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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 Farmers Sign-on to Congressional Climate Crisis Letter

Letter Signed by over 2,100 U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Highlights the Impacts of the Climate Crisis & the Opportunities for Ag to Lead on Solutions WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a letter delivered to the U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis this week, Congress is being urged by farmers from Minnesota and across the…  Read More

MN Farmer Calls for Racial Justice in Rural Communities During Rural Progressive Strategy Summit in DC

Minnesota Part of 10-State Rural & Small Town Organizing Strategy WASHINGTON, D.C.—Racial justice is an essential element in developing a food and farming system that supports healthy and prosperous rural communities, said central Minnesota farmer Laura Frerichs today during a national rural progressive strategy summit at the National Press Club in Washington. Frerichs, a member…  Read More

‘Soil health impacts everyone,’ MN Farmer tells Congressional Ag Leaders

Austin Crop & Livestock Farmer Testifies at Special Congressional Hearing on the Need to Support Healthy Soil in the Next Farm Bill WASHINGTON, D.C.—Building healthy soil on agricultural acres doesn’t just benefit rural communities, said a southern Minnesota farmer during a special Congressional hearing on soil health that was held in Washington today. And that’s…  Read More

Farmers & Rural Residents Call for Ag Policy that Supports People & the Land During Discussion with Rep. Peterson in Redwood Falls

Support for Beginning Farmers, Conservation & Crop Insurance Reform Called for REDWOOD FALLS, Minn. — More than 85 members and supporters of the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) delivered a clear message April 11 to a key member of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee: the next Farm Bill must help small and mid-sized farmers while protecting…  Read More

Forever Green Receives $1 Million

Early this morning, the Minnesota Legislature took a major step toward supporting the kind of agriculture that can green up our landscape in a way that’s economically viable for farmers. Conference committee negotiations produced $1 million for Forever Green, an innovative University of Minnesota research initiative involving cover crops and perennial plant systems. Funding for…  Read More

U.S. Senate Passes Farm Bill, Yet Again

The U.S. Senate passed its version of a Farm Bill yesterday by a vote of 66-27. Both Minnesota Senators Al Franken (D-MN) and Amy Klobuchar( D-MN) voted for passage of the bill. The upshot is that for the first time ever the Senate bill limits the degree of crop insurance subsidies wealthy farm investors and…  Read More

The Other 80%

From Disney World to the Real World

2025-2026 Farm Beginnings Class LSP is now accepting applications for its 2025-2026 Farm Beginnings class session. For details, click here. Before jumping into agriculture, Kevin Keene worked as a data science consultant for 11 years. So it makes sense that he describes farming success in terms of a mathematical calculation. “The way I think about…  Read More