During this session of the Minnesota Legislature, Land Stewardship Project members have been making their voices heard loud and clear. Dozens of farmers and rural LSP members have testified in committee hearings, hundreds have come to the Capitol to meet with their elected officials, and thousands have taken action by signing a petition, contacting their… Read More →
Amy Haben and Tom Moore ride a golf cart over a rickety wooden bridge spanning Otter Creek and follow a path to a lush pasture where a couple dozen head of Scottish Highland cattle graze, their shaggy coats luminescent in the late afternoon sun of a June day. “Before they grazed the edge of the… Read More →
Trump Suggests U.S. Will Buy Argentine Beef to Lower Prices (10/20/25) Farmdoc reports that President Donald Trump is proposing importing more Argentinian beef in an attempt to bring down prices for American consumers. Trump has been working to help Argentina bolster its collapsing economy with a $20 billion credit swap line and additional financing from… Read More →
The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is accepting comments on updating its Minnesota Nutrient Reduction Strategy 2025 (full draft document found here), which establishes a roadmap for reaching both phosphorus and nitrate reduction goals. Please take a moment to review LSP’s comments and rationale for actionable items for this plan and submit your comments via… Read More →
At a time when we’re all scanning the dark horizon of recession land for any economic spark, local food systems look to be a flare-up that’s got some staying power. The past several weeks have been full of signs that both in Minnesota and nationally producing and consuming food in our own collective backyard isn’t… Read More →
HAGER CITY, Wis. — Looking for affordable, quality land to get started farming and don’t know where to start? The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) will be holding a hands-on Farmland Access Workshop Sunday, Sept. 30, from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., at Oxheart Farm in Wisconsin’s Pierce County. For more information, contact LSP’s Karen Stettler… Read More →
There’s a bit of a disagreement over how many enterprises were originally on a certain wish list when Hannah Frank and Justin Thomas were considering launching a farm. “Didn’t we have, like, 40 different enterprises on our goal sheet?” Thomas asks Frank on an overcast day in July while the couple stands next to a… Read More →
Despite Previous Rulings, MN Sands Attempts to Yet Again Circumvent Environmental Law LEWISTON, Minn. — The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) today called on the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board (EQB) to continue to enforce its requirement of a comprehensive environmental review of a proposed frac sand mining project in southeastern Minnesota. Earlier this week, EQB considered… Read More →
Minnesota’s Next Governor Must Take Direct, Concrete Steps The people of Minnesota are beginning to consider what they would like the future of the state to look like in the context of the fall gubernatorial elections. Will they elect Minnesota’s first woman governor? Go “Back to the Future” with a former governor? Select a leader… Read More →
When Nathan Vergin applied to work as an apprentice on Polyface Farm in Virginia back in the mid-2000s, he had to undergo a three-day “working interview.” Vergin, who grew up helping out on a sheep dairy near Northfield, Minn., passed the trial by fire, and went on to serve a two-year apprenticeship with the farm’s… Read More →
