After a lifetime of working for others in agricultural jobs, and retired after a career with the postal service, Tom Hoekstra and his wife, Lisa, bought a 150-acre farm outside of Plainview in southeastern Minnesota. Tom was 59 when they bought the farm in 2009. Right after their purchase, they immediately went to work re-building… Read More →
It’s field day time on this western Minnesota farm, and it’s made clear from the outset that there will no main presenter, no expert from on-high telling it like it is or isn’t, no PowerPoints produced by consultants. This is a field day where farmers learn from other farmers. “You are all consultants,” Richard Ness… Read More →
Dec. 11: An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities Dean Foods Seeks to Get Back Money Paid to Dairy Farmers Before Bankruptcy (12/10/20) Hundreds of dairy farmers nationwide fear they could owe substantial sums to the bankrupt dairy processor Dean Foods after the company sent out letters attempting to claw back payments… Read More →
The Land Stewardship Project became a membership organization in 1994, 12 years after we were founded. The people leading the grassroots work knew that to realize the positive transformation of the farm and food system, LSP had to be organizing people, ideas, and money. Becoming a member by making a financial contribution has always been… Read More →
The Questions… What does soil health have to do with racial justice? Why does the Land Stewardship Project write articles and posts about racial justice for mostly homogenous, white audiences in rural, farming communities? From time to time, LSP soil health organizers are asked these questions by farmers at our field days and workshops. Some… Read More →
When it comes to farming, oftentimes things don’t work out as planned—and sometimes that’s a good thing. Take for example Greg and Nancy Rasmussen, who on a recent fall afternoon are checking on some newly arrived chicks gathered under heat lamps in their barn. When the Rasmussens enrolled in the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings course… Read More →
In a win for the people and the land of southeastern Minnesota’s Winona County, the Minnesota Court of Appeals has declined to take up an appeal case that was brought forward by a large dairy attempting to expand well beyond an existing animal unit cap. This comes after years of neighbor-to-neighbor action and public engagement… Read More →
UTICA, Minn. — Over 100 family farmers and rural residents gathered in Utica May 11 to discuss federal agricultural policy reforms during a special Land Stewardship Project (LSP) meeting with U.S. Rep. Tim Walz. Participants in the meeting made it clear that the 2018 Farm Bill needs to support family farms, conservation, beginning farmers and… Read More →
The 2022 Minnesota legislative session ended last week with more undone than done. Bills that included funding for the Board of Water and Soil Resources, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program did not make it across the finish line in time. The Speaker of the Minnesota House and the Governor… Read More →
Over the past two years, we have witnessed firsthand just how fragile our meat processing sector is. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the vulnerability of global, concentrated supply chains, and we have seen farmers euthanize animals while others are forced to book processing dates even before animals are born. What has become clear is that we… Read More →
