Fostering an ethic of stewardship for farmland, promoting sustainable agriculture and developing healthy communities.
Welcome to the Land Stewardship Project's Newsroom, where you will find our latest press releases and media statements. If you are a media professional and would like to be added to a list for receiving press releases, please contact:
Brian DeVore, LSP
821 East 35th Street
Suite 200
Minneapolis, MN 55407
phone: 612-816-9342
e-mail: bdevore@landstewardshipproject.org
Budget Provides Needed Support for Small & Mid-sized Farms, but Maintains a Corporate-Centered Status Quo in MN Ag
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s two-year budget proposal was released Jan. 26. The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) applauds the measures included in this budget that require the wealthiest individuals and major corporations in our state to contribute their...
Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court announced that it would not hear frac sand corporation Minnesota Sands, LLC’s, suit attempting to overturn the Winona County frac sand ban. Thus, the ordinance preventing any frac sand mining, processing, or transportation operations within the southeastern Minnesota county’s jurisdiction remains in place. The Land Stewardship Project is...
Are you a farmland owner or retiring farmer looking to transition ownership or rent your farmland in ways that reflect your values? The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) is putting on a free winter series of virtual workshops designed to help you act on your conservation and social values. LSP has introductory workshops for retiring farmers and non-operating landowners, as well as shorter...
LEWISTON, Minn. — The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) is extremely concerned that this week’s pronouncement by an Olmsted County District Court judge in a case filed by Daley Farms will have a chilling effect on citizen civic engagement in Winona County and beyond. Judge Kevin F. Mark declared that when the Winona County Board of Adjustment ruled against allowing...
LEWISTON, Minn. — The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) has released a pair of music videos highlighting key themes of the growing farmer interest in building soil health. The two songs-of-the-soil, “Got Cover Crops” and “Back to Soil,” were commissioned from Austin, Minn., native and singer-songwriter Bret Hesla and performed with the band Six Feet...
LEWISTON, Minn. — The growing season is winding down for farmers, giving them time to focus on improving and expanding their direct marketing enterprises. Two upcoming online workshops — Dec. 8 and Dec. 10 —for farmers looking to gain skills from experienced direct...
The Land Stewardship Project’s mission is to create a more just and sustainable food and farming system for everyone, no exceptions. Our organizing is based on shared values of community, democracy, stewardship, health, and justice. Upholding this foundation is the conviction that we believe in the innate value of people and the land. Racist hatred, exclusion, and violence are clear...
Corporation Yet Again Ignores Local Democracy & the Will of the People
Today, Minnesota Sands, LLC filed a petition asking the United States Supreme Court to hear an appeal in its lawsuit seeking to overturn the Winona County frac sand mining ban. Such requests are not automatically accepted by the Court, and given the utter disrespect this company, as well as...
Despite Previous Rulings, MN Sands Attempts to Yet Again Circumvent Environmental Law
LEWISTON, Minn. — The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) today called on the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board (EQB) to continue to enforce its requirement of a comprehensive environmental review of a proposed frac sand mining project in southeastern...
LEWISTON, Minn. — Interest in soil microbiology and how to grow organisms using aerobic composting methods is growing among farmers in southeastern Minnesota. To hear more about what farmers are trying out in the region, the Land Stewardship Project will hold a compost check-in call Thursday, Sept. 24, from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. The call will be a facilitated large group...
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...
FOUNTAIN, Minn. — Interseeding cover crops, grazing and planting corn in 60” rows will be the topics covered during a Land Stewardship Project (LSP) Zoom event Thursday, Sept. 10, from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Join the event 10 minutes prior to 10 a.m. for music and social time. All Zoom experience levels are welcome and guidance to using the platform will be given in...
Meeting Takes Place at Twin Cities Area Incubator Farm
MARINE ON ST. CROIX, Minn. — During a walking tour of an incubator farm Sunday, farmer-leaders relayed to Minnesota U.S. Senator Tina Smith the importance of creating and supporting food and farm policy that prioritizes people and public investment in the health and wellbeing of communities and the...
CHATFIELD, Minn. — No-till and cover crops will be the focus of a Land Stewardship Project (LSP) Zoom event Friday, Aug. 14, from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Join the event 10 minutes before 1 p.m. for music and social time. All Zoom experience levels are welcome and guidance on using the platform will be given in the first 10 minutes of the program. The event is free, but...
BYRON, Minn. — Farmer Martin Larsen will host a virtual field day in partnership with Practical Farmers of Iowa and the Land Stewardship Project exploring no-till oat and rye production on...
LSP: Farmers Must Now be Aware of their Mediation Rights
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — As a sign of the dire financial situation the state's agriculture faces, the Minnesota House and Senate last week passed by a combind 201-0 vote legislation that stops foreclosures until December for farmers who elect to take part in creditor mediation. This extension of...
LEWISTON, Minn. — The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has ignored sound environmental science and policy by failing to order an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a major dairy expansion project near Lewiston, say rural residents. The MPCA announced today it would issue a feedlot permit for Daley Farms’ proposal to expand its operation by 3,000...
Global Players Forced Small Meatpacking Plants Out, Farmers & Workers Pay the Price
The announced closing of Smithfield’s Sioux Falls, S. Dak., meatpacking plant due to a COVID-19 outbreak affecting over 600 workers is a...
LSP Calls for Mediation Period & Moratorium on Farm Foreclosures to be Extended to 180 Days to Accommodate Harvest, Volatile Market Situation
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) applauded the Minnesota House and Senate for passing legislation Tuesday that would place a 60-day extension on farm financial mediation periods in the...
Groups Concerned That Trump’s USDA Will Continue to Favor Industry
Family farm-based organizations in Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri and South Dakota sent a letter to Congress today calling for strong oversight of the recently passed Covid-19 aid...
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — During these uncertain times brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, buying a share in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm makes more sense than ever, according to the Land Stewardship Project (LSP). LSP’s 2020 edition of the Twin Cities, Minnesota & Western Wisconsin Region Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Directory...
Decision Marks 3rd Time Ban is Supported in the Courts
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Supreme Court today upheld Winona County’s landmark ordinance banning frac sand mining. The court ruled that Winona...
Mark Schultz Retiring After 3 Decades with the Land Stewardship Project
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — A veteran advocate for independent family farmers and sustainable rural communities has been named as the Land Stewardship Project’s new executive director, the organization’s board of directors announced today. Jess Anna Glover will take over from...
LSP Farmer-Members Demand State Policy Reforms, Investigations
MANKATO, Minn. — Public officials need to take immediate action to address the farm crisis that is decimating Minnesota’s rural families and communities. That was the message farmer-members of the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) conveyed to state Commissioner of Agriculture Thom...
WINONA, Minn. — Are you a farmland owner who values good stewardship practices? Are you a farmer looking to invest in soil building on rented land? A free workshop to help you act on your conservation values will be held Friday, March 13, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Bluff Country Co-op, 121 W. 2nd St., in Winona. This workshop is an introduction to soil health and the...