When it comes to the crop insurance sweepstakes, southwest Minnesota farmer Darwyn Bach is a winner. But he concedes that his good fortune presents a quandary, since the way the program is implemented these days creates significant losers: the soil, beginning farmers and Main Street businesses that suffer when the number of families in a… Read More →
While recording a recent LSP podcast interview with southwest Minnesota farmer Carmen Fernholz, I was reminded of how important it is that farmers identify closely with the land they’re producing a livelihood from. As Fernholz put it: “If you’re a good farmer you can’t help but become attached to the land. And when you become… Read More →
One winter evening in 1999 I was sitting in on a Farm Beginnings class being held in the southeast Minnesota community of Plainview when a local banker stood up and made a statement that about knocked me out of my chair. “We need to eat our own cooking,” said the banker, Dean Harrington. The statement… Read More →
When a business closes in a rural community, the following 24 months or so are key. Whether it be a farm, small town grocery or repair shop, if the real estate it occupied is still lacking a day-to-day human presence a year or two down the road, it sends a troubling message about the future… Read More →
There are numerous ways of communicating the value society places on having more family farmers on the land, not fewer. This morning, the USDA announced it was awarding $18 million in grants to groups that are helping beginning farmers nationwide. That sends an important message that the federal government, thanks to initiatives put in the… Read More →
Sonja Trom Eayrs was a featured author in LSP’s November 4, 2025 event Big Ag, Big Problems: A Panel on Rural Consolidation. From Trom Eayrs’ website: Dodge County, Incorporated is an engrossing legal drama that recounts the Eayrs family’s three rounds of litigation against public officials in Dodge County, Minnesota, in efforts to prevent a factory… Read More →
Victoria is seeking a farmer to join her operation or to work for her in Shakopee, MN, Scott County. The city allows only vegetation-based agricultural land use on her rural residential property (hobby scale for chickens and bees and no other livestock). Victoria is looking for someone who is interested in being the boots on… Read More →
Abdi is seeking a general farm internship near Owatonna, MN and is available Saturdays and Sundays. Some of the interests include: CSA and market vegetables, dairy and on-farm processing, fencing, tools and machinery as well as business planning.
LEWISTON, Minn. — Are you a farmer or landowner thinking about the next steps for your farm and land? Or do you know someone who is? The Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Transition Planning Course provides a holistic opportunity to dig into important topics and learn from experienced farmers and professionals. The online course will be… Read More →
Brenda is seeking an emerging farmer(s) to join her on her 48 acres (20 tillable and 20 pasture, 5 forest and small pond) outside of Faribault, MN (Rice County). The land can be certified organic as the land has been idle for five years and nothing sprayed for 20 years. There is a machine shed,… Read More →
