Sept. 30: An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities Mercaris: Organic Production Continues to Grow (9/28/20) The U.S. harvested organic field crop area will exceed 3.4 million acres over the 2020-2021 marketing year, which is an increase of 4% over the previous marketing year, according to the market data service Mercaris. The… Read More →
LSP Members Shaped the Outcomes & Continue to Build Power to Make Transformational Vision a Reality During the recently concluded session of the Minnesota Legislature, Land Stewardship Project members from across the state were deeply engaged in advancing our vision for a transformational farm and food system that fosters strong family farms, vibrant rural communities,… Read More →
LSP Members Shaped the Outcomes & Continue to Build Power to Make Transformational Vision a Reality During the recently concluded session of the Minnesota Legislature, Land Stewardship Project members from across the state were deeply engaged in advancing our vision for a transformational farm and food system that fosters strong family farms, vibrant rural communities,… Read More →
In the early 2000s, I wrote a series of Land Stewardship Letter articles about a generic environmental impact statement study that was done on Minnesota’s livestock industry. The final report had an interesting finding related to phosphorus, a key source of crop fertility: small livestock farms had a medium phosphorus shortage of 17 pounds per… Read More →
Back in 1998, I was working on an article for the Land Stewardship Letter about how the lack of biodiversity in agriculture was threatening the agronomic, ecological, and economic future of Midwestern farming communities. One of the people I interviewed was Don Wyse, a respected University of Minnesota plant scientist who had recently helped coordinate… Read More →
The Invisible Hand, Elasticity, and the Vanishing Farmer (5/7/25) Writing on the AGDAILY website, farmer and international consultant Ben Henson describes how the traditional building blocks of the American agricultural economy are being undermined by unprecedented consolidation in farming. Highlights: One basis of economic theory is “inelastic” versus “elastic” demand for products. Food is considered… Read More →
Feb. 28: An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities New Evidence Shows Fertile Soil Gone From Midwestern Farms (2/24/21) National Public Radio reports on a new study showing the most fertile topsoil is entirely gone from a third of all the land devoted to growing crops across the upper Midwest. Highlights: The… Read More →
The Coronavirus Pandemic Unmasks a Brutal, Multinational Food & Farming System that’s as Unsustainable as the Economic Model that Created it As the coronavirus disrupts “normal” life in America and worldwide—and we ride the rapids of shifting strategy and messaging from the White House, its cabinet, and Congressional leaders — the pandemic also shines light… Read More →
Improving Soil Health Not Just Feel-Good Endeavor (4/1/25) Indiana Prairie Farmer describes how Rodney Rulon’s 30-year soil health journey utilizing no-till and cover cropping is paying dividends not just environmentally, but economically as well. Highlights: The National Association of Conservation Districts and the Soil Health Institute performed a budget analysis on 29 farms across the… Read More →
In case you haven’t noticed, the humble oat is having a bit of a moment. After decades of declines in oat plantings in Minnesota, acreage increased this year. Market demand for the small grain is up, a group of farmers are attempting to pull together funding for a major processing plant in southern Minnesota, and… Read More →
