The Star Tribune newspaper recently ran an in-depth series of articles about the environmental risks faced by our Minnesota waterways, focusing on the Upper Mississippi, the Red River and the Chippewa River. The last article in the series highlighted the Land Stewardship Project’s work related to the Chippewa 10% Project, which is helping farmers and… Read More →
*This blog contains new information as of Nov. 1* The individual health insurance market, the place where many self-employed individuals purchase medical insurance is — candidly — a mess. Many Land Stewardship Project members are adversely affected by the current state of this market: premiums exploding, coverage choices dwindling, provider networks shrinking. What are the… Read More →
I have been a member of the Land Stewardship Project since 2008, first joining through the Farm Beginnings program. Since then, and even before, as a grass-fed beef farmer, a professor of sustainable agriculture law issues, and now renting our farm fields to Farm Beginning’s graduates, I have observed and participated in LSP’s campaigns and… Read More →
Using Farm Beginnings and Journeyperson training to make holistic decisions on a community farm.
When I started working with the Land Stewardship Project on the Chippewa 10% Project, the work felt far away. Based out of Minneapolis, I was working on the Cropping Systems Calculator to help farmers in the Chippewa River watershed region in west-central Minnesota determine what financial differences they would see by switching a marginal corn/soybean… Read More →
Cover crops and soil health are hot topics now. My Albert Lea Seed House catalog now offers not only the old standards like clovers and rye, but also specialized multi-species “cocktails,” daikon type radishes brand named “tillage radish,” transplants from drier locales like cowpea, and pollinator- friendly species like phacelia. If you are like me… Read More →
My husband and I are self-employed. We raise and finish grass-fed beef, produce broilers on pasture and non-GMO feed, and are licensed to sell these meats frozen to consumers through stores and farmers’ markets in southeastern Minnesota. My husband and I also build cabinets out of our on-farm shop and do all kinds of custom… Read More →
It’s no secret that federally subsidized crop insurance makes it more attractive to till land that normally would be too wet, steep, lacking in fertility or otherwise “marginal” to raise a profitable crop on. But a recent study out of the University of Wisconsin attaches some solid numbers to just how much marginal land we’re… Read More →
Rising from the ashes: Farm Beginnings grads recover from a disaster and launch a dairy farm.
I coordinate a project in western Minnesota that is based on the idea that producing positive environmental impacts in a watershed can happen without having to remake the entire region’s landscape. Scientific studies and on-the-farm experience suggest that just a 10 percent increase in diverse crop rotations, grasses and other perennial plant systems can be enough to meaningfully improve the safety of the water, reduce flood potential, restore wildlife habitat and stimulate a thriving local and regional foods economy. This is especially true if we can target fields that are particularly sensitive to problems like erosion.
