There was a flurry of activity this week related to reform proposals for federally subsidized crop insurance. Following the Land Stewardship Project’s November/December release of our three white papers on crop insurance (“How a Safety Net Became a Farm Policy Disaster”), 2015 has seen continued attention to the need for major reform of this largest… Read More →
The Invisible Hand, Elasticity, and the Vanishing Farmer (5/7/25) Writing on the AGDAILY website, farmer and international consultant Ben Henson describes how the traditional building blocks of the American agricultural economy are being undermined by unprecedented consolidation in farming. Highlights: One basis of economic theory is “inelastic” versus “elastic” demand for products. Food is considered… Read More →
LEWISTON, Minn. — On Jan. 4, five “agricultural groups” filed an amici curiae (friend of the court) motion with the Minnesota Court of Appeals in support of Daley Farm’s request that a recent District Court ruling be overturned, thus allowing the Lewiston dairy operation to circumvent Winona County’s zoning rules related to livestock operation size.… Read More →
A BioBlitz Highlights the Role Livestock Farmers Can Play in Habitat Improvement It’s the kind of overcast day in June that leaves one wondering if the sun decided to take an extended summer holiday. But as heavy thunderstorms threaten this part of Big Stone County in western Minnesota, some 130-people break up into teams and… Read More →
SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Members of the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) today delivered a letter to Gov. Tim Walz’s office calling on state officials to take action to address a rash of fish kills in southeastern Minnesota streams in recent years. “As people who drink, cook and wash with this water when it comes out of our… Read More →
I “care for” 50 acres of certified organic cropland east of Caledonia in southeastern Minnesota. Although small in acreage, I am intent upon building back my soil using alternative farming practices like roller-crimping winter rye and spring-seeding rye before soybeans. I’d like to share some insights I’ve gathered while figuring out how to implement these… Read More →
Just about halfway through Dennis Keeney’s slim memoir on his life in agriculture, the author’s tone changes dramatically. For 54 pages, The Keeney Place: A Life in the Heartland, delivers on its title—it offers a somewhat nostalgic glimpse at growing up during the mid-20th Century on a diverse family farm east of Des Moines, Iowa.… Read More →
Do you own farmland and want to make sure it is taken care of using good stewardship practices? A series of “Managing for Stewardship” workshops will be held in Minnesota during January and February. These workshops are for farmland owners, retired farm men and women, those inheriting a farmland investment and farmers who would like… Read More →
PAYNESVILLE, Minn. — Unprecedented consolidation in agriculture is emptying the landscape of farmers, which is having a trickle-down impact on everything from rural schools and churches to Main Street businesses, said three-dozen farmers and other rural residents who gathered Aug. 24 for an open-air Land Stewardship Project (LSP) town hall meeting on the shores of… Read More →
Minnesota Part of 10-State Rural & Small Town Organizing Strategy WASHINGTON, D.C.—Racial justice is an essential element in developing a food and farming system that supports healthy and prosperous rural communities, said central Minnesota farmer Laura Frerichs today during a national rural progressive strategy summit at the National Press Club in Washington. Frerichs, a member… Read More →
