When debating a controversial topic in public, a well-proven trick is to never ask a question you don’t already have the answer to. That technique was on full display Tuesday evening in a packed-to-the-gills meeting held at Old No. 1 Bar & Grill in Morris, Minn. The topic at hand was a proposal by Riverview… Read More →
One of the most anti-environmental pieces of legislation to come out of the Minnesota Capitol in several years became law on Saturday, June 13. The Agriculture and Environment Omnibus Budget Bill was supposed to provide funding for numerous initiatives of importance to rural Minnesotans. However, as the session wound down, several policy provisions were plugged… Read More →
Stephanie is seeking a farmer to rent 39 acres (10 pasture, 8 forest and 21 other) near Hutchinson, MN. There is no housing or outbuildings on site, however accommodations could be made during the warm season next door at New Story Farm. Some fencing is already there but Stephanie will provide the fence if you… 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 →
‘Farming in the dark’: Brooke Rollins’ Leadership, DOGE’s Grip and the Cost to American Agriculture (7/22/25) According to Investigate Midwest, during her first six months in office U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has brought sweeping changes to USDA and largely embraced President Donald Trump’s agenda of downsizing the federal government. Mass firings have purged… Read More →
Minnesota Sands Announces Intentions to Target Fillmore & Winona Counties for More Mining The Minnesota Environmental Quality Board (EQB) made the right decision May 21 by tabling the issue of taking a Houston County mine out of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) ordered on the multi-site Minnesota Sands, LLC, frac sand mining project. Thus, the… Read More →
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 →
On an overcast day in late June, Arlo Hark drives a semi into a gravel parking lot near the southeastern Minnesota community of Rushford pulling a trailer adorned with an “Eat Lamb: 10,000 Coyotes Can’t be Wrong” bumper sticker. He opens two doors on the side of the trailer and 120 lambs and ewes explode… Read More →
Land Stewardship Project Sees Bill as Important Step for Getting More Beginning Farmers on the Land SAINT PAUL, Minn.—A bill moving through the Minnesota Legislature would help beginning farmers overcome one of the biggest barriers they face when trying to launch an agricultural business: access to land. According to farmer-members of the Land Stewardship Project… Read More →
Note: On March 2, Minnesota Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Aric Putnam invited agricultural groups to share insights on their members’ concerns, frustrations, and current work in a special “State of Agriculture” hearing at the capitol. Below is the testimony shared by Laura Schreiber, the Land Stewardship Project’s government relations director, with the Agriculture, Veterans, Broadband,… Read More →
