Land Stewardship Project

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LSP Publications

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As part of its education-to-action strategy, the Land Stewardship Project periodically produces deeply researched publications on everything from soil health and local democracy to the need for policy reform.

Click on the Headings to Download pdfs of these LSP Publications

LSP Bridge to Soil Health Program’s Peer-to-Peer Learning Groups:
The Strategy & Construction of Regional Farmer Soil Hubs

Through this publication, LSP is sharing our experience constructing and implementing the Regional Soil Hubs through our Bridge to Soil Health initiative. We hope that other agricultural groups, including farmer-led groups, might want to borrow or adapt some of the approaches we’ve used.

 

Soil Health, Water & Climate Change: A Pocket Guide to What You Need to Know

This 50-page pocket guide provides policymakers, educators, journalists, and the general public an introduction to the latest innovations in science and farming related to building soil health, and how implementing such practices on a wide scale basis can make agriculture a powerful force for creating a landscape that is good for our water and our climate. Download the app here; download the pdf here.

 

Our Minnesota Future: A Vision for Rural Minnesota

A Vision for Rural Minnesota was developed from input given by hundreds of Land Stewardship Project members during the fall of 2017. This publication is designed as a tool to use in conversations with neighbors, candidates for public office, and others about our values, challenges, and vision for the future of rural communities and our state.

Building the Bridge to Soil Health

In October 2020, a special LSP report was published: Building the Bridge to Soil Health: The Power of Organizing Farmer-to-Farmer Engagement. It describes the organization’s experience with launching the Bridge to Soil Health initiative in Minnesota. The report is available here.

Farming to Capture Carbon & Address Climate
Change Through Building Soil Health

This LSP white paper, written by George Boody in 2020, describes how well-managed grazing and continuous living cover benefit the climate, our waters, farmers, and taxpayers through improved soil health.

Special Report: Soil Health, Profits & Resiliency

In 2012 the Land Stewardship Letter published a series of articles on the groundbreaking work being done by a team of farmers, conservationists and scientists in North Dakota’s Burleigh County to combine soil health, profitability, and greater overall community sustainability. This special report combines those articles and information on additional resources.

Special Report: King of the Cover Crops

In 2015 and 2016, the Land Stewardship Letter published a series of articles on the Indiana soil health hubs that brought together farmers, resource professionals, implement dealers, and input suppliers. These networks helped make the state a leader in cover cropping and greatly influenced LSP’s development of similar soil health hubs in Minnesota.

The Money Pit: How Minnesota Property Taxpayers are Subsidizing Factory Farms 

This is an LSP report on how a little-known law exempting manure storage facilities from property taxes unfairly benefits large-scale livestock operations.

The Land Stewardship Letter 

This is the nationally-known publication of the Land Stewardship Project. 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.

Connecting Economic & Racial Justice to Expand a Rural Social Justice Network

LSP has developed “Connecting Economic & Racial Justice to Expand a Rural Social Justice Network” as a reference document for any group, agency, or organization looking to establish and grow a social justice network in their locality. This report is also intended to guide other social justice networks through discussions and activities that draw out their values, experiences, and ideas for influencing social change in their communities.

Protecting Your Township from Unwanted Development 

Produced by LSP’s Policy and Organizing Program, this booklet provides guidance to townships on using the Minnesota Interim Ordinance and other tools in the state’s Municipal Planning law. It also contains an extensive list of resources. This is the 3rd edition of this publication; it was originally written in 1997 and updated again in 2006. The 2018 version includes significant updates, including information on frac sand mining operations. 65 pages.

People’s EIS Scoping Report: Citizen Comments on the Necessary Scope and Depth of the Environmental Impact Statement on the Minnesota Sands Frac Sand Proposal

On Tuesday, July 9, 2013, 100 people attended a Land Stewardship Project meeting in Rushford, Minn., to state their serious concerns about the destructive impacts a frac sand mining proposal would have on their lives and communities and to raise the specific issues that must be included within the scope of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) being done on the proposal. Their comments are compiled in this report.

Creating a Bright Future for Livestock Farms in Minnesota: A Report by the Citizen Task Force on Livestock Farms & Rural Communities

In 2004, the Citizen Task Force on Livestock Farmers and Rural Communities studied the challenges and opportunities facing livestock farmers and rural communities, and assembled a list of priority recommendations to policy makers and community leaders on ways to increase the number and profitability of Minnesota livestock farmers in ways that benefit rural communities, recognizing that livestock farmers and vibrant rural communities are interrelated.

The Syngenta Corporation & Atrazine: The Cost to the Land, People & Democracy 

In January 2010 the Land Stewardship Project and Pesticide Action Network North America collaborated on a special report on atrazine, one of the most commonly detected pesticides in U.S. ground and surface water. This report offers a review of the many environmental and health concerns surrounding atrazine and describes how its inventor and primary manufacturer, Syngenta, has resisted attempts to conduct extensive research on the chemical and regulate its use. The report also highlights what farmers can do to end their reliance on atrazine.

Crop Insurance Reports

Farmer-members of the Land Stewardship Project have long called for reforms to the federally subsidized crop insurance program. Originally developed as a basic safety net that would prevent farmers from being wiped out by a weather disaster, the program has evolved into a system for subsidizing the growth and consolidation or mega-cropping operations. This has been bad news for small and medium-sized farmers as well as soil health, water quality, and wildlife habitat. Over the years, LSP has worked with its members and various experts to develop numerous reports on what’s wrong with the crop insurance program and what reforms are needed to bring it back to its roots as a fair safety net.

 

Crop Insurance: How a Safety Net Became a Farm Policy Disaster

– White Paper #1: Crop Insurance — The Corporate Connection

Crop Insurance: How a Safety Net Became a Farm Policy Disaster

– White Paper #2: Crop Insurance Ensures the Big Get Bigger

Crop Insurance: How a Safety Net Became a Farm Policy Disaster

– White Paper #3: How Crop Insurance Hurts the Next Generation of Farmers

Crop Insurance: How a Safety Net Became a Farm Policy Disaster

– Principles of Reform

Crop Insurance: How a Safety Net Became a Farm Policy Disaster

– Why Investigate Crop Insurance?

Crop Insurance: How a Safety Net Became a Farm Policy Disaster

– Fact Sheet: How Federally Subsidized Crop Insurance Works

Crop Insurance: A Torn Safety Net

– Why the Farm Bill’s Biggest Agricultural Program is a Boon to Corporations and a Bust for Family Farmers & the Land

Contact

Brian DeVore, managing editor, 612-816-9342, e-mail

  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Long Range Plan
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
      • LSP Board Committees
    • LSP Steering Committees & Working Groups
    • Contact Us
    • Past LSP Projects
    • Employment & Volunteer Opportunities
    • LSP Publications
    • Financial Statements
  • Join, Donate, or Renew
  • Building People Power

Upcoming Events

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September 2025

Monday September 1

All Day
Final Deadline for LSP's Farm Beginnings Course
Monday September 1
Final Deadline for LSP's Farm Beginnings Course

Beginning and prospective farmers are invited to apply to the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings course, a year-long training program that focuses on the goal setting, marketing, and financial skills needed to establish a successful farm business. The Farm Beginnings course creates a space for folks to name their vision, acquire the tools and skills needed to make it happen, and become part of a community of support to help them succeed.  

The course will run from November 2025 through March 2026, with some additional educational opportunities to take place later in 2026. 

The deadline for applications is Sept. 1. Early bird applications submitted by Aug. 1 will receive a $100 discount if you are accepted into the class. Partial scholarships are available.

More details are at http://www.farmbeginnings.org or Annelie Livingston-Anderson at annelie@landstewardshipproject.org.

You can apply to the course here.

Friday September 5

9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Soil Health Field Day on the Cotter Farm: Austin
Friday September 5
9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Soil Health Field Day on the Cotter Farm: Austin
50203 205th St, Austin, MN 55912, USA

 Sign up today for a get-together down on Tom Cotter’s Farm. This field day brings together food companies, local farmers and other professionals in agriculture — a perfect opportunity for networking and discussion.
Hear from soil health experts, then board the Topless Bus to take a tour of Tom’s farm. A FREE TACO BAR LUNCH will featureTom’s own grass-fed beef, along with authentic, homemade tortillas and rice. Featured speakers include soil scientist Kris Nichols and agronomist Joe Ailts.
 
You can check out the field day flier here. For more details and to register, click here.

Saturday September 6

9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Soil & Food Health Field Day: Austin
Saturday September 6
9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Soil & Food Health Field Day: Austin
50203 205th St, Austin, MN 55912, USA

Details are here.

Monday September 8

7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Anne Biklé in conversation with Ross Evelsizer: What Your Food Ate
Monday September 8
7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Anne Biklé in conversation with Ross Evelsizer: What Your Food Ate
Pulpit Rock Brewing Company, 207 College Dr, Decorah, IA 52101, USA

Join Anne Biklé (co-author, What Your Food Ate: How to Restore Our Land and Reclaim Our Health) and NEIA RC & D Natural Resource Projects Director, Ross Evelsizer, for a conversation and Q & A session followed by a book signing. Everyone is invited to this free event sponsored by the Oneota Valley Literary Foundation, with support from Pulpit Rock Brewing and Dragonfly Books.
 
Details on the Sept. 8 event are here.

Tuesday September 9

9:00 am – 3:00 pm
'Growing Resilience' Field Day at Churchill Reserve Grass-Fed Beef
Tuesday September 9
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
'Growing Resilience' Field Day at Churchill Reserve Grass-Fed Beef
36001 63rd Avenue Way Cannon Falls, MN, 55009

Spend a day with Clean River Partners and farmers discussing their experiences with different conservation management practices as they navigate the challenges of making a livelihood, accessing land and markets, and dealing with unpredictable weather conditions.

Join farmers Bryan Lips (BT Farms), Wendy Johnson (Jóia Food & Fiber Farm), Todd Churchill (Churchill Reserve), Helen Forsythe (Feed the People Farm Cooperative), and more, to discuss topics like wide-row corn and cover crops, the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program, agroforestry, growing small grains, and prescribed grazing. 

For more information and to register, click here. 

Join with Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/sft-zqyb-qkm

Learn more about Meet at: https://support.google.com/a/users/answer/9282720

View Full Calendar

Recent Posts

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  • Tell the MPCA by Sept. 10 to Focus on Clean Water, New Crops & Living Cover August 22, 2025
  • Land Line: Farm Finance Crisis, Mental Health, Inflated Inputs, Crop-Livestock Synergy, Bread Bloat, Pesticides in Water, Soil Health & MAHA August 9, 2025
  • Farmers Gather in Madison to Discuss ‘Bringing Small Grains Back to Minnesota’ August 6, 2025
  • Land Line: USDA Changes, Climate-Smart Ag, Dead Zone, Nitrate Pollution, Feedlot Regs, Soil Bacteria, the Power of Diverse Farming July 28, 2025

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