Thanks to the recently passed 2014 Farm Bill, federally subsidized crop insurance is an even bigger player in determining what the landscape looks like. That’s troubling, considering that in recent years that impact has been mostly negative, since the program removes most of the risk associated with plowing up acres formerly considered too erosive, wet… Read More →
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 →
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 →
Dec. 11: An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities Dean Foods Seeks to Get Back Money Paid to Dairy Farmers Before Bankruptcy (12/10/20) Hundreds of dairy farmers nationwide fear they could owe substantial sums to the bankrupt dairy processor Dean Foods after the company sent out letters attempting to claw back payments… Read More →
It’s been said that politics is the art of the compromise. But during the 2026 session of the Minnesota Legislature, that approach to policymaking was undermined by disagreements about the role one particular herbicide should play in the state’s agricultural production system. As the session of the Minnesota Legislature entered its final month, it was… Read More →
Jan. 29: An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities After COVID-related Livestock Kills, a Push to Diversify Meat Processing in Minnesota (1/25/21) When several large pork processing plants shuttered last spring because workers got sick with COVID-19, it had a huge impact on farmers across the Midwest. One estimate is more than… Read More →
Oct. 5: An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities U.S. farm landscapes could be reshaped by changing climate – research (10/5/20) Climate change could render swathes of agricultural land largely useless for farming in the U.S. South, and force Midwestern farmers to move corn and soybeans elsewhere as crop yields decline, reports… Read More →
When a business closes in a rural community, the following 24 months or so are key. Whether it be a farm, small town grocery or repair shop, if the real estate it occupied is still lacking a day-to-day human presence a year or two down the road, it sends a troubling message about the future… Read More →
I coordinate a project in western Minnesota that is based on the idea that producing positive environmental impacts in a watershed can happen without having to remake the entire region’s landscape. Scientific studies and on-the-farm experience suggest that just a 10 percent increase in diverse crop rotations, grasses and other perennial plant systems can be enough to meaningfully improve the safety of the water, reduce flood potential, restore wildlife habitat and stimulate a thriving local and regional foods economy. This is especially true if we can target fields that are particularly sensitive to problems like erosion.
AUSTIN, Minn. — Consumers, farmers and community members are invited to the “Second Annual Hemp & Food Health Day on a Regenerative Farm” event Saturday, Sept. 17, from 9 a.m. to 3: 30 p.m., at the Tom Cotter farm near Austin (50203 205th St.). This free event, which includes lunch and a beer social, is… Read More →
