Outraged Farmers Blame Ag Monopolies as Catastrophic Collapse Looms (9/9/25) Farm Journal describes a tumultuous meeting in Brookland, Ark., where 400-plus farmers met with field representatives from the offices of U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, U.S. Sen. John Boozman, and U.S. Rep. Rick Crawford, along with a representative sent by Gov. Sarah Sanders. The farmers raised… Read More →
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 →
The U.S Drought Monitor released its latest figures yesterday, verifying what we already knew: Minnesota is extremely dry. In fact, 55 percent of our state now falls under the “severe drought” or “moderate drought” category. Over 60 percent Minnesota’s subsoil moisture is “short” or “very short.” The National Drought Mitigation Center reported that in August… 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 →
The Midwest has Lost 57.6 Billion Metric Tons of Soil Due to Agricultural Practices (3/16/22) The Midwest has lost approximately 57.6 billion metric tons of topsoil since farmers began tilling the soil, 160 years ago. And this is despite conservation practices put in place in the wake of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s, according to Phys.org. Much… Read More →
Every budding farm enterprise goes through that certain stage at least once—the one where setbacks outnumber successes, careful planning gets bushwhacked by forces beyond one’s control and the learning curve can resemble a roller coaster headed in one direction: up. It’s at that period in an enterprise’s life that minimal risk is a farm’s best… Read More →
Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Odette says in the battle to make sure Big Ag plays by the rules, knowledge is power. That’s why, if we are to have a fair, vibrant farm and food system, average citizens must wield this weapon and report what they’re seeing in the countryside. More Information • Report Possible… Read More →
Scientist Kris Nichols finds the disconnect between food production and soil health “terrifying” and says the stakes are too high not to mend that break. So what are we waiting for? (2 of 2 parts) More Information • Ear to the Ground No. 387 Interview with Kris Nichols (1 of 2 parts) • LSP’s Soil… Read More →
When farmers challenged what Kris Nichols had learned from her college textbooks, the soil microbiologist didn’t dismiss them — instead, she dug deeper into the world beneath our feet. (1 of 2 parts) More Information • Ear to the Ground No. 388 Interview with Kris Nichols (2 of 2 parts) • LSP’s Soil Builders’ Web… Read More →
