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 →
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 →
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Diversifying the region’s cropping systems beyond raw, export-driven commodities like corn and soybeans will require a team effort, said the farmer-presenters at the “Beyond Exports: Rebuilding Local Markets” meeting held at the Rochester International Event Center Jan. 27. More than 125 farmers from Minnesota and Iowa gathered for the Land Stewardship Project… 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 →
MORRIS, Minn. — By giving the green light to what will be the largest concentrated animal feeding operation in Minnesota history, Stevens County officials have cast a vote for a type of livestock production that threatens water quality, puts small and medium-sized farmers out of business and empties rural Main Streets, said the Land Stewardship… Read More →
MORRIS, Minn. — The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) is applauding the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s (MDA) recent announcement that it will be seeking public input on the socioeconomic impact of large-scale dairies in the state. Information will be gathered through two virtual meetings (noon to 1 p.m., and 7:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.) on Tuesday, July 28, as… Read More →
LEWISTON, Minn. — The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) applauded the Minnesota Supreme Court’s recent decision to deny a Winona County factory farm owner’s attempt to circumvent Winona County’s rules governing the size of livestock operations. On March 18, Chief Justice Natalie Hudson announced that the Court would not hear an appeal filed by Daley Farm… Read More →
