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Searched for: regional food system

LSP’s Farmer Network: A Voice at the Other End of the Line

The call came in the night. On the end of the line was the panicked voice of Tyler Carlson, a 26-year-old beginning farmer who was starting a grazing operation in west-central Minnesota. It seems that while making a long-distance move of the cowherd he had just purchased a few days before, a baby calf had…  Read More

Farm Beginnings Profile: Tyler Carlson

A Voice at the Other End of the Line

The call came in the night. On the end of the line was the panicked voice of Tyler Carlson, a 26-year-old beginning farmer who was starting a grazing operation in west-central Minnesota. It seems that while making a long-distance move of the cowherd he had just purchased a few days before, a baby calf had…  Read More

Tell Congress: Support Market Access for Farmers by Funding Local Food Purchasing

Take 2 Minutes to Tell Congress to Support the "Local Farmers Feeding Our Community" Act

The Land Stewardship Project and our partners across the nation are calling on Congress to support investment in local foods for our communities. We need to keep the pressure up. Congressional members are responding to our demands for permanent investments for local foods in local nutrition programs. We need your help to keep up the…  Read More

Land Line: Commodity Ag Regrets, Bailout Blues, Corn & Climate, USDA Regenerative Ag Pilot, Manure Monitoring, Conservation & Community, Farmer-to-Farmer

Iowa Farm & Rural Life Poll: 2025 Summary (November) The majority of farmers responding to the latest Iowa Farm & Rural Life Poll feel that a reliance on specialized commodity agriculture is bad for them and their communities. Highlights: Sixty-nine percent agreed with the statement “Increased specialization in commodities (corn, soybeans, hogs, etc.) has led…  Read More

Land Stewardship Project Picks Veteran Grassroots Organizer as New ED

Group Marks 40th Anniversary with New Leadership

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — As the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) launches its 40th year of “keeping the land and people together,” a veteran grassroots organizer has been selected as its new executive director, the organization’s board of directors announced today. When Mike McMahon takes over the helm at LSP on Jan. 18, he will also lead the…  Read More

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

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

Farm Beginnings: When Farming Doesn’t go as Planned

When it comes to farming, oftentimes things don’t work out as planned—and sometimes that’s a good thing. Take for example Greg and Nancy Rasmussen, who on a recent fall afternoon are checking on some newly arrived chicks gathered under heat lamps in their barn. When the Rasmussens enrolled in the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings course…  Read More

Land Line: Nitrate Pollution, Oats, Packers at the Trough, Consolidation, Right to Repair, Crop Profits, Bird Flu

Sign Up for E-mail Delivery of The Land Line Report Calls for Stricter Fertilizer Rules as US Nitrate Pollution Crisis Grows (6/1/26) The New Lede writes about a report that finds lax regulations and mismanaged applications are contributing to making nitrogen runoff a major water pollution problem in the U.S. Highlights: U.S. farmers annually apply…  Read More

Stand with Emerging & BIPOC Farmers Today

Key Senate Hearing Monday, April 8

We wanted to reach out to fill you in on what is going on at the Minnesota Legislature when it comes to the prioritization of emerging farmers in Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and Rural Finance Authority (RFA) programs. While we laid out the full context in this blog, here are the top five things…  Read More

A Water Summit Systemic Solution: Continuously Clean Water Needs Continuous Living Cover

Water, as Land Stewardship Project board member Vince Ready says, is vital for life. When Governor Mark Dayton’s Water Summit takes place on Feb. 27, it’s likely a lot of innovative proposals for solving Minnesota’s water quality crisis will be discussed. That’s good, because this Summit is centered around one of the most basic questions…  Read More