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 →
LEWISTON, Minn. — The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has ignored sound environmental science and policy by failing to order an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a major dairy expansion project near Lewiston, say rural residents. The MPCA announced today it would issue a feedlot permit for Daley Farms’ proposal to expand its operation by… Read More →
Legislation to Reinstate MPCA Citizens’ Board gets 2nd Hearing in MN House March 7 SAINT PAUL, Minn. — A bill to reinstate a key body for allowing Minnesota citizens to have a say in the future of their communities’ environmental health will be considered during a legislative hearing on Thursday, March 7. The House Government… Read More →
Appeal of Lower Court Ruling Puts County Feedlot Permit on Hold ZUMBROTA, Minn. — Residents of Zumbrota Township in southeastern Minnesota’s Goodhue County filed an appeal today with the Minnesota Supreme Court in an ongoing effort to protect their community from a proposed factory hog farm. The proposed facility would house 4,700 hogs, a 3.5-million-gallon… Read More →
Local Residents Deliver 687 Postcards from Across Minnesota to Jeff Kohlnhofer at Kohlnhofer Insurance Agency LAKEVILLE, Minn.—In the wake of a ruling from the Minnesota Court of Appeals, rural neighbors to a proposed factory hog farm in Goodhue County’s Zumbrota Township gathered in Lakeville today to announce their next steps in the fight to stop… Read More →
In December, members of the Land Stewardship Project and Toxic Taters filed a citizens’ petition for environmental review of R.D. Offutt’s major expansion plans in northern Minnesota. R.D. Offutt is the nation’s largest potato producer. This expansion would use more than 166 million gallons of water per year, just as concerns over the unsustainable depletion… Read More →
To Matthew Ott, three words could make all the difference as to whether farming systems that protect the soil year-round in Minnesota become a consistent agricultural presence in the state. “For me, the most exciting thing is to be able to use the term, ‘cash cover crops,’ ” says the University of Minnesota graduate student.… Read More →
Calls Needed by Monday, Dec. 8 The Minnesota Senate Rural Task Force met on Nov. 12 to discuss rural Minnesota initiatives that could be brought up during the state legislative session that begins Jan. 6. On a short list of three agenda items was “Rural Permitting Discussion.” This “discussion” focused on corporate ag advocates attacking… Read More →
The Minnesota Beef Research and Promotion Council (MBRPC) is proposing to increase the amount of the current state beef checkoff by an additional $1 per head on all bovine animals marketed within Minnesota by each producer or feeder. Currently the checkoff for cattle is $1 a head. Dairy cows purchased by a dairy producer specifically… Read More →
On a recent August evening in south-central North Dakota, soil scientist Kristine Nichols laid out what I like to call the “purebred vs. the plugger” approach to farming. “With healthy soil, you may not out-yield your neighbor in the best years, but you will out perform them in the not-so-good years,” said Nichols, a soil… Read More →
