Many beginning farmers struggle to find the capital they need to get started. Buying a piece of land, fencing supplies, a packing shed, tractor, young fruit trees—these things can add up to an overwhelming initial investment. And these farmers often have a hard time finding the financing that fits their operations. Dean Harrington is a… Read More →
As part of our work to help beginning farmers gain access to farmland, the Land Stewardship Project has been working with the Plainview Land Access Organizing Committee in southeast Minnesota. For the past two years, farmers, business owners and others in the agricultural community of Plainview have been meeting to raise awareness of issues beginning… Read More →
The U.S. Senate passed its version of a Farm Bill yesterday by a vote of 66-27. Both Minnesota Senators Al Franken (D-MN) and Amy Klobuchar( D-MN) voted for passage of the bill. The upshot is that for the first time ever the Senate bill limits the degree of crop insurance subsidies wealthy farm investors and… Read More →
How changes to Minnesota’s Green Acres program threaten farmland stewardship.
Flooding the Market How Dairy Consolidation is Drowning Minnesota’s Farmers & Rural Communities April 2026 Minnesota is facing a generational crisis in agriculture as dairy farmers are pushed out of the industry at an alarming rate even as production continues to rise. Extreme consolidation, driven in part by the rapid expansion of mega-dairies like Riverview… Read More →
This past summer I had the honor to work at the Land Stewardship Project as their summer events organizer. Alongside LSP’s Membership and Communications Team, I supported the planning and execution of three incredible summer events, including: Boots & Roots: A Celebration of Land & People Twin Cities Cookout & Potluck Prairie Walk & Sea… Read More →
2026-2027 Farm Beginnings Class LSP is now accepting applications for its 2026-2027 Farm Beginnings class session. For details, click here. ♦ ♦ ♦ By the time Elyssa Eull moved back to Minnesota a few years ago, she already had several years of experience working on vegetable farms. But she felt that in order to successfully… Read More →
LEWISTON, Minn. — Land Stewardship Project (LSP) members applauded today’s decision by the Minnesota District Court to deny Daley Farm’s latest attempt to circumvent Winona County’s rules related to the size of large livestock operations. (The Court’s decision is available here.) For the past four years, Daley Farm has sought a variance from the county’s… Read More →
ORONOCO, Minn. — Southeastern Minnesota farmer Angela Smith had an important message for lawmakers when she traveled to the nation’s capital earlier this month: small and diversified farmers, as well as beginning farmers, need much better access to crop insurance in order to survive and thrive at a time of extreme climate change. Smith, who is… Read More →
The bill to reinstate public oversight of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has been moving through the Minnesota Legislature. In the Minnesota Senate, it passed out of the State and Local Government Committee and needs to be heard in the Environment, Climate, and Legacy Committee before becoming part of the larger Senate bill that… Read More →
