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… Read More →
UTICA, Minn. — Over 100 family farmers and rural residents gathered in Utica May 11 to discuss federal agricultural policy reforms during a special Land Stewardship Project (LSP) meeting with U.S. Rep. Tim Walz. Participants in the meeting made it clear that the 2018 Farm Bill needs to support family farms, conservation, beginning farmers and… Read More →
Farmers, Nurses, Care Providers & People of Faith Question Major Cuts in Time of Budget Surplus SAINT PAUL, Minn. — State lawmakers are pushing public healthcare cuts that could affect more than a million Minnesotans. The Legislature has less than three weeks to agree on a state budget with Governor Mark Dayton, but the Republican… Read More →
The State of Iowa is on the verge of eliminating one of the nation’s leading centers of sustainable agriculture research and innovation. The Iowa Legislature’s vote to defund and close the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture comes at a time when the work of the 30-year-old institution is, in many ways, just beginning. It was… Read More →
How citizens in one Minnesota county put values into action to attain a win for the land and their community. On November 22, 2016, history was made in southeastern Minnesota’s Winona County when the Board of Commissioners there passed a ban on any new frac sand operations. It is the first known countywide ban on… Read More →
Perhaps despite my better judgement, I made the decision several years ago to alter my career trajectory and become a farmer. As a former farm kid from the plains of southwestern Minnesota, it shouldn’t have been that crazy a notion, and I thought I’d have a leg-up getting my farm started. Despite rural connections and… Read More →
Reimagining Farm Policy that Puts People, Communities & the Land First The energy has been incredible. Over the past two months the federal policy team at the Land Stewardship Project has been holding Farm Bill listening meetings in Minnesota to discuss the upcoming 2018 Farm Bill. The central question has been: “What would make the… Read More →
ST. CHARLES, Minn. — Exploring on-farm experiences with cover cropping and building soil health is the aim of a Land Stewardship Project (LSP) workshop Friday, Jan. 27, at the St. Charles Community Center (830 Whitewater Ave). The “Farm Focus” event is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.—registration opens at 9:45 a.m.—and the cost is $15… Read More →
After a lifetime of working for others in agricultural jobs, and retired after a career with the postal service, Tom Hoekstra and his wife, Lisa, bought a 150-acre farm outside of Plainview in southeastern Minnesota. Tom was 59 when they bought the farm in 2009. Right after their purchase, they immediately went to work re-building… Read More →
NOTE: Southeastern Minnesota farmer and Land Stewardship Project member Curt Tvedt recently talked to LSP staffer Shona Snater about why he is excited about building soil health on his farm. Below is an excerpt of Tvedt’s thoughts: The soil scientists say there are more living species in a tablespoon of soil than there are people… Read More →
