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 →
The Minnesota Environmental Quality Board (EQB) is holding a public meeting in Red Wing at the St. James Hotel on Monday, March 25, at 5 p.m., to discuss the value of a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) on nitrate pollution in the karst area of southeastern Minnesota. (RSVP here.) Two million dollars is proposed in… Read More →
To Matthew Ott, three words could make all the difference as to whether farming systems that protect the soil year-round in Minnesota become a consistent agricultural presence in the state. “For me, the most exciting thing is to be able to use the term, ‘cash cover crops,’ ” says the University of Minnesota graduate student.… Read More →
Good things go bad when out of their rightful places. Take farm fertilizer and soil, essential ingredients in the field but all wrong in the 27 percent of Minnesota lakes now too contaminated to drink. Last month’s report from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) blasted corn-and-soybean agriculture as the major source of nitrogen contamination… Read More →
Report: Cancer Rates Rising Among Young People in the Corn Belt (10/29/25) The Minnesota Reformer reports on an analysis conducted by The Washington Post showing that the six states that lead in corn production — Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Illinois, Indiana, and Kansas — have seen higher rates of cancer among young people than other states… Read More →
Farming, we love this life. No matter what type of farmer you are, we all know how tough it can be to live the farming life. From unpredictable weather, markets we have no control over, input cost increases, equipment breaking down, exhaustion, and now tariffs — the U.S. agriculture system is entering a crisis not… Read More →
2025-2026 Farm Beginnings Class LSP is now accepting applications for its 2025-2026 Farm Beginnings class session. For details, click here. Before jumping into agriculture, Kevin Keene worked as a data science consultant for 11 years. So it makes sense that he describes farming success in terms of a mathematical calculation. “The way I think about… Read More →
Near the beautiful southern Minnesota town of Austin, three farmers are going against the grain with an unlikely crop: sunflowers. While most Midwestern farmers stick to corn and soybeans, backed by reliable federal subsidies and a marketing and transportation infrastructure centered around such commodities, these pioneers saw an opportunity where others saw risk. Their story… Read More →
Something Smells With the Feedlot Trend, and it’s More Than Just the Manure 3/16/25 Ron Way, former assistant director of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, writes in the Star Tribune about how factory farms have transformed the landscape in southern and central Minnesota. Highlights: Since the 1970s, backers of large-scale, industrialized livestock production have successfully… Read More →
The Land Stewardship Project began organizing around healthcare in 2008 after hearing over and over again from our members that one of the primary barriers to getting into farming, or staying in it, is lack of access to affordable and useful health insurance. Farmers and other self-employed people do not have employer-based healthcare coverage without off-the-farm or… Read More →
