UPDATE (11/1/18): On October 31, the Ramsey County District Court rejected the attempts by corporate ag to squelch public comment on an environmental review of the mega-dairy expansion proposal described below. District Court Judge Jennifer L. Frisch ruled yesterday against an injunction filed by several Minnesota corporate ag groups seeking to limit the public comment… Read More →
Lou Anne Kling’s Legacy of Saved Farms & Saved Lives One day several years ago, western Minnesota farmer Lou Anne Kling was helping a financially-distressed chicken producer who was at risk of losing his operation. This was sometime in the 1980s or 1990s, and Kling had already spent countless hours on the telephone, in the… Read More →
Giant Bull Statue Accompanies Citizens to Lakeville LAKEVILLE, Minn. — Rural neighbors to a proposed factory hog farm in Goodhue County’s Zumbrota Township travelled to Lakeville today to confront Jeff Kohlnhofer, one of the factory farm’s proposers. Kohlnhofer, the vice-president of Kohlnhofer Insurance Agency in Lakeville, also co-owns Circle K Family Farms with his brothers.… Read More →
Citizens Deliver Report to Kohlnhofer Insurance Agency & Call for Immediate Action from State Environmental & Health Officials LAKEVILLE, Minn. — Farmers and rural residents of southeastern Minnesota’s Zumbrota Township today released a report entitled, “A Community at Risk: A Report on Citizens’ Hydrogen Sulfide Monitoring at Kohlnhofer Factory Hog Farms in Goodhue County, Minn.”… Read More →
At a time when we’re all scanning the dark horizon of recession land for any economic spark, local food systems look to be a flare-up that’s got some staying power. The past several weeks have been full of signs that both in Minnesota and nationally producing and consuming food in our own collective backyard isn’t… Read More →
Give it a Listen Episode 374 of LSP’s Ear to the Ground podcast features a discussion with government relations director Laura Schreiber about how the organization’s priorities fared during the legislative session. ♦ ♦ ♦ As I write this, the regular session of the 2025 Minnesota Legislature wrapped up with some unfinished business, which means… Read More →
Landon Plagge’s experience growing oats has proven that this humble grain can play a big role in revitalizing soil health on corn-soybean farms. Can the milling facility he’s proposing do the same for rural communities? (Third in a three-part series on small grains and community-based foods.) More Information • Episode 2 in Ear to the Ground Small Grains Workshop… Read More →
When Roy Pfaltzgraff returned to his family’s northeastern Colorado cropping operation in 2016, he was committed to making farming a fulltime endeavor that built resilient soil, supported the community, and produced healthy food. (Second in a three-part series on small grains and community-based foods.) More Information • Episode 3 in Ear to the Ground Small Grains Workshop Series: “Landon Plagge —… Read More →
MONTEVIDEO, Minn. — The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) has been awarded a $305,000 Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP) grant by the USDA to support building a resilient and community-led local food system in west central Minnesota. The new funding will be used to: Increase local farmer income through sales to local wholesale buyers, including schools… Read More →
The Questions… What does soil health have to do with racial justice? Why does the Land Stewardship Project write articles and posts about racial justice for mostly homogenous, white audiences in rural, farming communities? From time to time, LSP soil health organizers are asked these questions by farmers at our field days and workshops. Some… Read More →
