Search Results

Searched for: podcast

Ear to the Ground 410: Navigating a Way Out

Paul and Trudi Schaefer always assumed they would live out their lives on the farm they built up over several decades. When they realized they needed to move on, their first step was to take LSP’s Farm Transition Planning Course. More Information • LSP 2027 Farm Transition Course • LSP Land Transition Tools • LSP…  Read More →

Ear to the Ground 409: Mass Market Madness

Connecting directly with eaters is a priority for pastured-based livestock farmers Ellen and Jim Gardner. So how do they balance growing their market with keeping face-to-face relationships intact? More Information • Gardner Family Farm • LSP’s Community-Based Food Systems Page • LSP’s Soil Health Page • LSP’s Farm Beginnings Page You can find LSP Ear…  Read More →

Ear to the Ground 408: Civic Spark

When a federal immigration crackdown came to rural Minnesota, farmer Bridget Lux knew she had to do something. When she walked into a community meeting, she realized she wasn’t the only one looking to take action. More Information • Contact Information for LSP Organizer Nick Olson • Immigrant Defense Network • LSP Blog: Equipping Communities…  Read More →

Land Line: Grazing Legislation, Diversification Barriers, Nitrate Cancer Review, Riverview Lawsuit, Devil’s Element, Local Meat Processing, Returning to the Farm

Sign Up for E-mail Delivery of The Land Line RANCH Act Introduced to Help Rebuild Cattle Herd (8/21/26) Beef Magazine reports that two U.S. Senators have introduced a bipartisan bill that has the goal of boosting the grazing of beef cattle on perennial grasses and forbs. Highlights:  The “Rebuilding America’s National Cow Herd (RANCH) Act,”…  Read More →

Land Line: Corporate Greenwashing, Beginning Farmer Help, Forever Green, Rural Grocery, Imported Fertility, Grain Market Consolidation, Grazing Pays Off

Sign Up for E-mail Delivery of The Land Line Report Accuses Corporate Dairy of ‘Greenwashing’ (6/1/26) The Wisconsin Examiner reports on a study showing that claims by the largest meat and dairy companies that their practices are sustainable are mostly “greenwashing” and are based on unsubstantiated claims. Highlights: The report, published in the journal PLOS…  Read More →

Ear to the Ground 398: Land Grant Guarantee

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 →

Water, White Torpedoes & The Lobe Ranger Way

For these 3 Farmers, Resisting Peer Pressure Doesn't Mean Ignoring the Power of Community

CUMBERLAND, Iowa — Here in southwestern Iowa, it’s the season of the white torpedo. Once it seemed spring wasn’t fake news, pickup trucks began towing to winter-dormant fields tubular tanks of gaseous anhydrous ammonia fertilizer here and in the rest of the Corn Belt. These white cylinders are the harbingers of a new planting season…  Read More →

Ear to the Ground 397: Black Energy

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 →

Land Line: Trillion $ Landlord, Ag’s Next Generation, Fertilizer Prices, Oats, Farm Finance Grumbles, CAFO Permits, Big Meat

The $1.7 Trillion Landlord: New USDA Data Reveals the Shifting Face of Ownership (3/12/26) Farm Journal reports on new USDA showing a 47% surge in rented farmland value over the past decade, even as the footprint of available acreage shrinks. With $1.7 trillion in assets now held by a shifting demographic of landlords, the landscape…  Read More →

A Sense of Where You Are: Red Dresses & Magic Management

Part 2 in a Series

Note: This is the 2nd installment in the 12-part “A Sense of Where You Are” series.  One of the ways Rachelle and Jordan Meyer keep things in context is to avoid being distracted by what they call “the woman in the red dress.” Is a new enterprise a good fit for the farm, or is…  Read More →