Fostering an ethic of stewardship for farmland, promoting sustainable agriculture and developing healthy communities.
Welcome to the Land Stewardship Project Action Alerts page. The Land Stewardship Project periodically sends out Action Alerts that describe how citizens can make their voices heard on critical issues related to family farming, the environment and our rural communities.
Join Us at the State Capitol Thursday, Dec. 20
Thanks to the hard work of Land Stewardship Project members and supporters, we gathered more than 3,200 signatures this fall on our petition calling for Minnesota's next Governor to take bold action to address the rural healthcare crisis.
Petition signers are invited to join us on Thursday, Dec. 20, at the Minnesota State...
Demand an Environmental Impact Statement on Proposed Fillmore County Factory Hog Farm
On Tuesday, Dec. 4, beginning at 6:30 p.m., the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is holding a public meeting on the proposed Catalpa, LLC factory hog farm. The meeting will be at the Mabel Community Center (201 South Main Street, Mabel, Minn.). MPCA Commissioner John Linc Stine will...
UPDATE (11/1/18): On October 31, the Ramsey County District Court rejected the attempts by corporate ag to squelch public comment on an environmental review of the mega-dairy expansion proposal described below. District Court Judge Jennifer L. Frisch ruled yesterday against an injunction filed by several Minnesota corporate ag groups seeking to limit the public comment period...
Demand Bold Action from Our Next Governor on the Rural Healthcare Crisis
High premiums, closing rural clinics and few available insurance plans mean rural people are too often not getting quality healthcare. This is a matter of life and death. Sign and share the LSP petition calling on our next Governor to make this a priority.
...
On Tuesday, Oct. 16, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) held a public information forum regarding Daley Farms of Lewiston, Minn., and the Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW) which is part of the operation's current permit application approval process. Daley Farms wants to more than double its dairy herd from 1,728 cows and calves to 4,628 total. This would make it the largest...
UPDATE (10/10/18): We have learned that Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Commissioner John Linc Stine is making a decision on this tomorrow, and we need calls into him by noon on Thursday, Oct. 11.
We need to take action to ensure that there is a process that provides for meaningful public participation and that fully evaluates the cost to our community resources and...
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is avoiding ordering an in-depth Environmental Impact Statement of the proposed Catalpa, LLC factory farm. The agency needs to hear from us (again)!
State law requires that if a project has “the potential for significant environmental impacts,”...
LSP Members are Standing Up Against a Massive Factory Hog Farm Proposed in their Community in Fillmore County
...
MPCA Public Informational Meeting scheduled for June 19, 2018
Catalpa LLC out of Waukon, Iowa, is proposing a massive factory hog farm in Fillmore County. The proposal is undergoing an initial environmental review. Due to public pressure, the comment period was extended until Tuesday, July 3, 2018, at 4:30 p.m.
Here...
The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee passed its version of the 2018 Farm Bill on Wednesday, June 13. We expect a vote on the bill by the full Senate in coming weeks. This bill is an improvement on what was introduced and failed in the House of Representatives last month. In fact, because of the hard work of our...
We need Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton to use his veto pen. The "Guilty by Association" legislation, Senate File 3463, was passed by the Minnesota Legislature Saturday and is on its way to the Governor's desk. This bill is being driven by corporate interests that want to chill dissent and prevent people from standing up to corporate power. In fact, the language for this bill comes directly...
UPDATE: The House Farm Bill was voted down 212-198 on Friday, May 18; click here for details.
Today (Friday May 18th), the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on the 2018 Farm Bill, H.R. 2.
This is a disastrous bill and...
The Minnesota Legislative Session ends May 21 and corporate interests and their legislative allies are pushing bills that violate Minnesotans’ values and put corporate interests before the public good. We need to speak up now to ensure these harmful policies don’t pass.
Many of the worst policies have been rolled into a massive omnibus finance proposal that is in conference...
Minnesotans value a vibrant democratic process and we won’t let it be undermined to serve corporate interests. We know that this process includes respect for free speech and dissent, which has been critical to achieving progress towards justice in our state. Critical farm policy reforms such as the 1986 statewide legislation that included mandatory mediation before a farm could be...
Here are key policies the Land Stewardship Project has been working on at the Minnesota state Legislature this session, along with an action you can take:
• Resources for farmers facing financial stress....
The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) is under threat. This is an attack on our soil, our water and our work to build a healthier food and farming system for all. In their first draft of the 2018 Farm Bill, House Agriculture Committee leaders are talking about...
Stand With LSP in Lakeville, Minn., on Monday, December 18
Monday, December 18, is going to be a big day. Will you join us in Lakeville, Minn., to say NO to factory farms?
For more than a year, Land Stewardship Project members in Minnesota’s Goodhue County have been fighting to protect their community from the proposed Kohlnhofer factory hog farm. The...
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 sand project in southeastern...
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders is introducing his new Medicare for All bill in the Senate this week. The Land Stewardship Project has been engaged in the issue of working for healthcare for all for a number of years. We want an affordable, high quality healthcare system...
You are invited to join fellow Land Stewardship Project members and supporters at the U.S. House Agriculture Committee Farm Bill Listening Session, Thursday, Aug. 3, at Farmfest outside of Redwood Falls.
During this crucial time, when the 2018 Farm Bill is starting to be written, we need to make our voices heard for the...
The Minnesota State Legislature has until midnight on Monday, May 22, to decide on a budget for Minnesota. As of today, no budgets have been passed. Things change by the hour, with important decisions happening behind closed doors, away from public input. The bottom line is that, without citizens in the room, who will be prioritized in the final budget?
...
UPDATE: Great news! On Monday, May 15, Gov. Mark Dayton stood up for strong local control and vetoed House File 330, a bill that would have weakened local control. Like us, he knows that strong rural communities need strong local control. Governor Dayton is doing right by using his veto power to protect Minnesota from rollbacks and reckless budget cuts on this bill and the...
The Land Stewardship Project just got word Friday night that the Minnesota Senate will be taking up the bill to weaken local control this Monday, May 8, at 11 a.m. The bill, House File 330, passed off the House Floor on Feb. 14. It had been scheduled to be on the Senate Floor on March 20 for a vote, but because of our calls and e-mails the bill was pulled. Now with only two weeks left in this...
Despite citizens' calls from across the state, the Minnesota Senate sided with corporate interests and passed the Senate Omnibus Environment Finance Bill with a provision that will double the size factory farms can be before environmental review is required. Sen. Jason Isaacson offered an amendment to remove this bad provision from the bill, but it failed narrowly on a 31-34 vote. (...
Stand with hundreds of Minnesotans from around the state in protecting our water from corporate polluters. Join one of the six bus routes coming in from rural Minnesota.
The Land Stewardship Project is co-sponsoring the 2017 Minnesota Water Action Day on Wednesday, April 19, in Saint Paul. We encourage our members to participate in this event, which is being hosted by a...