When Renville County dairy farmer James Kanne addressed a Minnesota Senate hearing on environmental review Jan. 29, he made it clear that size does matter when it comes to assessing the impact of an agricultural operation on the land and community. “If you have 50 cows in one spot, they have a small impact,” Kanne… 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 →
Earth Dance Farm is a vibrant community farm located in the beautiful Bluff Country of southeastern Minnesota. We grow exclusively for our 200+ CSA members on 25 acres of tillable land. We offer a huge variety of vegetables, fruits, berries, herbs, and honey in three different size options. We also have a Spring Share, a… Read More →
Emily Minge began working in LSP’s Policy Department in January 2018 as the coordinator for the Family Farm Breakfast at the Capitol. Following the breakfast, she stayed on staff through the summer of 2018 to support the department’s work fighting the proposed Catalpa factory farm in southeastern Minnesota’s Fillmore County. She then left for the… Read More →
Jan. 22: An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities New Oregon Legislation Would put a Moratorium on Building Mega-Dairies. What Happens Next? (1/21/21) A coalition of food safety, environmental, and family farm groups is pushing for a moratorium on mega-dairy construction in Oregon, reports The Counter. Highlights: If passed, the legislation would… Read More →
LEWISTON, Minn. — Faced with challenging financial pressure and growing weather extremes, how do farmers go about building soil and improving yields and profits? A “Building Soil for Farm Profitability: Key Steps to Successful Financial Decision-making” workshop will answer this question Thursday, Jan. 24, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Lewiston Community Center… Read More →
FARIBAULT, Minn.— Faced with challenging financial pressure and growing weather extremes, how do farmers go about building soil and improving yields and profits? A “Building Soil for Farm Profitability: Key Steps to Successful Financial Decision-making” workshop will answer this question Wednesday, Jan. 23, from 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at the Faribault Elks Club (131… Read More →
Sometimes it takes a bit of an evangelist to remind us that praying at the altar of facts and figures can blind one to how they all connect in the bigger picture. In the case of production systems that build soil health, that preacher is Ray Archuleta. “The soil is naked, hungry, thirsty and running… Read More →
A few years ago, a travel writer penned an opinion piece in the Minneapolis Star Tribune lambasting the “local foods movement.” One thing that really galled him was seeing all those Volvos, Saabs and Hondas that consumers parked at the farmers’ market while they shopped for vegetables that had been transported into town by numerous,… Read More →
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) announced yesterday that it will award up to $250,000 in 2014 for on-farm sustainable agriculture research or demonstration projects. That funding amount is good news: it marks a $150,000 increase from previous years. The Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration Grant Program has supported farming innovations in the state for almost a… Read More →
