Oct. 9: An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities Minnesota Department of Transportation rethinks no-spray ditch program after yanking signs (10/9/20) The Minnesota Department of Transportation is reevaluating its decision to pull “Do Not Spray” signs without warning in southeastern Minnesota, according to the Star Tribune. Farmers, including LSP members, had complained… Read More →
The past few months have been harder than ever for thousands of Minnesotans. Our communities were already facing a serious farm crisis, inaccessible and unaffordable healthcare, increasing impacts of climate change, corporate consolidation across our economy, and more. On top of that, a pandemic has wreaked havoc on our healthcare system, farm and food system,… Read More →
Sometimes a Farm Transition is Done at a Distance On a brilliantly bright October afternoon, Chris Mosel makes his way over a clear-running brook and through a stand of basswood, oak and maple on his central Minnesota farm. As he approaches the edge of the woodlot, he steps over a strand of temporarily erected electric… Read More →
UPDATE: Farmers and rural Minnesotans are standing up and taking action to stop the spread of factory farms in Minnesota. We are in the remaining weeks of the Legislature and things are moving fast. But thanks to action taken by LSP members and supporters, the corporate-backed factory farm provision detailed in this letter didn’t make… Read More →
Over Thanksgiving, I was perusing the Dairy Star at my brother-in-law’s house in Stillwater, Minn. Having grown up on a dairy farm, I still like to see how the industry is doing. A column by Sadie Frerichs called, “The Negative Impacts of Health Insurance,” caught my eye. Because of the recent health insurance rate increases… Read More →
Draft of White House Report Suggests Kennedy Won’t Push Strict Pesticide Regulations (8/14/25) A White House report on the health of American children would stop short of proposing direct restrictions on ultraprocessed foods and pesticides that the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has called major threats, according to a leaked draft of the document… Read More →
2025-2026 Farm Beginnings Class LSP is now accepting applications for its 2025-2026 Farm Beginnings class session. For details, click here. ♦ ♦ ♦ By the time Elyssa Eull moved back to Minnesota a few years ago, she already had several years of experience working on vegetable farms. But she felt that in order to successfully… Read More →
Note: This is the 10th installment in the 12-part “A Sense of Where You Are” series. There’s nothing like getting diminishing returns on your investment in time, labor, and resources to put things in context. “I just got sick and tired of spending money on fertilizer, planting in the dry powder, and watching the soil blow… Read More →
Mapping a rural region’s “community food assets” reveals isolated islands of opportunity in a sea of corn and soybeans. LSP’s Scott DeMuth says now is the time to connect the dots and create a new relationship between farmers, eaters, and the places they live in. “You know, when I talk about rural economic development, from… Read More →
As the clock struck midnight on Sunday, the Minnesota Legislature concluded its 2024 session. During the past few months, lawmakers primarily focused on revenue-neutral policy changes and some targeted funding of specific programs. During the session, Land Stewardship Project members made some progress on advancing our priorities and built a strong foundation to hit the… Read More →
