Andy Marcum’s eye-opener was when he walked a ridge on his farm soon after snowmelt and noted the ground was speckled with the delicate, purple pedals of pasque flowers—more than he’d ever seen in his life. For Dan Jenniges, the aha moment came when he realized that he was grazing more cattle on fewer acres,… Read More →
Andy Cotter and Irene Genelin bring an eclectic background to farming. He studied mechanical engineering in college and she was a French major. They met while competing as elite unicyclists and were national champions in the pairs competition (think ice dancing on one wheel), as well as individual world champions in various categories. They also… Read More →
It’s been said that soil without biology is just geology—an accumulation of lifeless minerals unable to spawn healthy plant growth. And as intense monocropping production practices increasingly remove more life from the ground than they return, it sends that soil closer to fossilization via what conservationist Barry Fisher calls, “the spiral of degradation”: eroded, compacted… Read More →
We didn’t realize the counter-cultural nature of the visit we made to Espacio Kruz. Because we didn’t know the history of the uprising in the state of Oaxaca that created the Holy Virgin of the Barricades. What RomaÌn Kruz and his family are doing on their small piece of property looks like homesteading and simple… Read More →
By season 10 or before, you may be able to quit your day job if that is your goal. You have developed a playbook for your farm. Many farm families have off-farm income and that is okay. If you want to farm full time you will need a plan to do so. How much income… Read More →
Water, as Land Stewardship Project board member Vince Ready says, is vital for life. When Governor Mark Dayton’s Water Summit takes place on Feb. 27, it’s likely a lot of innovative proposals for solving Minnesota’s water quality crisis will be discussed. That’s good, because this Summit is centered around one of the most basic questions… Read More →
Restore the MPCA Citizens’ Board It was unbelievable. A democratic Minnesota institution established in 1968 was abolished literally in the dark of night during the final hours of the 2015 state legislative session. The Citizens’ Board of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency had served as a testament to our Minnesota value that people deserve a… Read More →
An Indiana initiative has made the state a national leader in getting continuous living cover established on crop acres. Can it change the way farmers view soil? Michael Werling is, literally, a card-carrying connoisseur of soil health. “I call it, ‘My ticket to a farm tour,’ ” says the northeastern Indiana crop producer, showing off… Read More →
My name is Curt Tvedt and I am a farmer near Byron, Minn. I am currently farming 200 acres, 120 of which are part of the original homestead that my great-grandfather settled in 1854. I retired from dairy farming 10 years ago, and I currently raise hay and soybeans, as well as do bale wrapping… Read More →
When I heard that Land Stewardship Project board member Loretta Jaus was being recognized by the White House this week as a “Champion of Change for Sustainable and Climate-Smart Agriculture,” I couldn’t think of a more deserving recipient. From the first time almost a decade ago that I visited the western Minnesota dairy operation she… Read More →
