The Land Stewardship Project today released our latest report on grants allocated through the USDA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program (BFRDP). This is the fifth such report we’ve done in collaboration with the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC). These analyses are a measure of the success of BFRDP in providing public support for effective… Read More →
Note: The Land Stewardship Project’s Ear to the Ground podcast recently featured an interview with Marvin Johnson, a Minnesota farmer and president of the Alumni Association for the School of Agriculture at the University of Minnesota. Johnson discussed the history and the future of the Endowed Chair in Agricultural Systems. For three decades, the Endowed… Read More →
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 →
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 →
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 →
In my experience, few learning experiences are more motivating to me than the ones that help us see the connections around us, empowering us to make more of a difference than we thought possible. I see this a lot in my work with non-operating farmland owners via their enthusiasm to learn about soil health, farming… Read More →
One day in 2014, a man stopped by Bill and Bonnie McMillin’s farm tucked away in the hills of southeastern Minnesota’s Wabasha County and offered to pay cash for all 160 acres, lock, stock and barrel. Such an offer can be tempting. After all, Bill and Bonnie had worked hard over the previous few decades… Read More →
When a business closes in a rural community, the following 24 months or so are key. Whether it be a farm, small town grocery or repair shop, if the real estate it occupied is still lacking a day-to-day human presence a year or two down the road, it sends a troubling message about the future… Read More →
While sitting in a western Wisconsin high school auditorium listening to farmers and other rural residents discussing urban sprawl the other evening, I was struck by an epiphany of sorts: the argument for saving farmland near our cities and suburbs has evolved beyond the “let’s save our pretty viewscapes” phase. Protecting prime farmland from the… Read More →
Outraged Farmers Blame Ag Monopolies as Catastrophic Collapse Looms (9/9/25) Farm Journal describes a tumultuous meeting in Brookland, Ark., where 400-plus farmers met with field representatives from the offices of U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, U.S. Sen. John Boozman, and U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, along with a representative sent by Gov. Sarah Sanders. The farmers raised… Read More →
