On an overcast morning in June, more than a dozen livestock producers gathered in the on-farm cabinetmaking shop of Leslea and Brad Hodgson, situated in the scenic hills near southeastern Minnesota’s Root River. Soon after taking seats on folding chairs arranged in a wide circle, the farmers answered an opening question: “Why am I here?”… Read More →
LAKE CITY, Minn. — Grazing summer annuals and using livestock to improve riparian corridors will be featured at a Land Stewardship Project (LSP) pasture walk Saturday, Aug. 13, from 4 p.m.-7 p.m., at Sugarloaf Creek Farm near Lake City (32797 738th Street). This event is free and open to the public. Sign-in begins at 3:45 pm; dinner… Read More →
One recent August day, I stood in a field in North Dakota watching soil being spaded up and listening to farmers talk about the optimal cover crop seeding mixes, how long to mob graze a paddock and which no-till equipment does the best job of cutting through last year’s plant residue. It was 90 degrees… Read More →
Bovines, bugs, and birds are all making noise in Kevin Mahalko’s dairy grazing paddocks, and that’s music to his ears. More Information • LSP’s Grazing & Soil Health Web Page • NODPA Article on Kevin Mahalko • Ear to the Ground 391: Grounded in Grazing • Ear to the Ground 371: Avian Award • Ear… Read More →
ZUMBROTA, Minn. — Grazing of an 11-way mix of summer annuals and specialty crops grown in bale residue left behind by cows from winter-feeding will be the focus of a Land Stewardship Project (LSP) pasture walk Tuesday, July 19, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at Knutson Shorthorns near Zumbrota (46998 170th Ave). This event is free and… Read More →
LEWISTON, Minn. — The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) applauds this week’s decision by the Minnesota Court of Appeals to require a reevaluation of a permit that could create one of the largest factory dairy farms in the state. On Oct. 14, the court ordered the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to put a permit on… Read More →
Historical Move Puts Mega-Operation Under the Microscope The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s Citizens’ Board ruled this week that Riverview LLP’s proposed 8,850-cow dairy operation in Stevens County must undergo an in-depth Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). To my knowledge, this is the first time that the MPCA has ordered an EIS of a factory farm. The… Read More →
Minnesota’s Next Governor Must Take Direct, Concrete Steps The people of Minnesota are beginning to consider what they would like the future of the state to look like in the context of the fall gubernatorial elections. Will they elect Minnesota’s first woman governor? Go “Back to the Future” with a former governor? Select a leader… Read More →
On a misty June morning in northeastern Iowa, Nikki Meyer led half-a-dozen farmers down a field road through a thick stand of oaks and other hardwoods. The going was tough — the road dropped 400 vertical feet in less than half-a-mile, and a half-inch rain earlier had made the footing greasy with mud. Sensing that… Read More →
By building soil biology via managed grazing, Langdon Collom is learning that expanding a farm’s capacity doesn’t always require horizontal expansion — sometimes you can simply go vertical. More Information • LSP’s Grazing & Soil Health Web Page • Match Made in Heaven: Livestock + Crops • Sustainable Farming Association • Midwest Grazing Exchange • Minnesota Cropland… Read More →
