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Farm Beginnings Profile: Amy Haben & Tom Moore

Making a Farm a Working Asset

Amy Haben and Tom Moore ride a golf cart over a rickety wooden bridge spanning Otter Creek and follow a path to a lush pasture where a couple dozen head of Scottish Highland cattle graze, their shaggy coats luminescent in the late afternoon sun of a June day. “Before they grazed the edge of the…  Read More

Silica Sand Mining Fractures Leopold’s Land Ethic

On Aug. 28, Land Stewardship Project board member Tex Hawkins spoke to a busload of LSP members and friends who visited a farm near Dodge, Wis., to witness firsthand the effects of frac, or silica, sand mining on a neighboring piece of property. I live in Winona. I’m on the LSP Board now, and have…  Read More

Sign-On to Support New Farmers on the Land

Tell Lawmakers We Need Changes to the MN Down Payment Assistance Grant

Between 2012 and 2022, Minnesota lost 9,011 farms — on average 900 farms per year. During that same period, the average size of a Minnesota farm went from 349 acres to 388 acres. The average age of Minnesota farmers has reached an all-time high of 57.1 years. Ninety-nine percent of all farmland in Minnesota is…  Read More

2024 Minnesota Legislative Session Wrap-Up 

Soil Health, Water Quality, Emerging Farmers, Regional Foods Supported; Factory Farm Controls Stall; Stage Set for 2025

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

Land Stewardship Project Names New Executive Director

Scott Elkins Brings Decades of Organizing & Leadership Experience to the Organization in its 41st Year of Working to ‘Keep the Land & People Together’

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — A grassroots organizer with decades of experience empowering local communities around environmental and sustainability issues has been named the Land Stewardship Project’s new executive director, the organization’s board of directors announced today. Scott Elkins, who took the helm at the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) this week, is also leading the organization’s 501(c)4…  Read More

Gov. Walz Declares March 11 Land Stewardship Project Day

LSP Marks 40th Year of ‘Keeping the Land & People Together’ in 2022

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — As a Minnesota-based family farm and regenerative agriculture organization marks its 40th year of “keeping the land and people together,” Governor Tim Walz has declared March 11, 2022, “Land Stewardship Project Day.” Walz made the declaration today while participating in a Land Stewardship Project (LSP) virtual town hall with over 200 members of the…  Read More

The Importance of Investing in Soil Health & Resilient Rural Communities

Around a decade ago, while driving past a farm field in southeastern Minnesota, Bob Christie turned to DJ Mueller with a nervous question: “So you’re saying my fields are going to look like that?” With farmers adapting to a changing climate and volatile markets, DJ knew that he and Bob must prioritize soil health over…  Read More

What Makes a Welcoming Community?

I became a member-leader of the Land Stewardship Project to help achieve justice for the people and the land. By identifying our self-interest, listening to our neighbors, and acting on our values, I also believe that we can become a welcoming community. Doug Nopar,who worked for many years as a rural LSP organizer, believes that…  Read More

LSP Statement: Report Shows Minn. Would Lose More Working Lands Conservation Dollars Than Any Other State as a Result of House Farm Bill

Minn. Farmers are National Leaders in Utilizing the Conservation Stewardship Program MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — Minnesota would lose the most amount of federal working lands conservation dollars of any state if the Farm Bill being proposed by the U.S. House is passed, according to a new report published yesterday by the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC).…  Read More

Our Farm Bill

Reimagining Farm Policy that Puts People, Communities & the Land First The energy has been incredible. Over the past two months the federal policy team at the Land Stewardship Project has been holding Farm Bill listening meetings in Minnesota to discuss the upcoming 2018 Farm Bill. The central question has been: “What would make the…  Read More