Land Stewardship Project

Land Stewardship Project
  • 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
  • The Latest
    • Community Care
    • Songs for the Soil
    • CSA Farm Directory
    • Upcoming Events
    • News
      • News Releases
      • Media Contacts
      • LSP in the News
    • Blog
    • Podcast
    • Land Stewardship Letter
    • LIVE-WIRE Sign-up
    • Myth Busters
    • Fact Sheets
    • Farm Crisis Resources
  • For Farmers & Landowners
    • Farmland Clearinghouse
    • New Farmers
      • Farm Beginnings Class
      • Journeyperson Course
      • Farm Dreams
      • Accessing Farmland
      • Farmland Clearinghouse
      • Beginning/Retiring Farmer Tax Credit
      • Beginning Farmer Profiles
      • Fresh Voices Podcast Series
    • Retiring Farmers & Landowners
      • Farmland Clearinghouse
      • Farm Transition Course 2026
      • Conservation Leases
      • Beginning/Retiring Farmer Tax Credit
      • Land Transition Tools
      • Transition Stories
    • Soil Health
      • Cover Crops
      • Grazing
      • No-till
      • Microbiology
      • Kernza
      • Soil Builders’ Network
      • Soil Builders’ E-Letters
      • Soil Health Steering Committee Members
      • Ear Dirt Soil Health Podcast Series
    • Cropping Systems Calculator
    • Conservation Leases
  • Creating Change
    • Community-Based Food Systems
      • Ear Bites Community-Based Food Podcast Series
    • Policy Campaigns
      • Soil Health & Climate Change
      • Healthcare
      • Factory Farms
        • Anti-Competitiveness & Price Gouging
        • LSP Powerline Story Center
      • Federal Policy
        • A Farm Bill For Us
      • State Policy
        • MN Farm, Food & Climate Funding
      • Developing Leadership
    • Justice & Stewardship
    • Organizational Stewardship
  • Get Involved
    • Your Membership Matters
    • Take Action!
    • Upcoming Events
    • Land Stewardship Action Fund
    • Connect with LSP
      • Stay Connected
      • Join, Donate, or Renew Today!
      • Shop
      • Employment & Volunteer Opportunities
      • Legacy Giving
    • Network with LSP Members
      • Farmland Clearinghouse
      • Soil Health
    • Farmland Clearinghouse
  • Join, Donate, or Renew Today!
  • Stay Connected
  • Contact Us
  • Shop
Search
More...

Midwestern Farmers Invited to Answer this Question: What Do YOU Want in the New Farm Bill? 

Farmers in Minnesota, Iowa & Wisconsin Asked to Participate in New Survey

February 24, 2022

Share

  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • email

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — As discussions around the 2023 Farm Bill get off the ground, a key group of people are being asked to share their views on the future of agricultural policy: farmers. During the next several weeks, the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) is circulating the National Young Farmer Survey in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin in partnership with Midwest Farmers of Color Collective and National Young Farmers Coalition. The results from these Midwestern states will be combined with survey data from across the country and serve as the basis for advocacy efforts that will develop a Farm Bill that benefits farmers, the land and rural communities. LSP is encouraging farmers to take the survey at surveymonkey.com/r/lspyoungfarmers.

The Farm Bill is a comprehensive piece of legislation reauthorized  every five years that dictates everything from which crops are produced to how they are grown and who makes money from them. It also has a big influence on what conservation practices are used on farmland and how corporate consolidation is regulated. Although agricultural policy is supposed to benefit all farmers, over the years the Farm Bill has had significant negative impacts on rural communities, according to LSP organizer Jessica Kochick. Farmland consolidation, eroded soil, shuttered Main Streets and lack of opportunities for beginning farmers are just some of the results of a policy that is tilted in favor of major agricultural corporations, she said. The goal of the National Young Farmer Survey is to get input from farmers who are often not represented in the development of agricultural policy and overlooked in USDA Census of Agriculture collection efforts.

“The Farm Bill has lasting  implications on  food accessibility, soil health, water quality, rural community growth, racial equity and climate resilience,” said Kochick. “To truly have a Farm Bill that represents more than the interests of big agribusiness, we need to hear from small and midsized farmers, as well as emerging and beginning farmers, farmers of color and immigrant farmers.”

The survey is also directed at people who are considering seeking farming as a career, as well as former farmers and landowners who may be renting out their acres. Questions center around what barriers may be getting in the way of helping small and midsized producers get established and be successful, such as lack of access to land and credit and a shortage of local meat processing facilities. Young farmers like Adam Griebie see the survey as a way to influence a piece of policy that is all too often drafted far away from the communities it most impacts.

“I  took  the  survey  to  bring  Washington,  D.C.,  closer  to  my  farm  and  community,” said Griebie, who raises corn and soybeans and utilizes award-winning conservation practices in central Minnesota’s McLeod County. He also serves on LSP’s Farm Bill Organizing Committee. “This is a way to promote forward movement in land stewardship and healthy farming practices for both the land and people.”

Zoe Hollomon, who serves on the coordinating team of the Midwest Farmers of Color Collective, said the Farm Bill has wide-ranging impacts on the food and farm system, making it imperative that people from various backgrounds send a message to policymakers that status quo agriculture policy is not acceptable.

“Every five years our country decides how to invest in food and agriculture in the Farm Bill,” said Hollomon. “With impacts on farm subsidies, market supports, insurance, school and emergency food, as well as community food planning grants, there’s none of us who won’t be affected. We’re taking a stand with under-resourced farmers across the country to demand the land, funding and technical support we deserve to farm. Let’s use our voice to make this Farm Bill invest in a different kind of food system, one that will leave our communities with more control over our food, labor and resources.”

-30-

Farmers working on the SASA Organic Farms operation near Cambridge, Minn.
Category: News Releases
Tags: 2023 Farm Bill • agriculture policy • beginning farmers • Farm Beginnings • Farm Bill • farmers of color • land access • Midwest Farmers of Color Collective • National Young Farmers Coalition • USDA

Contact

Jessica Kochick, LSP,  e-mail, 612-400-6349

Upcoming Events

×

October 2025

Tuesday October 28

12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
MDA Grants Webinar
Tuesday October 28
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
MDA Grants Webinar
Zoom online

Are you interested in applying for a grant from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA)? On Tuesday, Oct. 28, from noon to 1:30 p.m., the Land Stewardship Project will be holding an online webinar on four grants that will be available this fall. MDA staffers will go over the details of these grants and how to apply for them.

 To sign-up, click here.  

 This webinar will feature information on four grants:

– AGRI Livestock Investment Grant

– AGRI Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration Grant 

– Preparing for Extreme Weather (Prepare) Grant

– AGRI Protecting Livestock from Avian Influenza (Protect) Grant 

For more information, contact LSP’s Alex Kiminski at akiminski@landstewardshipproject.org.

Wednesday October 29

4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Book Event: We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy
Wednesday October 29
4:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Book Event: We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy
The Harkin Institute for Public Policy & Citizen Engagement, 2800 University Ave, Des Moines, IA 50311, USA

The Johnson Center for Land Stewardship Policy is excited to share that one of our its primary pillars of work — a published collection of Paul Johnson’s writings —  is set for release on Oct. 2.  The book features a brief biography and a discussion of Paul’s ideas within the historical and future contexts of private lands conservation. 

For details on We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy click here.

Thursday October 30

5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Book Event: We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy
Thursday October 30
5:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Book Event: We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy
Ames Public Library, 515 Douglas Ave, Ames, IA 50010, USA

The Johnson Center for Land Stewardship Policy is excited to share that one of our its primary pillars of work — a published collection of Paul Johnson’s writings —  is set for release on Oct. 2.  The book features a brief biography and a discussion of Paul’s ideas within the historical and future contexts of private lands conservation. 

For details on We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy click here.

November 2025

Saturday November 1

6:15 pm – 9:15 pm
Community Potluck & Folk Dance in Bay City, Wis.
Saturday November 1
6:15 pm – 9:15 pm
Community Potluck & Folk Dance in Bay City, Wis.
W6275 Main St, Bay City, WI 54723, USA

Calling all folk dance lovers! The Land Stewardship Project is co-sponsoring a potluck and folk dance at the Town Hall in Bay City, Wis., on Saturday, Nov. 1. Can you attend or volunteer? LSP is looking for one or two more people to help represent our people-powered organization by tabling at this event. To volunteer, reply directly to this e-mail and let me know you’re available. 
 
For details, check out this flier. 

The potluck and dance are co-hosted by LSP members from Oxheart Farm and the Oak Center General Store. No RSVP required; please direct questions to Emmet at oxheartfarm@gmail.com.
 

Folk Dance Flyer 2025.jpg

Tuesday November 4

11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Birds in the Balance: Pest Control Services Across Crop Types
Tuesday November 4
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Birds in the Balance: Pest Control Services Across Crop Types
Online

This 10-lesson Wild Farm Alliance virtual course teaches agricultural professionals and farmers how to support beneficial birds and manage pest birds on farms. By learning how to assess the farm’s avian needs and opportunities, farms can be designed to provide for a diversity of beneficial birds. 

If pest birds are a problem, they can be discouraged with specific practices during the shorter periods when they cause damage. The sessions cover the latest research, tools and resources, and are given by experts in avian pest control, entomology, ornithology and conservation. While many topics and species are specific to the Midwest, most of the principles discussed are applicable across regions. 

Continuing Education Credits have been requested and are expected to be approved from American Society of Agronomy.

For details and to register, click here. 

The Course Schedule:

LESSON 1

Why Birds Belong on the Farm: Biodiversity, Pest Control & A Thriving Landscape

Tuesday, September 23, 2 p.m. CT


LESSON 2

Birds as Pest Control Allies on the Farm

Tuesday, October 14, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 3

Birds in the Balance: Pest Control Services Across Crop Types

Tuesday, November 4, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 4

Integrating Habitat into Croplands: Prairie Strips and Bird Conservation

Tuesday, December 2, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 5

Birds on the Farm: Balancing Biodiversity and Food Safety

Tuesday, January 13, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 6

Beyond the Crop: Birds, Biodiversity, and the Power of Edge Habitat

Tuesday, February 3, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 7

Bridging Forestry, Farming, and Habitat

Tuesday, February 24, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 8

Perennial Pathways: Agroforestry for Birds and Biodiversity on Farms

Tuesday, March 17, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 9

Birds on the Range: How Grazing Practices Shape Habitat for Grassland Species

Tuesday, April 7, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 10

Birds at Risk: How Pesticides Shape Safety on Agricultural Lands

Tuesday, April 28, 11 a.m. CT

View Full Calendar

Recent Posts

  •  ‘Big Ag, Big Problems’ Panel to Feature 2 Experts on Consolidation Nov. 4 in Lanesboro October 27, 2025
  • Reflections from LSP’s 2025 Summer Events Season October 24, 2025
  • Another Farm Crisis Looms, but it’s Not too Late to Take Action October 23, 2025
  • Tell Congress: Support Market Access for Farmers by Funding Local Food Purchasing October 22, 2025
  • Tell Congress a Farm Bailout is Not the Solution: We Must Invest in America’s Small & Mid-Sized Farmers October 22, 2025

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

  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2025 Land Stewardship Project. All rights reserved.

https://landstewardshipproject.org/midwestern-farmers-invited-to-answer-this-question-what-do-you-want-in-the-new-farm-bill