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Pulling Together, Moving Forward: LSP Member Statement on the Current Farm Crisis

November 15, 2019

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NOTE: On Sept. 7, 2019, 37 Land Stewardship Project member-farmers and leaders came together in St. Peter, Minn., to discuss direct ways of addressing the current farm crisis. Below is the statement these members developed as a guideline on how to move forward to address this crisis:

A Real Farm Crisis

Farmers are facing an economic crisis that is entering its sixth year. Farm families are often unable to even earn back what it took to plant a crop, to raise the livestock, or to produce the milk that is their source of income. This unsustainable situation is severely undermining the foundation of independent farming and the communities it supports, as well as overall stewardship, fairness, and justice.

Some stark facts:

  • The 2018 median farm income for U.S. farm households was negative $1,533.
  • For six years, more than half of farmers and ranchers have lost money on their crops or herds.
  • 70 percent of the total income of farm families comes from off-farm sources.

Some root causes of this farm crisis are clear and agreed upon:

  • Farmers not getting a fair price for what they produce or a fair share of the food dollar.
  • Corporate monopolies exercising their extractive nature on both sides of the farm produce/input equation, along with the USDA’s disregard for fulfilling its role as enforcer of farm economic fairness.
  • Cooperatives asserting power over their members rather than power for them.
  • Unaffordable cost of healthcare for farmers and other self-employed people.

The pain of this crisis is not being felt by agribusiness and corporate interests that continue to make profits at the expense of farmers and rural communities. The fact is that there is money in agriculture, but farmers are not getting anywhere close to a fair share of the economic benefits being generated by the food they labor to produce on the land.

Failure to address the destruction of farm-level profitability is not acceptable and is producing devastating results. The combined impact of these structural forces — left to play out without intervention from our elected representatives, our public officials, and farmers themselves — may very well lead to the extinction of the next wave of the kinds of small- to mid-sized farm operations, particularly family dairy farmers, that are the source of vitality for rural communities. Long-term food security and environmental stewardship require more farmers, not less, and stronger rural communities, not weaker ones.

Farmers & Allies Must Unify & Speak Out

It is time farmers receive a fair price for the products they produce, and commodity groups and farm organizations need to refocus their policy initiatives on the importance of keeping family farmers on the land.

To bring about such initiatives, farmers and their allies must unify and amplify their voices. Solutions to the farm crisis must start on the farm.

Farmers must start listening to each other, rather than agribusiness leaders, whose interest is not the interest of farmers or the communities they support. Farmers and their allies must unite around a common cause, and work to advance their own personal and community self-economic interest, as well as further the interest of farmers beyond their own communities who represent a diversity of farming approaches and a diversity of backgrounds. LSP believes that racial justice is deeply connected to economic justice for farmers and rural people, which is why we’re committed to engaging in racial justice work, alongside our allies, as we address the ongoing farm crisis. This is the source of our strength, our resilience, our solutions, and our power.

From Our Minnesota Governor, Legislature & Attorney General We Demand:

1) State officials must strengthen our Minnesota Farm Advocates program so farmers know their rights. Minnesota needs to double the number of farm advocates to meet Minnesota farmers’ needs. This program puts farmers first and lets farmers know their rights when the bankers come for the farm and farm equipment. In addition, The Farmers’ Legal Action Group (FLAG) needs funding to support the training of farm advocates and provide legal resources to farmers in financial trouble.

2) The Minnesota Attorney General’s office must use its authority to investigate farmer-owned cooperatives that have turned their backs on the farmers who created them. The Attorney General’s office, in its investigation or in its recommendation for legislation, should address these immediate needs of family farmers:

• Farm cooperatives must return to their original purpose that all family farmers be treated equally in the buying of farm inputs and the selling of farm products. No special deals for large producers.
• No cooperative mergers or acquisitions should be allowed without all farmer members being allowed to vote.

3) Farmers need accessible opportunities to restructure loans. The Minnesota Legislature should pass policy that covers the origination fee required of small- and mid-sized farmers who are in severe financial stress and thus are refinancing farm debt and obtaining guaranteed loans through the USDA Farm Service Agency.

4) A moratorium on massive dairies over 1,000 animal units. The Governor must instruct the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to pass a moratorium on issuing permits for construction of any dairy over 1,000 animal units until the water pollution threat posed by these large operations and the price-depressing effects of overproduction are both addressed.

5) Affordable healthcare for farmers and rural communities. The Governor and Legislature must take bold and immediate steps to expand public healthcare coverage and directly help people facing unaffordable costs, poor coverage, and high deductibles on the private market.

From Our Federal Leaders We Demand:

1) End corporate mega-mergers. All of our representatives in the U.S. Congress, and especially the ones who serve on the House and Senate agriculture committees, must take a stand and pass a moratorium on any pending corporate ag mergers, and address economic fairness within the Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) and the broader regulatory authority related to anti-trust in agriculture.

2) Establish a supply management system for grain, with a loan rate at 95 percent of production costs.

3) Implement short-term dairy relief and a long-term structural solution for small- and mid-sized dairies as proposed during the “Dairy Together” Roadshow in Greenwald, Minn., on April 29, 2019 (hosted by the National Farmers Organization and Wisconsin Farmers Union, and co-hosted by Minnesota Farmers Union).

4) Federal farm subsidies should have payment limits and should be tied to stewardship. We should not have a system where 80 percent of farm payments go to 5 percent of the farmers.

5) Enact Country of Origin Labeling (COOL), which is missing in the current draft of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).

6) The USDA’s Farm Service Agency must offer 40-year fixed farmland loans with below-market interest rates to those groups of beginning farmers who are at a significant competitive disadvantage when it comes to accessing land — women, farmers of color, veterans, and farmers with limited capital resources.

We Must Take Action Together

Addressing the disaster that is decimating farming communities will require an increasing number of community meetings and actions small and large. We must build the power of farmer and rural community voices to the level required to make effective demands of our elected representatives and public officials, and get the concrete actions required to meet the severity of this current economic crisis. The Land Stewardship Project is prepared, along with our allies, to lead and support the groundswell of action needed to bring about an equitable farm economy grounded in family farm viability, land stewardship, and community — both in this immediate time of farm crisis, and as a foundation for the future.

 

Category: Blog
Tags: family farms • farm crisis • rural communities

Contact

Amanda Koehler, LSP Policy manager, e-mail, 612-400-6355

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October 2025

Tuesday October 7

6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Book Event: We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy
Tuesday October 7
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Book Event: We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy
The Landing Market, 211 College Dr, Decorah, IA 52101, USA

The Johnson Center for Land Stewardship Policy is excited to share that one of our its primary pillars of work — a published collection of Paul Johnson’s writings —  is set for release on Oct. 2.  The book features a brief biography and a discussion of Paul’s ideas within the historical and future contexts of private lands conservation. Details on the event are available here.

For details on We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy click here.

 

Friday October 10

8:30 am – 3:00 pm
Weaving a Wider Community: Seeing & Countering Racism in Our Backyard
Friday October 10
8:30 am – 3:00 pm
Weaving a Wider Community: Seeing & Countering Racism in Our Backyard
111 N 1st St, Montevideo, MN 56265, USA

Join LSP and CURE for a community event at the Land Stewardship Project office in Montevideo (111 N. First St.), from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., on Friday, Oct. 10. This event includes lunch catered by El Mana; please register by Oct. 3 to be included in the food count.

You can RSVP here.

The Racial Equity Conference, organized by the Greater Minnesota Partnership of the Facilitating Racial Equity Collaborative, has been specifically designed to bring engaging content to local communities through a unique pairing of online speakers and in-person local sessions. The morning’s online content will include a conversation focused on seeing and countering racism in rural communities, moderated by Eryn Gee Killough, paired with two outstanding keynote speakers, Jenna Grey Eagle and Ron Ferguson, who have experience working in rural communities. 

This online content will be exclusively available to local community gatherings. Each gathering will gear their in-person activity to their specific community with the goal of extending the impact of the conference to others throughout the following year. Join LSP and CURE for this western Minnesota gathering, or if a different location works better for you, check out all the local gatherings on the FREC site,

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out. LSP’s Nick Olson can be reached via e-mail at nicko@landstewardshipproject.org.

9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Intensive Small-Scale Market Gardening Bus Tour
Friday October 10
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Intensive Small-Scale Market Gardening Bus Tour
Leatherdale Equine Center, 1801 Dudley Ave, St Paul, MN 55108, USA

Explore profitable small-scale farming (1–5 acres) and soil care. Visit a cooperative incubator farm and a thriving suburban market garden. Learn about cover crops, reduced tillage, high tunnel soil health, and support for growers.

This is the second tour in a three-part soil health bus tour series. Participants can sign up for just one, two, or all three tours. Register at https://z.umn.edu/vegetablebustours. The cost is $15 (flat fee, covers 1, 2, or 3 tours). There are more details in the attached flyer.

Saturday October 11

11:00 am – 2:00 pm
LSP-COPAL Visita a la Granja | Farm Tour
Saturday October 11
11:00 am – 2:00 pm
LSP-COPAL Visita a la Granja | Farm Tour
36919 County 57 Blvd, Dennison, MN 55018, USA

Building off the success of last year’s farm event with COPAL in Austin, Minn., this year Land Stewardship Project and COPAL members and supporters will gather at the Young-Walser Family Farm in Dennison, Minn. for a festive and delicious farm tour on Saturday, Oct. 11, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. We invite you to come and meet new folks, learn new skills, and try new food! 
 
This year’s COPAL-LSP farm event offers a little something for everyone: 
 
🍯 Honey sampling and the opportunity to purchase from Homestead Honey Farm. 
 
🍎 Apple cider pressing and tasting. (BTW, we’re still looking for an apple press if you or a farmer friend have one nearby we could borrow for this event!) 
 
🌽 Nixtamalization workshop and fresh, homemade tortillas, made with corn grown by LSP and COPAL members at the Young-Walser Family Farm! 
 
🍅 Salsa making and cricket-eating competitions! Yes, you heard that right —we’ll have the opportunity to sample crickets, a delectable crispy and savory snack commonly enjoyed throughout Mexico and Central America. Stay tuned for details on how to enter either competition. 
 
🥾 A tour of the Young-Walser farm, nestled in the beautiful Sogn Valley not far from Cannon Falls, Minn. Enjoy a tromp through the corn and squash fields and hike in the nearby woods. 
 
🌮 A shared meal and opportunity to hear from LSP and COPAL organizers about our participation in the Immigrant Defense Network. 

Let us know you can make it to ensure we order enough food and supplies! Carpools from Minneapolis and Rochester will be available to all attendees. 

________________________________________________

¡Únete a LSP + COPAL para nuestro recorrido anual comunitario en la granja!
Un espacio divertido para tod@s donde exploraremos la agricultura, aprenderemos sobre el campo y participaremos en actividades prácticas. ¡Uno de los momentos más especiales será hacer tortillas frescas junt@s!

Compartiremos un delicioso almuerzo comunitario, preparando tacos en estilo potluck (tipo convivio). Te invitamos a traer un platillo o acompañamiento para compartir.

También estás invitado@ a llegar temprano (desde las 9 AM) para ayudar a cosechar calabazas que sembramos. Puedes llevarte algunas a casa, y el resto se donará a un banco de alimentos local.

El Land Stewardship Project (LSP) es una organización aliada de COPAL que trabaja por sistemas alimentarios y agrícolas más sostenibles y justos. LSP y COPAL están unidas en su lucha por instituciones democráticas sólidas, comunidades saludables y acogedoras, y una ética de cuidado hacia la tierra y las personas que nos alimentan.

Tuesday October 14

11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Birds as Pest Control Allies on the Farm
Tuesday October 14
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Birds as Pest Control Allies on the Farm
Online

This 10-lesson Wild Farm Alliance virtual course teaches agricultural professionals and farmers how to support beneficial birds and manage pest birds on farms. By learning how to assess the farm’s avian needs and opportunities, farms can be designed to provide for a diversity of beneficial birds. 

If pest birds are a problem, they can be discouraged with specific practices during the shorter periods when they cause damage. The sessions cover the latest research, tools and resources, and are given by experts in avian pest control, entomology, ornithology and conservation. While many topics and species are specific to the Midwest, most of the principles discussed are applicable across regions. 

Continuing Education Credits have been requested and are expected to be approved from American Society of Agronomy.

For details and to register, click here. 

The Course Schedule:

LESSON 1

Why Birds Belong on the Farm: Biodiversity, Pest Control & A Thriving Landscape

Tuesday, September 23, 2 p.m. CT


LESSON 2

Birds as Pest Control Allies on the Farm

Tuesday, October 14, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 3

Birds in the Balance: Pest Control Services Across Crop Types

Tuesday, November 4, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 4

Integrating Habitat into Croplands: Prairie Strips and Bird Conservation

Tuesday, December 2, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 5

Birds on the Farm: Balancing Biodiversity and Food Safety

Tuesday, January 13, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 6

Beyond the Crop: Birds, Biodiversity, and the Power of Edge Habitat

Tuesday, February 3, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 7

Bridging Forestry, Farming, and Habitat

Tuesday, February 24, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 8

Perennial Pathways: Agroforestry for Birds and Biodiversity on Farms

Tuesday, March 17, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 9

Birds on the Range: How Grazing Practices Shape Habitat for Grassland Species

Tuesday, April 7, 11 a.m. CT


LESSON 10

Birds at Risk: How Pesticides Shape Safety on Agricultural Lands

Tuesday, April 28, 11 a.m. CT

View Full Calendar

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