LSP Publications

As part of its education-to-action strategy, the Land Stewardship Project periodically produces deeply researched publications on everything from soil health and local democracy to the need for policy reform.

Click on the Headings to Download pdfs of these LSP Publications

Soil Health, Water & Climate Change: A Pocket Guide to What You Need to Know

This 50-page pocket guide provides policymakers, educators, journalists, and the general public an introduction to the latest innovations in science and farming related to building soil health, and how implementing such practices on a wide scale basis can make agriculture a powerful force for creating a landscape that is good for our water and our climate. Download the app here; download the pdf here.

Our Minnesota Future: A Vision for Rural Minnesota

A Vision for Rural Minnesota was developed from input given by hundreds of Land Stewardship Project members during the fall of 2017. This publication is designed as a tool to use in conversations with neighbors, candidates for public office, and others about our values, challenges, and vision for the future of rural communities and our state.

Building the Bridge to Soil Health

In October 2020, a special LSP report was published: Building the Bridge to Soil Health: The Power of Organizing Farmer-to-Farmer Engagement. It describes the organization’s experience with launching the Bridge to Soil Health initiative in Minnesota. The report is available here.

Special Report: Soil Health, Profits & Resiliency

In 2012 the Land Stewardship Letter published a series of articles on the groundbreaking work being done by a team of farmers,
conservationists and scientists in North Dakota’s Burleigh County to combine soil health, profitability, and greater overall community sustainability. This special report combines those articles and information on additional resources.

The Money Pit: How Minnesota Property Taxpayers are Subsidizing Factory Farms

This is an LSP report on how a little-known law exempting manure storage facilities from property taxes unfairly benefits large-scale livestock operations.

The Land Stewardship Letter

This is the nationally-known publication of the Land Stewardship Project. Members of the Land Stewardship Project receive a hard copy of
this newsletter as a benefit. Annual membership dues are $35. Address all membership inquiries to Clara Sanders via e-mail or at 612-400-6340. Click here for detailed information on becoming a member of LSP today.

Protecting Your Township from Unwanted Development

Produced by LSP’s Policy and Organizing Program, this booklet provides guidance to townships on using the Minnesota Interim Ordinance and other tools in the state’s Municipal Planning law. It also contains an extensive list of resources. This is the 3^rd edition of this publication; it was originally written in 1997 and updated again in 2006. The 2018 version includes significant updates, including information on frac sand mining operations. 65 pages.

People’s EIS Scoping Report: Citizen Comments on the Necessary Scope and Depth of the Environmental Impact Statement on the Minnesota Sands Frac Sand Proposal

On Tuesday, July 9, 2013, 100 people attended a Land Stewardship Project meeting in Rushford, Minn., to state their serious concerns about the destructive impacts a frac sand mining proposal would have on their lives and communities and to raise the specific issues that must be included within the scope of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) being done on the proposal. Their comments are compiled in this report.

Creating a Bright Future for Livestock Farms in Minnesota: A Report by the Citizen Task Force on Livestock Farms & Rural Communities

In 2004, the Citizen Task Force on Livestock Farmers and Rural Communities studied the challenges and opportunities facing livestock farmers and rural communities, and assembled a list of priority recommendations to policy makers and community leaders on ways to increase the number and profitability of Minnesota livestock farmers in ways that benefit rural communities, recognizing that livestock farmers and vibrant rural communities are interrelated.

The Syngenta Corporation & Atrazine: The Cost to the Land, People & Democracy

In January 2010 the Land Stewardship Project and Pesticide Action Network North America collaborated on a special report on atrazine, one of the most commonly detected pesticides in U.S. ground and surface water. This report offers a review of the many environmental and health concerns surrounding atrazine and describes how its inventor and primary manufacturer, Syngenta, has resisted attempts to conduct extensive research on the chemical and regulate its use. The report also highlights what farmers can do to end their reliance on atrazine.

Crop Insurance Reports

Farmer-members of the Land Stewardship Project have long called for reforms to the federally subsidized crop insurance program. Originally developed as a basic safety net that would prevent farmers from being wiped out by a weather disaster, the program has evolved into a system for subsidizing the growth and consolidation or mega-cropping operations. This has been bad news for small and medium-sized farmers as well as soil health, water quality, and wildlife habitat. Over the years, LSP has worked with its members and various experts to develop numerous reports on what’s wrong with the crop insurance program and what reforms are needed to bring it back to its roots as a fair safety net.

Upcoming Events

August 2022

Tuesday August 9

6:30 pm – 8:00 pm: LSP Deep Canvassing Training

LSP Deep Canvassing Training

Tuesday August 9

6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Deep canvassing is a candid, non-judgmental, two-way conversation wherecanvassers ask voters to share their relevant, emotionally significantexperiences and reflect on them aloud. It is one of the most durable and provenforms of persuasion when talking to people who might hold differing beliefs thanyou and is going to be critical in creating the world we want and need.

Join the Land Stewardship Action Fund to learn about deep canvassing, what itis and why it’s important, and get trained on how to deep canvass so you’re ableto powerfully participate in LSAF’s upcoming deep canvasses and put theseimportant skills to use in your community. Register at https://secure.everyaction.com/mLpXBrNOT0q0uzsGDRa6Ig2.

Thursday August 11

5:30 pm – 7:00 pm: LSP Food Systems Listening Event in Madison, Minn., Aug. 11

LSP Food Systems Listening Event in Madison, Minn., Aug. 11

Thursday August 11

5:30 pm – 7:00 pm

With the rising cost of food and continued supply chain issues, our communities are facing ever increasing uncertainty. Many are left asking: Where will our food come from? A more secure and sustainable food system is within our reach. If we increased direct sales of food in Minnesota to 1% of all agricultural sales, we’d have an additional $76.25 million going directly to farmers.

We need you with us to make sure we can make this a reality! Join Land Stewardship Project members and supporters on Thursday, Aug. 11, from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., in Madison, Minn.

Come and share your ideas about how we can connect farmers, consumers, and food businesses to coordinate markets and support economic development through local foods. We’ll also talk about how the next Farm Bill can help direct federal resources toward community food security, health, and economic vitality.

Register here.

Saturday August 13

9:30 am – 3:30 pm: Growing Peaches in Cold Climates

Growing Peaches in Cold Climates

Saturday August 13

9:30 am – 3:30 pm

Whoever thought peaches could be grown in Minnesota? Not only can we grow them here, but you will learn how to do it in a commercially viable way organically and they will be the best tasting peaches you have ever picked off your own tree. WEI presents Dan Sheild, our local expert on growing peaches in Minnesota. Learn about his innovative and effective techniques for getting the best peaches around, and how you can too!

To register, click here.
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm: LSP Grazing Group Pasture Walk: Cattle, Grass & Streams

LSP Grazing Group Pasture Walk: Cattle, Grass & Streams

Saturday August 13

4:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Nick and Tesla Prigge of Sugarloaf Creek Farm are hosting an LSP pasture walk for area graziers. They will show their cattle grazing system, share their farm story (including current and future plans), and look forward to conversations on various pasture and herd
management styles. There will be a discussion on including cattle grazing in riparian corridor management. Larry Gates, retired DNR Watershed Coordinator, will be a guest speaker during the riparian management section of the pasture walk.

Ralph Lentz began rotationally grazing the land in 1980. Ralph demonstrated it is possible to mix cattle with creeks when you are operating your farm as an ecosystem. After Ralph passed away in the fall of 2017, his grandson Nicholas Prigge and family began operating and maintaining the farm. The beef herd consists of 35 cow-calf Pinzgauer Black Angus animals grazing on 80 acres.

Potluck: bring a side to share. Hamburgers will be provided by hosts featuring Sugarloaf Creek Farm beef. Bring your own utensils (plate, silverware) to help
reduce waste. Open to all graziers; do not need to be a member of LSP.

To register for this field day by Aug. 12, click here.

Tuesday August 16

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm: LSP Farm Bill Platform Launch

LSP Farm Bill Platform Launch

Tuesday August 16

6:00 pm – 8:00 pm

We are confronting many challenges on our farms and in our rural communities: from extreme weather to land access challenges for beginning farmers, as well as corporate interests influencing so much of our food and farming system. But we have an enormous opportunity to address these challenges through the upcoming 2023 Farm Bill!

Join us for the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Bill Platform Launch Aug. 16, from 6 p.m. – 8 p.m., at the Legvold Farm in Northfield, Minn.

For details and to register, click here.

View Full Calendar

Click on the Headings to Download pdfs of these LSP Publications

Building the Bridge to Soil Health

Crop Insurance Reports

Crop Insurance: How a Safety Net Became a Farm Policy Disaster

Crop Insurance: How a Safety Net Became a Farm Policy Disaster

Crop Insurance: How a Safety Net Became a Farm Policy Disaster

Crop Insurance: How a Safety Net Became a Farm Policy Disaster

Crop Insurance: How a Safety Net Became a Farm Policy Disaster

Crop Insurance: How a Safety Net Became a Farm Policy Disaster

Crop Insurance: A Torn Safety Net