On a crisp morning in September, North Dakota farmer Gabe Brown held two handfuls of soil and searched for signs of life—theoretically not a difficult task considering one teaspoon of humus contains more organisms than there are humans in the world. But many of the bacteria and invertebrates that lurk in the dark basement of… Read More →
ALBERT LEA, Minn. — Corn and soybeans may dominate the agricultural landscape in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa, but reintroducing small grains such as oats into the rotation could help make farming more economically, agronomically and environmentally sustainable, while serving a growing consumer demand for healthy food, said a panel of national and local experts during… Read More →
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota House Agriculture Committee will have a hearing today for Representative Kristi Pursell’s Farm to School and Early Care bill (H.F. 2043), with bipartisan support representing a step forward in supporting local food, schools and economies throughout Minnesota. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) and the Land Stewardship… Read More →
NOTE: On Sept. 7, 2019, 37 Land Stewardship Project member-farmers and leaders came together in St. Peter, Minn., to discuss direct ways of addressing the current farm crisis. Below is the statement these members developed as a guideline on how to move forward to address this crisis: A Real Farm Crisis Farmers are facing an… Read More →
NOTE: On Sept. 7, 2019, 37 Land Stewardship Project member-farmers and leaders came together in St. Peter, Minn., to discuss direct ways of addressing the current farm crisis. Below is the statement these members developed as a guideline on how to move forward to address this crisis: A Real Farm Crisis Farmers are facing an… Read More →
Interested in hearing directly from the next generation of innovative farmers? Check out the Land Stewardship Project’s Ear to the Ground “Fresh Voices” podcast series. You can read profiles of Farm Beginnings grads here. You can check out all 295 episodes of our Ear to the Ground podcast here. Ear to the Ground 294: Rootless Regeneration … Read More →
In a win for the people and the land of southeastern Minnesota’s Winona County, the Minnesota Court of Appeals has declined to take up an appeal case that was brought forward by a large dairy attempting to expand well beyond an existing animal unit cap. This comes after years of neighbor-to-neighbor action and public engagement… Read More →
A Viral Carrot Sale During a Pandemic Reveals Local Food’s Potential…& Limits In mid-March, when it was becoming clear the COVID-19 pandemic was going to change the way food is procured in the U.S. and beyond, the owners of Open Hands Farm placed five bags of carrots and a money box in their driveway. Farm… Read More →
Sometimes one has to lose something to gain an appreciation for just how valuable an asset it was. That thought came to mind during the last hearing of the 48-year-old Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Citizens’ Board, which was held June 23 in Saint Paul. It was the last hearing because just a few weeks prior… Read More →
It’s that age-old struggle: accepting a little short-term disturbance in the name of long-term stability. Dave Trauba regularly faces the challenge of explaining that tradeoff to hunters who visit the Lac Qui Parle Wildlife Refuge in western Minnesota only to find their favorite spot for shooting pheasants has recently been grazed by cattle from a… Read More →
