To Olaf Haugen, microbes equal money. That’s because at the height of the growing season on his family’s farm in southeastern Minnesota’s Fillmore County, 70 percent of the dairy herd’s feed comes from grazing. He not only rotationally grazes permanent pastures, but runs his cows through plantings of annual cover crops, which he prefers to… Read More →
Oct. 5: An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities U.S. farm landscapes could be reshaped by changing climate – research (10/5/20) Climate change could render swathes of agricultural land largely useless for farming in the U.S. South, and force Midwestern farmers to move corn and soybeans elsewhere as crop yields decline, reports… Read More →
When it comes to farming, oftentimes things don’t work out as planned—and sometimes that’s a good thing. Take for example Greg and Nancy Rasmussen, who on a recent fall afternoon are checking on some newly arrived chicks gathered under heat lamps in their barn. When the Rasmussens enrolled in the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings course… Read More →
Andy Marcum’s eye-opener was when he walked a ridge on his farm soon after snowmelt and noted the ground was speckled with the delicate, purple pedals of pasque flowers—more than he’d ever seen in his life. For Dan Jenniges, the aha moment came when he realized that he was grazing more cattle on fewer acres,… Read More →
Thousands of Land Stewardship Project members and supporters from across Minnesota came together during the 2021 session of the state Legislature and organized around our shared values. Together, we mobilized around a collective vision that includes a just food and farm system, a healthy landscape, thriving small and mid-sized farms, just and prosperous communities, and… Read More →
AUSTIN, Minn. — Internationally known soil health pioneer Gave Brown will be featured at a regenerative farming field day Friday, Sept. 16, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Tom Cotter farm near Austin (50203 205th Street). This event, which is being sponsored by the Minnesota Soil Health Coalition, Superior Cannabis Company and the… Read More →
There are lots of reminders out there that we have a long ways to go before building soil health becomes a mainstay of our food and farming system. Some reminders are subtle, while others are about as blunt as a baseball bat to the head. A reminder of the latter variety is featured in the… Read More →
The World’s Biggest Meat Company Gets the Greenlight to Go Public on the New York Stock Exchange (4/25/25) Despite a long history of corruption and connections to illegal deforestation, the largest meatpacker in the world has been granted a listing on the New York Stock Exchange by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), reports… Read More →
Proposed Dairy in Morris Would Become Minnesota’s Largest Feedlot (3/16/26) The Minnesota Star Tribune reports on a proposal to create the largest livestock operation in Minnesota. Highlights: Riverview LLP, the state’s largest milk producer, has applied for permits to build the single largest dairy and feedlot in the state’s history by expanding one of its… Read More →
John and Sonya are seeking a farmer to rent part of their home farm including 10 acres of hay (cool season grasses) and 18 acres of a former CRP field (forbes, warm season grasses, willow etc) on a former dairy farm in Spring Valley, Wisconsin (45 miles east of St Paul, MN). No chemical herbicides… Read More →
