PRESTON, Minn. — A Land Stewardship Project (LSP) workshop called, “Cover Crops, No-Till & Grazing: Evaluating the Economics and First Steps to Improving Soil” will be held Friday, Feb. 15, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the St. Columban Church in Preston (408 Preston St. NW). It will feature presentations by southwestern Minnesota farmers… Read More →
FARIBAULT, Minn. — Cover crops, no-till and soil health will be the focus of a field tour co-sponsored by the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) and the Rice County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) on Friday, Aug. 24, from 9:30 a.m. to noon. The tour starts at Mike Ludwig’s farm (1355 90th St. E., Northfield)… 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 →
Hydrogen Sulfide Study this Summer Raised Public Health Concerns & Initiated Further Investigation ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Pollution Control (MPCA) has ordered continuous air monitoring at a Goodhue County, Minn., factory hog farm owned by brothers Mike, Yon and Jeff Kohlnhofer. The decision to monitor came in response to an air quality study… Read More →
I am happy to report that frac sand corporation Minnesota Sands, LLC, failed in its latest attempt to circumvent comprehensive environmental review (see the action alert below). Thanks to Minnesotans speaking up for the land and the health of our communities, the requirement of a comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on a proposed massive frac… Read More →
Oppose House File 330 & Senate File 201, Which Weaken Local Democracy Corporate interests are pushing bills to weaken the rights of cities and townships in Minnesota to effectively respond to unwanted and potentially harmful developments. This in turn weakens our ability as citizens to work through our local governments to protect our communities. Minnesotans… Read More →
On Monday, Dec. 12, I attended the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s (MPCA) public informational meeting at Zumbrota City Hall. Fellow Zumbrota Township neighbors packed the conference room to show that we have serious concerns about a factory hog farm threatening to move into our neighborhood. We called on the MPCA to do a thorough and… Read More →
“Be joyful though you have considered all the facts.” — Wendell Berry The line above from Wendell Berry’s poem, “Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front,” has stuck with me since I heard it many years ago. For me, its staying power comes from Berry’s ability to both reassure and challenge us in a single simple… 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 →
I’ve been watching with great concern the outbreak of H5N2 highly pathogenic avian influenza in Minnesota turkey confinements. As of today, nine facilities in the state have been affected, including in Lac Qui Parle County, which borders Big Stone, where we live. I raise what the Minnesota Department of Agriculture refers to as a “backyard… Read More →
