Note: This is the 10th installment in the 12-part “A Sense of Where You Are” series. There’s nothing like getting diminishing returns on your investment in time, labor, and resources to put things in context. “I just got sick and tired of spending money on fertilizer, planting in the dry powder, and watching the soil blow… Read More →
Soil conservationist Julie Reberg sees composting as a “very scientific art form” that can transform waste into biological bullion. More Information • LSP’s Soil Microbiology Web Page • NRCS Manure Composting Fact Sheet • Ear to the Ground 358: Low Input – High Returns • Ear to the Ground 352: Land of the Living • Ear to the… Read More →
TC Farm is the most customizable pasture-raised meat and organic produce CSA in Minnesota. With weekly home deliveries or free monthly neighborhood pick-ups (whichever suits you), we deliver meat, local produce, pasture-raised milk and more. Our deliveries easily fit into standard refrigerators and freezers. Our year-round weekly produce is all organic. None of our animals… Read More →
Real Food Hub is a nonprofit dedicated to helping local farms succeed by helping people eat better. Real Food offers a year-round subscription to a weekly Bounty Bag of fresh fruits and vegetables that is delivered to your door in central Minnesota. The produce selected is based on national dietary guidelines, so each Bounty Bag… Read More →
Note: Land Stewardship Project member Jim VanDerPol raises crops and livestock on Pastures a Plenty Farm near Kerkhoven in western Minnesota. He recently wrote this commentary expressing his opinions on the farm financial crisis for his own blog, and has given permission to re-post it here. Farmer suicide is on an uptrend. Some would call… Read More →
Okay, calculus lesson of the day, courtesy of some pasture grass, fencing and a herd of ruminants. Calculus, in case you’ve forgotten, is the mathematical study of rates of change. It can be a handy way to calculate where you’re headed and how long it will take to get there. Let’s say you are a… Read More →
It’s been clear for some time that the biofuels industry needs to wean itself off of the corn ethanol spigot. Numerous studies show that utilizing the kernels of corn to distill fuel are playing havoc with food and feed prices, while contributing to a devastating plow-up of grassland, hayland, wetlands and just about any perennial… Read More →
This fall, 19 Land Stewardship Project members traveled to county courthouses across Minnesota and dug through real estate transaction records to help compile data on the state of land consolidation in rural areas. These researchers represent an important first step in a major new LSP campaign to organize for better land access for farmers in… Read More →
The Land Stewardship Project began organizing around healthcare in 2008 after hearing over and over again from our members that one of the primary barriers to getting into farming, or staying in it, is lack of access to affordable and useful health insurance. Farmers and other self-employed people do not have employer-based healthcare coverage without off-the-farm or… Read More →
Unearthing the Links Between Soil Health, Farm Profits & Water Quality Building soil health may be about bugs, bacteria, and biology, but justifying farming practices that nurture such a natural process often comes down to a human-generated gauge of success: how much money does it put (or keep) in the bank? On a sunny day… Read More →
