Retiring Farmers & Landowners

“As a landowner, you have the power to determine the legacy of your
land — that decision is the most important decision you can make.”

— Bill McMillin, who, with his wife Bonnie, transitioned the
family farm to a beginning farmer

Applications are now open for LSP’s 2026 Farm Transition Course. For details, click here.

You are in the right place to move down the path of transitioning your farm to the next generation. Fulfilling a land legacy is rewarding. There is a sense of peace knowing the land will continue to be cared for by a beginning farmer and that the land will provide a home and livelihood for the next generation. But there are a lot of questions to ask and there is a lot of planning that goes into the farm transition journey.

What is your vision for your farm? How does this fit into the context of the larger rural landscape? What is the land’s best use?

You do not have to do this alone, there are a number of resources (below), plus people who are willing and able to help. Please reach out to LSP’s Karen Stettler via e-mail or at 612-767-9885 with questions or for more information.

Getting Started

Here are some important steps in the Farm Transition Planning process:

1) What is Your Legacy?

Getting clear on what you are aiming for on your land will give you the best chance to actualize your legacy. Clarify your goals and values, communicate them to your family and next generation farmers, and use these goals and values to guide your farm transition decisions.

LSP’s Farm Transition Planning self-guided worksheets help you map out your plan.
To get you started, check out this introduction from MISA’s Farm Transitions Toolkit.
Farmland Access Decision-Making Tool
Farm Legacy Letters (Practical Farmers of Iowa)
Am I Ready?/Are We Ready? Starter questions to help activate needed thought and discussion before and during planning for a farm transition.

2) Financial Considerations of Creating Your Legacy

What are the financial realities of your farm enterprise? Will your farm need to support two families during a transition? Is there room for companion enterprises? What are your financial needs in retirement? Having a clear picture of your financial situation and answers to these questions will help you envision a farm transition that will fit your budget.

3) Legal Considerations of Creating Your Legacy

Once you have your legacy in mind and have figured out the financial options you have, it is important to make sure you have legal documents drawn up to finalize the plan. This is an important step and one that is best handled by attorneys with farm transition experience.

4) Conservation Considerations to Create Your Legacy

You have cared for your land and want to ensure the land will continue to be cared for in a way that enhances the soil, air, and water. There are things you can do right now.

5) Alternatives for Land Legacy

Accessing secure and affordable land is a barrier for many and it’s clear a system-wide change is needed when it comes to farmland policy, markets, and infrastructure. Such changes take time. In the interim, there need to be alternative ways for beginning farmers to access land.

6) Networking with Other Beginning & Retiring Farmers

There really are new farmers who want to get started and, on the other side of the equation, established farmers who want to see another generation of farmers on their land. Sometimes the hardest part is connecting those beginning farmers and retiring landowners. Here are a few ideas for making such connections.

Ear to the Ground 232: A Difficult Discussion

Excessive erosion on her farm prompted Jeannie Hill to have a hard conversation with her renter. But first, she did some homework.

Ear to the Ground 232: A Difficult Discussion
LSP Winter Farm Transition Planning Course Launches Jan. 27 Online

October 16, 2025
LEWISTON, Minn. — Are you a farmer or landowner thinking about the next steps for your farm and land? Or do you know someone who…

News Releases
beginning farmers, farm transition, Farm Transition Planning Course, farmland access, retiring farmers

LSP Winter Farm Transition Planning Course Launches Jan. 27 Online
Ear to the Ground 369: Emerging Agrarians

Ka Zoua Berry says supporting a future generation of farmers who don’t fit the traditional Midwestern stereotype isn’t just about building a resilient farm and…

Ear to the Ground 369: Emerging Agrarians

Contact

Karen Stettler, LSP farm transitions organizer, 612-767-9885, e-mail

Upcoming Events

November 2025

Tuesday November 18

6:30 pm – 8:00 pm: Constitutional Observer Training
Tuesday November 18
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
Constitutional Observer Training
The YES! House, 726 Prentice St, Granite Falls, MN 56241, USA
The Land Stewardship Project, the Immigrant Defense Network, and Yes! House are hosting a Constitutional Observer Training in Granite Falls, Minn., on Tuesday, November 18, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

This training is intended to develop local community leaders’ knowledge and understanding of civil rights and to encourage engagement in civil initiatives that protect immigrant rights and due process. The training blends elements of “Know Your Rights” and “rapid response” in a practical, hands-on workshop experience.

Constitutional Observers observe and document law enforcement interactions, inform individuals about civil rights and due process, and share support resources. This training instructs participants on how to be a safe and effective observer, especially during an ICE detainment. You learn what questions to ask, how to document and uphold the constitutional rights of whomever is being detained, how to keep yourself safe in the process, and what to do with the footage and information you gather.

This training is intended to empower local community members with the tools and resources needed to support the legal rights of our immigrant neighbors. Immigrant communities are essential to the strength, resilience, and prosperity of Minnesota. LSP and our partners envision a Minnesota where immigrant families live without fear, children dream freely, and communities stand united in their pursuit for justice and their right to thrive.

To register, click here.

If you have questions, feel free to reach out to LSP’s Robin Moore via e-mail or LSP’s Nick Olson via e-mail.

Wednesday November 19

12:15 pm – 1:45 pm: We Can Do Better Book Discussion at Iowa Nature Summit
Wednesday November 19
12:15 pm – 1:45 pm
We Can Do Better Book Discussion at Iowa Nature Summit
Olmsted Center, 2875 University Ave, Des Moines, IA 50311, 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. For details on We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy click here.

Curt Meine will speak about the book during the 12:15 p.m.-1:30 p.m. luncheon at the Iowa Nature Summit on Nov 19.

Thursday November 20

All Day

Give to the Max Day

Thursday November 20

Give to the Max Day

Online

Give to the Max Day is coming up on Thursday, November 20. But you don’t have to wait until Give to the Max Day to make your gift to LSP. Any contribution made through the GiveMN portal, now until November 20, will count toward our $15,000 goal and is fully tax-deductible!

This Give to the Max Day season, the Land Stewardship Project is gearing up to share the stories of resilience, change, and action that LSP members are a part of in their towns and on their farms.

We’re up against some pretty overwhelming challenges these days and now is the time for turning hope into action and coming together over common goals. One way to do that is to support the work of building the farm and food system we want and need for the future.

We know the future of farming is diverse and innovative, and should be set up to reward stewardship-minded farmers for the solutions they bring to some of our biggest challenges like soil health, clean water, and a changing climate.

Bringing that vision for the future into reality requires taking on the biggest of the big in the agriculture industry, supporting the next generation of farmers, and reforming farm policies, as well as developing new, reliable, fair markets for all farmers that support conservation, healthy food, and local prosperity.

That’s a big mountain to climb and we need people power to make it happen. LSP brings farmers, rural, urban, and suburban people together to take action around our common goal of a fair and sustainable farm and food system in this country.

Give to the Max Day is a fun and collective way to get into the giving spirit across the entire state of Minnesota. Thank you for being part of LSP’s work to build a better future for our farm and food system. Please join, renew, or make a special gift to LSP as part of Give to the Max Day this year.

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

MDA Urban Ag Conservation Mini-grant Info Session

Thursday November 20

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm

MDA Urban Ag Conservation Mini-grant Info Session

A grant opportunity for urban farmers in Minnesota to receive up to $5,000 to make conservation-focused improvements is now open for applications.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is once again offering an Urban Farm Conservation Mini-grant with approximately $100,000 available, thanks to funding from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. This year the program has expanded eligibility.

Who is eligible:

Entities commercially farming in Minnesota, meaning they sell or donate at least $1,000 of what they produce.
Farm applicants must be located in or selling into a city with a population over 5,000 people, or be located within the boundaries of federally recognized tribal land in Minnesota and serve tribal community members.

The grant offers up to $5,000 per approved recipient which can be used to cover a variety of tools, supplies, services, and other expenses related to improving their urban farm.

Eligible projects include irrigation infrastructure improvements, tools and amendments for improving soil health, composting infrastructure, specialty crop rotation equipment and many other farm improvements which generate conservation outcomes.

Up to 100% of the total project costs may be covered by the grant, and a cash match is not required. Grantees will need to pay for eligible expenses up front and then request reimbursement, using proof of purchase and proof of payment.

An informational session will take place online at 1 p.m. on November 20 and registration is required. Language interpretation services may be requested for the information session by contacting Emily Toner at emily.toner@state.mn.us.

This is a competitive grant program and applications must be submitted by December 18.

Visit the Urban Farm Conservation Grant web page for more information on its application. The Request for Proposals is available for download in English, Spanish, Hmong and Somali.

Saturday November 22

1:00 pm – 4:00 pm: Farm Scale Deep Winter Greenhouse Open House
Saturday November 22
1:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Farm Scale Deep Winter Greenhouse Open House
Tintah Beach Farm, Thief River Falls, MN
Please join Marcus Langevin from Tintah Beach Farm and the University of Minnesota at an open house and ribbon cutting celebrating the completion of the farm scale deep winter greenhouse prototype on Nov. 22, from 1 p.m.-4 p.m.

This new deep winter greenhouse design allows farmers in cold climates to grow crops for sale to their customers throughout the winter months. The heavily insulated greenhouse utilizes a steeply sloped south-facing glazing wall to capture solar heat which is stored in an underground soil thermal mass where it is available to heat the greenhouse at night when the outside temperatures drop.

The new energy efficient greenhouse was designed to suit the needs of small and medium scale vegetable farmers. It is larger, cheaper per square foot to construct than previous designs, and is simple enough that farmers with minimal construction experience can build it themselves. Deep winter greenhouses like these allow farmers the ability to grow market crops year-round, thereby increasing their yearly revenues and allowing Minnesotans year-round access to healthy, fresh, locally grown produce.

Registration: This event is free to attend, but registration is required at z.umn.edu/TintahBeachOpenHouse. Please register by November 15.

Download farm scale deep winter greenhouse building documents. This farm scale deep winter greenhouse design is available for free download from the UMN Extension RSDP’s deep winter greenhouse website.

This work is made possible by University of Minnesota Extension; College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS); College of Design Center for Sustainable Building Research (CSBR); and the Agriculture Research, Education, Extension and Technology Transfer Program (AGREETT).

View Full Calendar

“As a landowner, you have the power to determine the legacy of your land — that decision is the most important decision you can make.”

Getting Started

Ear to the Ground 232: A Difficult Discussion

LSP Winter Farm Transition Planning Course Launches Jan. 27 Online

Ear to the Ground 369: Emerging Agrarians

Contact

Who is eligible:

“As a landowner, you have the power to determine the legacy of your
land — that decision is the most important decision you can make.”