David Johnson and Hui-Chun Su Johnson’s approach to composting may help farming reach the ultimate regenerative ag pinnacle: self-sufficient soil. More Information • LSP’s Microbiology web page • Managing a Johnson-Su Composting Bioreactor • Ear to the Ground podcast episode 271: Focusing on Fungi • Ear to the Ground podcast episode 266: Activating Soil Life • Land… Read More →
Jan. 15: An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities Bill Gates: America’s Top Farmland Owner (1/15/21) Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates are now the largest private farmland owners in the U.S., according to The Land Report. Highlights: They have accumulated a massive farmland portfolio — 242,000 acres —… Read More →
LEWISTON, Minn. — One of the most successful beginning farmer training programs in the country is now accepting applications for its 2023-2024 course session serving the Minnesota, western Wisconsin and northern Iowa region. The Land Stewardship Project’s (LSP) Farm Beginnings initiative is a training program that focuses on the goal-setting, marketing and financial skills aneeded to establish… Read More →
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota House Agriculture Committee will have a hearing today for Representative Kristi Pursell’s Farm to School and Early Care bill (H.F. 2043), with bipartisan support representing a step forward in supporting local food, schools and economies throughout Minnesota. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) and the Land Stewardship… Read More →
LSP Holds On-Farm Meeting with Ranking Member of U.S. House Ag Committee as Ag Policy Debate Enters Next Stage BARRETT, Minn. — During an Aug. 28 on-farm meeting near Barrett in west-central Minnesota, the ranking member of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee agreed to fight for policy that supports working lands conservation policy and family… Read More →
Jan. 7: An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities As the Livestock Industry Touts Manure-to-Energy Projects, Environmentalists Cry ‘Greenwashing’ (12/7/21) Inside Climate News reports that as utilities, oil companies, and livestock companies pitch biogas (turning manure into energy) as an emissions-reducing solution, critics say it simply locks in systems that allow two… Read More →
This fall, 19 Land Stewardship Project members traveled to county courthouses across Minnesota and dug through real estate transaction records to help compile data on the state of land consolidation in rural areas. These researchers represent an important first step in a major new LSP campaign to organize for better land access for farmers in… Read More →
“As a landowner, you have the power to determine the legacy of your land- that decision is the most important decision you can make.” — Bill McMillin dairy/ beef farmer who, with his wife Bonnie, transitioned their farm to a non-related beginning farmer neighbor You are in the right place to start or keep moving… Read More →
The sustainable agriculture community lost a true friend this week when Bud Markhart passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. I had the opportunity to interview Markhart last fall for an LSP podcast. He was a professor of horticultural science at the U of M, and so it’s no surprise that he made his… Read More →
What is the most critical discussion that needs to take place to ensure a sustainable food and farming system long into the future? Is it one on policy, farming techniques, green technology, consumer preferences or soil fertility? No. It’s the conversation that takes place between Nettie and Gerald during LSP’s play, Look Who’s Knockin’, which… Read More →
