SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Guaranteeing a brighter future for rural Minnesota is about creating the opportunity for farmers and nonfarmers to make choices, Pine County livestock producer Hannah Bernhardt told over 150 Land Stewardship Project (LSP) members and allies gathered at Christ Lutheran Church on Capitol Hill in Saint Paul on March 11. The event Bernhardt spoke at marked the 21st iteration of LSP’s Family Farm Breakfast and Day at the Capitol.
“Wherever we look, there are monopolies,” she said. “We are not free as Americans when we only have one choice: one place to get groceries, one hospital system, one tractor repair shop, one choice of a market for farmers to sell into.”
That’s why LSP is working during the 2026 session of the state Legislature to advance policy that promotes giving Minnesotans more choices around everything from the source of their kids’ food at schools and who gets access to farmland, to the quality of water in rural communities and the health of the soil, according to Laura Schreiber, LSP’s director of government relations.
Moses Momanyi, a native of Kenya who has been raising vegetables near Cambridge, Minn., since 2014, said during the breakfast one way to provide more food choices is by supporting immigrant farmers like himself via publicly-funded programs that provide assistance in obtaining land and basic infrastructure. He is currently mentoring dozens of immigrant farmers and one sign of how much interest there is in farming is the high demand for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Beginning Farmer Equipment and Infrastructure Grant. Applications totaling over $18 million were recently submitted to the grant program, but less than $900,000 in funding was available.
“There are hundreds of farmers out there who want to farm,” he said, adding that support from the public for farmers like himself is particularly key at a time when the federal government is targeting immigrants through Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids. “We have a lot of farmers who feel threatened. How do allies in rural areas advocate for emerging farmers and immigrants? It takes efforts on the part of all of us.”
Keyonte speaker Francisco Segovia echoed Momanyi’s sentiments. Segovia is the executive director of COPAL, which advocates for Latines in Minnesota. In 2025, COPAL, LSP and other partners launched the Immigrant Defense Network, a network of more than 90 immigrant, labor, legal, faith and community organizations dedicated to protecting and advancing the constitutional rights of immigrant communities across Minnesota. Segovia, a native of El Salvador, said although a federal agency tasked with immigration enforcement has been actively targeting people, this is an issue that affects everyone, no matter where they were born.
“This is not about immigrants,” he said. “The immigrant issue is a vehicle to destroy our democracy. If we want to shape the future we want, we must connect across communities and build a common vision.”
Peggy Flanagan, Minnesota’s Lieutenant Governor, told breakfast participants that such collective action involving rural, suburban and urban people can counter the clout of powerful corporations.
“The future of agriculture doesn’t belong to big corporations,” she said. “The future of agriculture belongs to Minnesotans.”
After the breakfast, over 80 LSP members and allies walked over to the Capitol across the street to meet with lawmakers, including the chairs of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees, to relay their stories and provide details on various legislative proposals related to LSP’s priorities. LSP members also met with Attorney General Keith Ellison to discuss corporate consolidation, unfair marketing practices and an attempt on the part of Riverview Dairy to build the largest concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) in the state’s history.
“We know it’s a volatile time for both farmers and communities at large, which is why we need to lift up and invest in solutions that create stable, quality markets for farmers, invest in the next generation of farmers and make sure communities are put at the center, not corporations,” said Schreiber.
During the 2026 session, LSP is advocating for bills related to downpayment assistance support for new farmers seeking land, bolstering funding for local purchasing programs such as farm to school and early care initiatives, expansion of Olmsted County’s innovative soil health/water quality program targeted at farmers and requiring mandatory environmental impact statements for new or expanding livestock operations that will hold 10,000 animal units or more.
“You have the wisdom, you have the ability to persuade,” Stephen Carpenter, an attorney with Farmers’ Legal Action Group, told the breakfast participants before they headed out to lobby. “Go get ‘em.”
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The Land Stewardship Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to an ethic of stewardship for farmland, promoting sustainable agriculture and developing healthy communities. LSP has offices in the Minnesota communities of Lewiston, Montevideo and South Minneapolis. More information is at landstewardshipproject.org.