Farm Beginnings Class

2025-2026 Farm Beginnings Class

Applications are now closed for the 2025-2026 Farm Beginnings class.

You may contact LSP to be included on the email list for the next cohort by emailing Annelie Livingston-Anderson at Annelie@landstewardshipproject.org .

The class will run from December 2025 through March 2026. The 2025-2026 class will be hybrid with the majority of the class taking place virtually via Zoom and some in-person sessions in the Twin Cities, Minn., area. The cost of the class is $1,000, which covers up to two participants per farm. Partial scholarships are available and you can indicate your interest when you apply.

FB Class Schedule 2025-2026

Fresh Voices Podcast Series

Interested in hearing directly from the next generation of innovative farmers? Check out the Land Stewardship Project’s Ear to the Ground “Fresh Voices” podcast series.

Meet Some of Our Grads

To read more about what Farm Beginnings grads are up to and how their class experience is helping them grapple with the challenges of farming, see our profile series.

Staring Down Doubts

June 30, 2025
2025-2026 Farm Beginnings Class
LSP is now accepting applications for its 2025-2026 Farm Beginnings class session. For details, click here.
♦ ♦ ♦
This is a story about…

Farm Beginnings Profiles
direct-marketing, Farm Beginnings. beginning farmers, grass-based livestock, integrating livestock, pastured beef, soil health, Stormy Creek Beef Farm, Valerie Hsu

Staring Down Doubts
A Beginning Farmer Legacy

June 30, 2025
2025-2026 Farm Beginnings Class
LSP is now accepting applications for its 2025-2026 Farm Beginnings class session. For details, click here.
♦ ♦ ♦
In a sense, when the…

Farm Beginnings Profiles
beginning farmers, community-based food, direct-marketing, Farm Beginnings, Hidden Stream Farm, regenerative livestock production, rotational graziing, soil health

A Beginning Farmer Legacy
The Other 80%

June 30, 2025
2025-2026 Farm Beginnings Class
LSP is now accepting applications for its 2025-2026 Farm Beginnings class session. For details, click here.
Before jumping into agriculture, Kevin Keene worked…

Farm Beginnings Profiles
begninning farmers, business planning, direct-marketing, Farm Beginnings, Keenes’ Greens, Kevin Keene, land access, vegetable farming

The Other 80%

Upcoming Events

November 2025

Tuesday November 18

6:30 pm – 8:00 pm: Constitutional Observer Training
Tuesday November 18
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Constitutional Observer Training
The YES! House, 726 Prentice St, Granite Falls, MN 56241, USA
The Land Stewardship Project, the Immigrant Defense Network, and Yes! House are hosting a Constitutional Observer Training in Granite Falls, Minn., on Tuesday, November 18, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

This training is intended to develop local community leaders’ knowledge and understanding of civil rights and to encourage engagement in civil initiatives that protect immigrant rights and due process. The training blends elements of “Know Your Rights” and “rapid response” in a practical, hands-on workshop experience.

Constitutional Observers observe and document law enforcement interactions, inform individuals about civil rights and due process, and share support resources. This training instructs participants on how to be a safe and effective observer, especially during an ICE detainment. You learn what questions to ask, how to document and uphold the constitutional rights of whomever is being detained, how to keep yourself safe in the process, and what to do with the footage and information you gather.

This training is intended to empower local community members with the tools and resources needed to support the legal rights of our immigrant neighbors. Immigrant communities are essential to the strength, resilience, and prosperity of Minnesota. LSP and our partners envision a Minnesota where immigrant families live without fear, children dream freely, and communities stand united in their pursuit for justice and their right to thrive.

To register, click here.

If you have questions, feel free to reach out to LSP’s Robin Moore via e-mail or LSP’s Nick Olson via e-mail.

Wednesday November 19

12:15 pm – 1:45 pm: We Can Do Better Book Discussion at Iowa Nature Summit
Wednesday November 19
12:15 pm – 1:45 pm
We Can Do Better Book Discussion at Iowa Nature Summit
Olmsted Center, 2875 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.

Curt Meine will speak about the book during the 12:15 p.m.-1:30 p.m. luncheon at the Iowa Nature Summit on Nov 19.

Thursday November 20

All Day

Give to the Max Day

Thursday November 20

Give to the Max Day

Online

Give to the Max Day is coming up on Thursday, November 20. But you don’t have to wait until Give to the Max Day to make your gift to LSP. Any contribution made through the GiveMN portal, now until November 20, will count toward our $15,000 goal and is fully tax-deductible!

This Give to the Max Day season, the Land Stewardship Project is gearing up to share the stories of resilience, change, and action that LSP members are a part of in their towns and on their farms.

We’re up against some pretty overwhelming challenges these days and now is the time for turning hope into action and coming together over common goals. One way to do that is to support the work of building the farm and food system we want and need for the future.

We know the future of farming is diverse and innovative, and should be set up to reward stewardship-minded farmers for the solutions they bring to some of our biggest challenges like soil health, clean water, and a changing climate.

Bringing that vision for the future into reality requires taking on the biggest of the big in the agriculture industry, supporting the next generation of farmers, and reforming farm policies, as well as developing new, reliable, fair markets for all farmers that support conservation, healthy food, and local prosperity.

That’s a big mountain to climb and we need people power to make it happen. LSP brings farmers, rural, urban, and suburban people together to take action around our common goal of a fair and sustainable farm and food system in this country.

Give to the Max Day is a fun and collective way to get into the giving spirit across the entire state of Minnesota. Thank you for being part of LSP’s work to build a better future for our farm and food system. Please join, renew, or make a special gift to LSP as part of Give to the Max Day this year.

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

MDA Urban Ag Conservation Mini-grant Info Session

Thursday November 20

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

MDA Urban Ag Conservation Mini-grant Info Session

A grant opportunity for urban farmers in Minnesota to receive up to $5,000 to make conservation-focused improvements is now open for applications.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is once again offering an Urban Farm Conservation Mini-grant with approximately $100,000 available, thanks to funding from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. This year the program has expanded eligibility.

Who is eligible:

Entities commercially farming in Minnesota, meaning they sell or donate at least $1,000 of what they produce.
Farm applicants must be located in or selling into a city with a population over 5,000 people, or be located within the boundaries of federally recognized tribal land in Minnesota and serve tribal community members.

The grant offers up to $5,000 per approved recipient which can be used to cover a variety of tools, supplies, services, and other expenses related to improving their urban farm.

Eligible projects include irrigation infrastructure improvements, tools and amendments for improving soil health, composting infrastructure, specialty crop rotation equipment and many other farm improvements which generate conservation outcomes.

Up to 100% of the total project costs may be covered by the grant, and a cash match is not required. Grantees will need to pay for eligible expenses up front and then request reimbursement, using proof of purchase and proof of payment.

An informational session will take place online at 1 p.m. on November 20 and registration is required. Language interpretation services may be requested for the information session by contacting Emily Toner at emily.toner@state.mn.us.

This is a competitive grant program and applications must be submitted by December 18.

Visit the Urban Farm Conservation Grant web page for more information on its application. The Request for Proposals is available for download in English, Spanish, Hmong and Somali.

Saturday November 22

1:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Farm Scale Deep Winter Greenhouse Open House
Saturday November 22
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Farm Scale Deep Winter Greenhouse Open House
Tintah Beach Farm, Thief River Falls, MN
Please join Marcus Langevin from Tintah Beach Farm and the University of Minnesota at an open house and ribbon cutting celebrating the completion of the farm scale deep winter greenhouse prototype on Nov. 22, from 1 p.m.-4 p.m.

This new deep winter greenhouse design allows farmers in cold climates to grow crops for sale to their customers throughout the winter months. The heavily insulated greenhouse utilizes a steeply sloped south-facing glazing wall to capture solar heat which is stored in an underground soil thermal mass where it is available to heat the greenhouse at night when the outside temperatures drop.

The new energy efficient greenhouse was designed to suit the needs of small and medium scale vegetable farmers. It is larger, cheaper per square foot to construct than previous designs, and is simple enough that farmers with minimal construction experience can build it themselves. Deep winter greenhouses like these allow farmers the ability to grow market crops year-round, thereby increasing their yearly revenues and allowing Minnesotans year-round access to healthy, fresh, locally grown produce.

Registration: This event is free to attend, but registration is required at z.umn.edu/TintahBeachOpenHouse. Please register by November 15.

Download farm scale deep winter greenhouse building documents. This farm scale deep winter greenhouse design is available for free download from the UMN Extension RSDP’s deep winter greenhouse website.

This work is made possible by University of Minnesota Extension; College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS); College of Design Center for Sustainable Building Research (CSBR); and the Agriculture Research, Education, Extension and Technology Transfer Program (AGREETT).

View Full Calendar

Applications are now closed for the 2025-2026 Farm Beginnings class.

You may contact LSP to be included on the email list for the next cohort by emailing Annelie Livingston-Anderson at Annelie@landstewardshipproject.org .

FB Class Schedule 2025-2026

Staring Down Doubts

A Beginning Farmer Legacy

The Other 80%

Who is eligible: