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2023 Minnesota Legislative Session Wrap-Up 

Historic Wins for Sustainable & Regenerative Ag, Small & Mid-sized Farmers & Rural Communities 

During the recently concluded session of the Minnesota Legislature, Land Stewardship Project members and partners worked to win record investments in sustainable and regenerative agriculture, small and mid-sized farmers, and rural communities after decades of underfunding. We won a MinnesotaCare Public Option, as well as historic investments in the Emerging Farmers Office at the Minnesota…  Read More

Farm Transitions Profile: The Making of a Successful Farm Owner

When Timing is Everything, Sometimes it Pays to Manipulate the Calendar

Harvey Benson had a simple transition plan for the farm that had been in his family since the late 1860s: he would continue living on those 160 acres until he died, and then it would be passed on to his partner, Bonita Underbakke. In fact, when people ask him if he’s lived on the farm…  Read More

2022 Minnesota Legislative Session Wrap-up — Maybe?

More Undone than Done, but Some Key Wins LSP is Eager to Build on

The 2022 Minnesota legislative session held incredible promise in the form of a historic budget surplus that had the opportunity to deliver tangible progress on the biggest challenges we face. For example, the Minnesota House Climate Action Caucus, chaired by Rep. Patty Acomb (DFL-Minnetonka), began the session with a bang, proposing a $1 billion investment…  Read More

Land Line: Invisible Hand, Price-Fixing, Oat Mafia, Bird Flu, Profitable Conservation, SNAP, Compost, Farm Subsidizers

The Invisible Hand, Elasticity, and the Vanishing Farmer (5/7/25) Writing on the AGDAILY website, farmer and international consultant Ben Henson describes how the traditional building blocks of the American agricultural economy are being undermined by unprecedented consolidation in farming. Highlights: One basis of economic theory is “inelastic” versus “elastic” demand for products. Food is considered…  Read More

Land Line: Grasslands & Carbon, Local Foods, AU Cap, Fertilizer Prices, Dry Wells, Methane Digesters, Forever Green

June 7: An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities

Claim: Grazed Grasslands Trump Cover Crops on Long-term Carbon Sequestration (6/5/22) The Food and Environment Reporting Network reports on research showing that rotationally grazed pastures sequester more carbon than annual cropping systems. An ongoing 29-year-old field experiment in Wisconsin shows that perennial pastures managed with rotational grazing accumulated 18% to 29% more soil organic carbon…  Read More

2024 Minnesota Legislative Session Update: Less Than One Month Left! 

There is less than one month left in the 2024 Minnesota legislative session. This week, the House and Senate are finalizing and passing their separate omnibus policy and supplemental budget bills, which will then be sent to conference committees where differences between the proposals will be hammered out.   This session, the Land Stewardship Project has…  Read More

Beginning Farmer Program for MN, WI & IA Accepting Applications for 2022-2023 Course

Farm Beginnings Marks a Quarter Century of Training Ag’s Next Generation

LEWISTON, Minn. — One of the most successful beginning farmer training programs in the country is now accepting applications for its 2022-2023 course session serving the Minnesota, western Wisconsin and northern Iowa region. The Land Stewardship Project’s (LSP) Farm Beginnings initiative is a year-long training program that focuses on the goal-setting, marketing and financial skills needed to…  Read More

Land Line: Soil Health, Hunger, Govt. Accountability, Ag Recession, Slaughterhouse Speeds, Checkoffs

Improving Soil Health Not Just Feel-Good Endeavor (4/1/25) Indiana Prairie Farmer describes how Rodney Rulon’s 30-year soil health journey utilizing no-till and cover cropping is paying dividends not just environmentally, but economically as well. Highlights: The National Association of Conservation Districts and the Soil Health Institute performed a budget analysis on 29 farms across the…  Read More

Stages of Learning in Farming: Stage 0–Laying the Foundation

First, some background: I grew up on a conventional hay, corn and soybean farm in western Iowa and moved to Rochester, Minn., for work after getting a mechanical engineering degree from Iowa State University. I like engineering, but after a few years of working in an office environment, I was feeling the urge to get…  Read More

The Fifth R

A 'Generational Urban Farmer' Looks to Build Community Resilience

On a warm, overcast day in early fall, a low line of shrubby trees blocks the view of a seemingly empty lot on Penn Avenue, a busy thoroughfare in the Willard-Hay Neighborhood of North Minneapolis. A television with a cracked screen lays in some weeds at the edge of the lot, a reminder that if…  Read More