Harvey Benson had a simple transition plan for the farm that had been in his family since the late 1860s: he would continue living on those 160 acres until he died, and then it would be passed on to his partner, Bonita Underbakke. In fact, when people ask him if he’s lived on the farm… Read More →
Note: In April 2023, the Land Stewardship Project joined 10 other groups in filing a petition calling on the Environmental Protection Agency to use its emergency authority under the Safe Drinking Water Act to address the fact that nitrate contamination is causing “an imminent and substantial endangerment to public health” in the karst region of… Read More →
The Midwest has Lost 57.6 Billion Metric Tons of Soil Due to Agricultural Practices (3/16/22) The Midwest has lost approximately 57.6 billion metric tons of topsoil since farmers began tilling the soil, 160 years ago. And this is despite conservation practices put in place in the wake of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s, according to Phys.org. Much… Read More →
A three-hour drive separates the rolling hills of Minnesota’s Douglas County from the front steps of the Bell Museum of Natural History. But a year after the controversy over Troubled Waters—the Bell’s Emmy award-winning film on farmland pollution in the Mississippi River basin—brought words like “dead zone,” hypoxia” and “nitrogen fertilizer” to the attention of… Read More →
Draft of White House Report Suggests Kennedy Won’t Push Strict Pesticide Regulations (8/14/25) A White House report on the health of American children would stop short of proposing direct restrictions on ultraprocessed foods and pesticides that the health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has called major threats, according to a leaked draft of the document… Read More →
As we pass a key date in the 2025 Minnesota legislative calendar, several initiatives supported by the Land Stewardship Project remain alive and are moving through the committee process. In order to be considered as part of an omnibus bill, the majority of proposed legislation had to be heard in both the House and Senate… Read More →
Pro-frac sand interests suing Winona County in southeastern Minnesota have attempted to block the Land Stewardship Project’s (LSP) participation in the defense of the county’s historic ban on any new frac sand operations. Attorneys with Minneapolis corporate law firms Larkin Hoffman and Faegre Baker Daniels have filed objections to LSP’s intent to intervene in the… Read More →
As Midwestern farm fields take a long winter’s nap, evidence is piling up that even when the temperature’s above freezing, all that soil is basically in a bit of a stupor—so devoid of microbial life that it can’t even produce a decent crop without getting a hit of chemical inputs. The latest proof of this… Read More →
Saturday, Oct. 5, has been billed the National Day of Dignity and Respect as thousands around the country will join together in calling on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform. In Minnesota, members of our state’s faith, business, labor, law enforcement and immigrant communities share the goal of comprehensive immigration reform. As a result, a… Read More →
Dear Governor Dayton, I understand you met with frac sand industry representatives yesterday. I would imagine their rhetoric included the promise of jobs and state competitiveness. Before accepting their statements as fact, I encourage you to consider the following: • According to Industrial Minerals, Wisconsin produces more frac sand than any other state. • According… Read More →
