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Searched for: MFU Support of Fair Repair February 2023

Nitrate’s Season of Reckoning

Ag Pollution in Karst Country Offers a Critical Opportunity for Soil-Friendly Farming

For residents of southeastern Minnesota, the past few months must seem like “The Season of the Nitrate.” It turns out nitrogen, that critical source of crop fertility, is quite adept at escaping our farm fields, and, in the form of nitrate, polluting groundwater. So much so that scientists, government officials, and physicians now recognize it…  Read More

Beginning Farmer Program for MN, WI & IA Accepting Applications for 2023-2024 Course

Early Bird Discount Deadline for Farm Beginnings Class Aug. 1

LEWISTON, Minn. — One of the most successful beginning farmer training programs in the country is now accepting applications for its 2023-2024 course session serving the Minnesota, western Wisconsin and northern Iowa region. The Land Stewardship Project’s (LSP) Farm Beginnings initiative is a training program that focuses on the goal-setting, marketing and financial skills aneeded to establish…  Read More

Bold Solutions Call for Bold Action

Minnesota’s Next Governor Must Take Direct, Concrete Steps The people of Minnesota are beginning to consider what they would like the future of the state to look like in the context of the fall gubernatorial elections. Will they elect Minnesota’s first woman governor? Go “Back to the Future” with a former governor? Select a leader…  Read More

Beginning Farmer Support & Conservation Focus of Walz Meeting on Le Sueur Farm

Farmers Express Support for Beginning Farmer & Rancher Opportunity Act & Soil Health Initiatives Le SUEUR, MINN. — The next Farm Bill should emphasize support for beginning farmers and agricultural conservation, said farmer-members of the Land Stewardship Project during a meeting today with Tim Walz, the U.S. Representative for Minnesota’s First Congressional District. Walz and…  Read More

Stop Big Ag From Raiding Working Lands Conservation Funding

Big Ag and its friends in Congress hope to send more money into the pockets of a few mega-sized commodity farms through one of the most popular commodity programs in the Farm Bill — crop insurance. This windfall will be at the expense of working lands conservation programs and small and mid-sized farms. Their proposal…  Read More

Tell Congress We Need A Farm Bill that Supports Land Access

The LASO Act Prioritizes Land Access for Young, Beginning & BIPOC Farmers

Last week, the “Increasing Land Access, Security, and Opportunities (LASO) Act” was introduced in the U.S. Senate, championed by Minnesota Senator Tina Smith. If enacted, this innovative bill, via the 2023 Farm Bill, would fund powerful, community-led solutions to the land access crisis faced by the new generation of young and Black farmers, Indigenous farmers, and…  Read More

Act Now: Day One Demands for USDA Leaders

On the campaign trail, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris communicated clear priorities to address the needs of agriculture and rural communities, including: strengthening regional food systems and anti-trust enforcement, expanding conservation programs with a focus on soil health and carbon sequestration, increasing microloans for beginning farmers, and advancing racial justice and accountability…  Read More

SE MN Farmer Calls for Crop Insurance Reform During Capitol Hill Fly-in 

Advocates from 6 States Call for Federal Policy that Bolsters Sustainable Agriculture & Addresses Climate Change 

ORONOCO, Minn. —  Southeastern Minnesota farmer Angela Smith had an important message for lawmakers when she traveled to the nation’s capital earlier this month: small and diversified farmers, as well as beginning farmers, need much better access to crop insurance in order to survive and thrive at a time of extreme climate change. Smith, who is…  Read More

MN Court of Appeals to Hear Goodhue County Factory Hog Farm Case Sept. 21

Citizens Call on Court to Hold County Board Accountable for Rubber-stamping Factory Farm Permit ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments Thursday, Sept. 21, in a case that could determine the human health and environmental safety of a southeastern Minnesota township. In February, farmers and other rural residents from…  Read More

Something’s Rotten in Tomatoland

This winter, when you reach for a nice, perfectly-shaped tomato in the produce section of your local supermarket, think of Lucas Mariano Domingo. For two and a half years the Guatemalan lived in the back of a windowless box truck with three other men while he picked tomatoes in the fields surrounding the Florida community…  Read More