Thank you for signing the petition! - Land Stewardship Project

Thank you for adding your name to our petition for a statewide factory farm moratorium!

What can you do next?

Share this petition with your friends, family, and networks.
Reach out to your legislators yourself. You can find your legislators and their contact info here.

Upcoming Events

January 2025

Wednesday January 15

11:30 am – 1:00 pm

Farm Transition Planning 101: What's Next for You & Your Land?

Wednesday January 15

11:30 am – 1:00 pm

Farm Transition Planning 101: What's Next for You & Your Land?

Zoom online

America’s farms have hit a critical point. Most of our food and fiber producers are over 55, while young and beginning farmers — due to debt and insurmountable challenges around farming and farmland access — are only replacing these producers at a rate of 9%. Additionally, the devastating and rapid loss of farmland in the U.S. to poorly planned developmental sprawl and foreign investors is pointing toward an impending food system crisis.

The Farmland Access Hub and Renewing the Countryside, along with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA), the Land Stewardship Project (LSP), Region Nine Development Commission (RNDC), American Farmland Trust (AFT), Michigan Farmlink, and others, are working to mitigate these issues by creating educational and networking opportunities for landowners and farmers around legacy planning and farmland transition.

Whether you are interested in renting, selling, or transitioning your farm to a new owner, this 1.5 hour program is designed to help landowners and retiring farmers:

Identify and overcome fears and challenges as they think through the next steps for their land.
Learn about available resources to get started on transition planning (and how to use them).
Gain comfort discussing sticky topics when it comes to retirement, including passing on land and/or business operations to heirs or unrelated land stewards.
Decide who needs to be on their transition planning team.
Take the first steps toward implementing a transition plan

This session will be led by MDA farm succession coordinator Jim Molenaar. Landowners will have the opportunity to share and discuss their specific challenges and scenarios with peers, with facilitated support from farm succession coordinators and land transfer specialists.

To register for the Zoom workshop, click here.

Thursday January 23

7:30 am – 8:30 am

Lakes and Prairies Solar 101 - Moorhead

Thursday January 23

7:30 am – 8:30 am

Lakes and Prairies Solar 101 - Moorhead

Moorhead Public Library, 118 5th St S, Moorhead, MN 56560, USA

Learn about solar energy and its benefits for your home, or small business. This meeting will take you through the technology, economics, financing and more. You’ll also learn about the Solar Co-op in your area. The program is free to join, and members are not obligated to buy solar panels. For details and to register, click here. Information on the Lakes and Prairie Solar Co-op is here.

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

U of M Extension Winter Garden College

Thursday January 23

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

U of M Extension Winter Garden College

McLeod County Extension Office, 840 Century Ave SW, Hutchinson, MN 55350, USA

Join local Extension Educators for a two-hour deep dive into backyard garden and small-scale farming topics.

In this free course, you will learn how cover crops improve soil health by preventing erosion, providing nutrients, building organic matter, and feeding beneficial microbes. This course is split into two 45-minute presentations along with a 30-minute hands-on session.

The first session will show simple ways to integrate cover crops into your home garden for a healthier, more productive growing season. In the second session, you will learn strategies to extend the growing season by using different tools and techniques.

Topics

Soil health and cover crops in the home garden
Cover crop selection and planning
Extending the growing season in Minnesota

For details and to register, click here.

Saturday January 25

1:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Book Event for Dodge County, Incorporated
Saturday January 25
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Book Event for Dodge County, Incorporated
Barnes & Noble, Apache Mall, 1201 12th St SW Suite 425, Rochester, MN 55902, USA
Sonja Trom Eayrs, author of Dodge County, Incorporated: Big Ag & the Undoing of Rural America, will talk about her family’s fight against factory farms and the corporate-controlled takeover of her community. For details, click here.

Tuesday January 28

9:00 am – 3:00 pm

LSP Small Grains Workshop: Economic Opportunity in a New Market Environment

Tuesday January 28

9:00 am – 3:00 pm

LSP Small Grains Workshop: Economic Opportunity in a New Market Environment

Edgewater Bay Pavilion, 1940 Edgewater Drive, Albert Lea MN 56007

Based on the visionary work of a fourth-generation farmer and scientist, Bob Quinn (Kamut International), and practical, farmer-innovators like Roy Pfaltzgraff (Pfz Farms) and Landon and Anne Plagge (Green Acres Milling), the Land Stewardship Project is hosting a workshop for producers who are seeking confidence and practical know-how related to raising and selling small grains. Join us at the Edgewater Bay Pavilion in Albert Lea, Minn., on Tuesday, January 28, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Learn about how farmers are:

Increasing the value of what they produce and demonstrating the value of those products to human and environmental health.
Diversifying crop production while maintaining quality and profitability.
Organizing around cooperatively processing and marketing grains.

Click here to register. The workshop flyer is available here. For more information, contact LSP’s Shea-Lynn Ramthun at 651-301-1897 or at slramthun@landstewardshipproject.org.

Bob Quinn
Bob Quinn’s roots run deep into the rich soil of Big Sandy, Montana, where he returned after earning a PhD in plant biochemistry from UC Davis to apply his scientific knowledge to the family farm. Bob Quinn’s vision extends beyond agriculture, embodying a holistic approach where local minimal processing, community, health, and education intertwine to redefine success in farming. By championing the idea that every grain and every harvest should enhance health, Bob has positioned the Quinn Institute as a leader in transforming agriculture into a health-giving enterprise.

Roy Pfaltzgraff
Roy Pfaltzgraff is the current head of PFZ Farms in Colorado. PFZ Farms’ mission is to help educate fellow producers and consumers about how food is grown and to provide high-quality products for their community. The third-generation family farm produces quality agricultural products with sustainable methods for a healthier world. While they produce a number of dry-land crops, they also have a number of smaller production focuses that support their overall vision of a regenerative farm.

Landon Plagge
Landon Plagge holds nearly 30 years of hands-on farming experience growing corn, soybeans, livestock, and oats, as well as managing a grain handling facility, stewarding one million bushels of grain annually. Landon studied Investment Banking at Bentley College and holds a degree in business administration from the University of Northern Iowa. Landon brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in sustainable farming practices and crop rotation, and frequently shares his experiences to help others improve their own practices. He is also one of the founders of Green Acres Milling, a farmer-owned oat processing facility under construction in Albert Lea, Minn.

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