardship Legacy secures financial resources to support the work of the Land Stewardship Project now and into the future. The Land Legacy is distinguished by accepting gifts of suitable parcels of farmland that can be sold to promising graduates of LSP’s Farm Beginnings program.

For background on the Land & Stewardship Legacies initiative, click here.

For general questions on whether this giving program is right for you, contact Josh Journey-Heinz via e-mail or at 612-400-6347. You can also contact LSP’s offices in the Minnesota communities of Lewiston (507-523-3366) or Montevideo (320-269-2105). We would be happy to discuss what kinds of options you have in giving, the benefits you can experience, and the variety of ways LSP might utilize your gift. There is no pressure — we will simply begin the conversation about whether donating your property through this initiative is right for you and LSP.

  • To learn more about LSP’s policy on handling gifts of land, please look over our Land Legacy Policy for Real Estate Gifts.
  • If you want to get the ball rolling on a making a gift of land, please read and fill out this Land Inquiry Form.
  • For more information on Farm Beginnings, click here.
  • In an LSP video, members Dennis and Carol Johnson talk about how they used a gift of land to support what’s important to them. The video is available here. LSP would like to thank member Audrey Arner and the University of Minnesota-Morris for developing this video.

Individual Donations can be mailed to:

Land Stewardship Project
821 E. 35th Street Suite 200
Minneapolis, MN 55407

 

Contact

Josh Journey-Heinz, LSP major gifts officer, e-mail, 612-400-6347

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    • Take Action!
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      • Stay Connected
      • Join, Donate, or Renew Today!
      • Shop
      • Employment & Volunteer Opportunities
      • Legacy Giving
    • Network with LSP Members
      • Farmland Clearinghouse
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    • Farmland Clearinghouse
  • Join, Donate, or Renew
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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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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

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