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Land Access: Bite-by-Bite

On April 17, Land Stewardship Project members gathered in Menomonie, Wis., to discuss the challenges they face as beginning farmers seeking land to farm. They also discussed how to shape the initial stages of LSP’s organizing for more affordable, secure land tenure. These farmers shared stories about how skyrocketing land prices are creating a crisis…  Read More

LSP Platform Calls for Farm Bill that Supports Farmers, Rural Communities & the Land

Platform & Survey Results Released on Northfield Area Farm Today

  NORTHFIELD, Minn. — The new federal Farm Bill must benefit farmers, rural communities and the land, rather than corporate interests, said farmer-leaders of the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) today during the release of the organization’s priorities for the nation’s most comprehensive agricultural policy initiative. LSP’s 2023 Farm Bill Platform, which was launched during an…  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

The ‘Big Reveal’

The Coronavirus Pandemic Unmasks a Brutal, Multinational Food & Farming System that’s as Unsustainable as the Economic Model that Created it As the coronavirus disrupts “normal” life in America and worldwide—and we ride the rapids of shifting strategy and messaging from the White House, its cabinet, and Congressional leaders — the pandemic also shines light…  Read More

Insuring Against Disaster

Thanks to the recently passed 2014 Farm Bill, federally subsidized crop insurance is an even bigger player in determining what the landscape looks like. That’s troubling, considering that in recent years that impact has been mostly negative, since the program removes most of the risk associated with plowing up acres formerly considered too erosive, wet…  Read More

MN Ag Bill Supports Market Access, Land Access & Soil Health 

LSP Members & Allies Make Their Voices Heard at the Capitol 

SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Although the Minnesota Legislature wrapped up its 2025 session on May 19 with some unfinished business, the Agriculture Bill passed before adjournment, which means Land Stewardship Project (LSP) priorities related to market access, land access and soil health will make it to Gov. Tim Walz’s desk. “While this was a difficult…  Read More

LSP Legislative Update: Proposals Related to Local Food, Land Access & Soil Health Moving Forward

Budget Issues Loom Large as Regular Session Heads into Final Weeks

As we pass a key date in the 2025 Minnesota legislative calendar, several initiatives supported by the Land Stewardship Project remain alive and are moving through the committee process. In order to be considered as part of an omnibus bill, the majority of proposed legislation had to be heard in both the House and Senate…  Read More

Our Minnesota Food & Farm Campaign Platform

LSP's Priorities for the 2023 MN Legislature

This summer and fall, Land Stewardship Project members have been hard at work preparing for the 2023 Minnesota state legislative session, which begins on Tuesday, January 3. Hundreds of LSP members, supporters, and allies across the state have engaged in workshops, surveys, and one-to-one visits to lay out what they’re excited for our organization to…  Read More

Farm Beginnings Profile: Micro Goals-Big Plans

Walking down a sloping lane on a spring afternoon, Luke and Liana Tessum surprise an Angus beef cow wandering up from a bottomland paddock. The lone bovine, and 18 cow-calf pairs grazing on the pasture below, represent the reaching of what the 30-something couple calls yet one more “micro-goal.” In December, the Tessums paid off…  Read More