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Soil Health: From ‘Light Bulb’ Moment to Daily Practice

How Todd Duncan Learned to be Comfortable with being Uncomfortable

By Alex Romano
March 9, 2022

Nearly seven years ago, northeastern Iowa farmer and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) district conversationist, Todd Duncan, along with a group of local producers, started looking for tangible solutions to the erosion problems they were seeing on their farms. These farmers had already been implementing NRCS’s best management practices when it came to conversation, but…  Read More →

Ear to the Ground 269: Soil’s Stairway to Heaven

Mike Seifert is using cover cropping and no-till to make up for the soil damage caused by years of heavy metal tillage. One rainy night, his headlamp illuminated the results. More Information • Event: LSP roller crimping/no-till workshop March 2, 2022, in Austin, Minn. • LSP Cover Crops Web Page • LSP No-till Web Page •…  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 →

Land Line: Land Baron Gates, Regenerative Grazing, Cost of Soil Loss, High Commodity Prices, EQIP Misses the Mark, COVID & OSHA

By Brian DeVore
January 15, 2021

Jan. 15: An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities Bill Gates: America’s Top Farmland Owner (1/15/21) Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates are now the largest private farmland owners in the U.S., according to The Land Report. Highlights: They have accumulated a massive farmland portfolio — 242,000 acres —…  Read More →

Land Line: Crop Diversity, Hmong Farmers, Ag Secretary Rumors, Ag Policy Changes, Meatpacker Abuse

By Brian DeVore
November 13, 2020

Nov. 13 : An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities Crop Diversification Can Help Environment Without Sacrificing Yields (11/12/20) A new study shows diversifying agricultural systems beyond a narrow selection of crops leads to a range of ecosystem improvements while also maintaining or improving yields, reports Morning Ag Clips. But an Iowa…  Read More →

Land Line: Relay Cropping, Ag Committees, CO2 & Crops, Superbugs, SNAP

By Brian DeVore
November 6, 2020

Nov. 6 : An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities Relay Cropping Helps Northeast Iowa Farmer Reach a Lofty Goal (October 2020) Northeastern Iowa farmer Loran Steinlage is using “relay cropping” to keep living roots in the soil 365-days-a-year, according to 4R Plus. Steinlage was getting good yields growing continuous corn-on-corn. But…  Read More →

LSP Land Line: Organic Acreage Up, Local Meat Production, Price Fixing

By Brian DeVore
September 30, 2020

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 →