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Ear to the Ground 308: Is Your Farm a Business?

Dave Pratt says most farms and ranches are just a collection of expensive assets and low-paying jobs. But such a dysfunctional business model is not inevitable. More Information • Ranch Management Consultants • LSP’s Soil Health & Grazing Page  • LSP’s Farm Beginnings Course • LSP’s Journeyperson Course • LSP’s Land Transitions Tools Page You can find…  Read More

Ear to the Ground 303: Silvo Savvy

Farmers like Tom Hunter are setting out to prove that trees and livestock can mix in a way that creates an ecological-economic equilibrium. More Information • Sustainable Farming Association Silvopasturing Resources • The Prairie Enthusiasts • Ear to the Ground 262: A Silvo Secondary Enterprise • LSP’s Soil Health & Grazing Web Page • Project…  Read More

Ear to the Ground 301: Pipe Dreams

When a tiling company suggested burying more pipe to deal with drainage issues, Tom Finnegan opted instead to go to the root of the problem. More Information • LSP’s Cover Crops page • LSP’s Grazing page • LSP’s No-till page • Sign-up for the Soil Builders’ Network You can find LSP Ear to the Ground…  Read More

Billboard Campaign Highlights the Power of Healthy Soil in Southern MN

Warning: ‘Farming Naked’ isn’t a Good Idea When it Comes to Building Resilient Fields

LEWISTON, Minn. — When isn’t farming naked a good idea? A new Land Stewardship Project (LSP) billboard campaign promoting the power of building healthy soil on southern Minnesota farms answers that question and more. The billboards, which made their debut this month near the Minnesota communities of Austin, Spring Valley, Fountain, Preston, Dexter, Grand Meadow and…  Read More

Ear to the Ground 262: A Silvo Secondary Enterprise

Rachel Henderson and Anton Ptak’s secondary enterprise could be a boon for farm country pollinators. (In 2010, Henderson and Ptak were featured on Ear to the Ground soon after they launched their orchard enterprise. Check out episode 78 here.) More information: • LSP’s Farm Beginnings Course • LSP’s Journeyperson Course • LSP’s Grazing & Soil Health web…  Read More

Ear to the Ground 261: Pigs, Pastures & Pollinators

Nettle Valley Farm is using silvopasturing to prove ecological sustainability and profitable livestock production can coexist — creating healthy pollinator habitat in the bargain. LSP’s Ear to the Ground episode 265 describes Nettle Valley Farm’s beginning farmer incubator program. More information: • LSP’s Grazing & Soil Health web page • Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation…  Read More

Farm Transitions Profile: The Making of a Successful Farm Owner

When Timing is Everything, Sometimes it Pays to Manipulate the Calendar

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

Ear to the Ground No. 250: Letting Water Call the Shots

When Mark Erickson’s combine got stuck in the muck, he knew he needed to unearth a different relationship with the land. Mark Erickson was interviewed as part of the We Are Water initiative, which documented the stories of several farmers in the upper reaches of the Minnesota River watershed who are using innovative production methods…  Read More

Fly-in Participants Call for Fair, Resilient Farm Policy

LSP Members Advocate for Climate Smart Ag Policy Proposals

During the Biden Administration’s first 100 days in office, the Land Stewardship Project was busy on the federal policy front. The role of agriculture in mitigating the climate crisis has been one focus of both the Administration and the new Congress. Over 500 LSP members and supporters signed on to our public comment on climate…  Read More