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 →
While walking through a knee-high prairie planted on a central Iowa hillside Tuesday, I happened to look down. Trapped amongst all that vegetation was an impressive amount of rich, black glacial soil, the kind that produces record crop yields. And just a few feet away was the source of that soil: a soybean field planted… Read More →
Across South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota, rural residents are facing a growing wave of industrial dairy proposals that could reshape their communities for decades. On June 3, a coalition of organizations hosted “Community Responses to Industrial Dairy Proposals in SD, ND, and MN,” a webinar where community members and advocates shared what they are seeing on… Read More →
Over the past three decades, the rotating Endowed Chair in Agricultural Systems has provided farmers and others a chance to build a more sustainable farm and food system in Minnesota. Farmer and community leader Marvin Johnson says now is not the time to close that public door into the University. More Information • Transcript of… Read More →
In 1986, Joe Paddock co-authored a book called Soil and Survival. Its message: the relationship between farming and the land is in serious need of repair. Four decades later, that message is more relevant than ever. More Information • Soil and Survival • Planting in the Dust Script • Joe Paddock • Joe Paddock’s Books… Read More →
Planting in the Dust was written in 1985 by the late Nancy Paddock, an award-winning poet and former editor of the Land Stewardship Letter. This one act monologue features a farm woman named “Annie,” who speaks passionately about the land abuses she is witnessing in her community. During the 1980s, LSP used various actors to… Read More →
Minnesota’s largest dairy producer has applied to build the first livestock operation in the state to hold over 20,000 animal units. If built, the concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) will hold 18,855 dairy cattle, bringing the total animal units to 26,397 in one facility. This proposed operation is the first of its size in Minnesota.… Read More →
CANNON FALLS, Minn. — Shea-Lynn Ramthun stood in a recently harvested oat field on her family’s farm near Cannon Falls last week and described to a couple dozen lawmakers a dilemma that’s all-too-common in the agriculture business: she had just successfully raised a bumper crop, only to run into the brick wall of not having… 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 →
2025-2026 Farm Beginnings Class LSP is now accepting applications for its 2025-2026 Farm Beginnings class session. For details, click here. ♦ ♦ ♦ This is a story about how traffic jams aren’t all bad, the powerful draw of regenerative agriculture, an MBA project, and how one woman living in the suburbs got over imposter’s syndrome,… Read More →
