No. 3, 2018, Land Stewardship Letter - Land Stewardship Project

• An online version of this Land Stewardship Letter is here.

• A pdf version of this Land Stewardship Letter is here.

• Archived Land Stewardship Letters are here.

• For paper copies of the Land Stewardship Letter, contact Brian DeVore via e-mail

Report from the Field…3
• The Community Thresher

Myth Buster…4
• The War on SNAP

LSP News…6
• Staff Changes
• New Board Members
• Journalists Get the Scoop on Soil Health
• 2018 Potluck Cookout
• Farm Beginnings Field Days

Policy & Organizing…8
• LSP Members Fight Factory Farms
• Healthcare Petition Calls for Bold Action
• Farm Bill in Holding Pattern
• Talking About Our Minnesota Future
• Leadership Assembly
• Land Stewardship Action Fund

Community Based Foods…13
• Surveying the Local Foods Landscape
• LSP’s Local Foods Listening Campaign
• CSA Farms: Time to Sign-up

Soil Health…16
• Sometimes Less is More
• Cropping Systems Calculator
• ‘Soil Health & Profits’ Winter Workshops
• Climate Conversation
• A Pocket Guide to the Power of Soil

Seeking Farmers-Seeking Land Clearinghouse…20

Farm Transitions…22
• The Beginning Farmer Next Door
• LSP Farm Transition Winter Workshops
• LSP Workshops on Rental Agreements

Farm Beginnings…25
• 2019-2020 Class
• Farm Beginnings in Other Regions
• Farm Dreams

Ecological Agrarians…26
• Book Showcases Wildly Successful Farming

Membership Update…30
• Rewards for Membership
• In Memory & in Honor
• Support LSP in Your Workplace
• LSP Board Statement on Gender Equity
• Get Current with LIVE-WIRE
• LSP’s Ear to the Ground Podcast
• Membership Questions?
• Volunteer for LSP

Stewardship Calendar…32

Upcoming Events

September 2025

Tuesday September 16

9:00 am – 2:00 pm: Chicken Processing Workshop
Tuesday September 16
9:00 am – 2:00 pm
Chicken Processing Workshop
14882 255th Ave, Sleepy Eye, MN 56085, USA
Join the SFA to learn how to process your own chickens at home. At this workshop, participants will actually be processing 35-40 chickens from start to finish, and they will learn how to kill, scald, pluck, and eviscerate the chickens. Each attendee will have the opportunity to perform the complete process with instructor help on several birds.

Details are here.

Wednesday September 17

9:00 am – 3:00 pm: Grazing for Invasive Species Management in Oak Savannas
Wednesday September 17
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Grazing for Invasive Species Management in Oak Savannas
Myre-Big Island State Park, 19499 780th Ave, Albert Lea, MN 56007, USA
For details on this workshop, click here.
12:00 pm – 2:00 pm: Extending the Grazing Season with Cover Crops & Native Grasses
Wednesday September 17
12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
Extending the Grazing Season with Cover Crops & Native Grasses
Bluffton Resort & Bar, 2619 W Ravine Rd, Decorah, IA 52101, USA
This Ducks Unlimited workshop will feature a discussion of how livestock producers can utilize cover crops and native grasses to extend the grazing season. Featured speakers include Adam Janke, who will discuss Iowa State University’s research on CRP grazing, and Brian Dougherty of Understanding AG, who will discuss the economics of grazing cover crops. There will also be a presentation on Ducks Unlimited’s Advancing Markets for Producers Partnership.

For details, see this flier. or call Ducks Unlimited’s Liam Bonk at 612-483-3577. To register, click here.

Thursday September 18

5:00 pm – 7:30 pm: Minnesota Women in Conservation: Conservation Land Walk in Dawson
Thursday September 18
5:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Minnesota Women in Conservation: Conservation Land Walk in Dawson
Dawson, MN
During this Minnesota Women in Conservation event, participants will walk around a “homestead” farm site — exploring areas and goals the landowner hopes to improve in the future, including pollinator habitat, perennial plantings, wind breaks, privacy/noise screens, water quality improvements, well sealing, and compost placements. Participants will hear feedback and recommendations from a conservation professional on potential programs that could assist the landowner in achieving those goals.

This is a FREE event, but you must RSVP here to get the address. For more information and to RSVP, click here.

Saturday September 20

All Day: Farm Aid
Saturday September 20
Farm Aid
Huntington Bank Stadium, 420 23rd Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
Farm Aid is heading to Minnesota for the first time for its 40th anniversary festival on Saturday, Sept. 20, at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The event will launch a year-long celebration of four decades of impactful advocacy, historic cultural moments and unforgettable music.

Farm Aid 40 — a full day of music, family farmers, HOMEGROWN food and agricultural experiences — will feature performances by Farm Aid board members Willie Nelson, Neil Young (and the Chrome Hearts), John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews (with Tim Reynolds), and Margo Price, as well as Billy Strings, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Trampled by Turtles, Waxahatchee, Eric Burton of Black Pumas, Jesse Welles, Madeline Edwards and more artists to be announced.

For details, click here.

View Full Calendar

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