I recently phoned members of my geographically far-flung family to give them Thanksgiving greetings and was struck by a common element of our ensuing conversations. From Iowa and Nebraska to Kentucky and Texas, the report was the same: drought, drought and more drought. I thought about that recently while watching the new documentary, The Dust… 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 →
I am a Planning Commissioner in Florence Township, which is in southeast Minnesota’s Goodhue County. I am also chair of the Save-The-Bluffs Citizen’s group and a new member of the Land Stewardship Project. I have been heavily involved in the silica frac sand issue here in Goodhue County since May 2011. I was retired once,… Read More →
After a long, hot summer, prospects for a new Farm Bill in 2012 are wilting fast. If Congress doesn’t act within the next few weeks, the current Farm Bill will expire Sept. 30 without a law to replace it. Congress will not reconvene again until the lame duck session after the November elections, where chances… Read More →
While spending time in western Minnesota’s Big Stone County recently, I came across a lot of talk about food deserts—those places where people don’t have good access to healthy, affordable food. But while interviewing LSP organizer Rebecca Terk for this week’s podcast, an interesting twist emerged: a type of food desert can exist even when… Read More →
When you grow up on a farm in the shadow of the Jolly Green Giant, you can’t help but think that size matters when it comes to success in agriculture. Josh Reinitz’s family’s land sits between Minneapolis and Mankato, just a few miles from where a wooden likeness of the Green One and his apprentice… Read More →
Nitrate levels in southeastern Minnesota’s groundwater are a major problem — and thousands of families depend on that water for drinking. The good news: we have a proven solution. The Olmsted County Groundwater Protection and Soil Health Program has helped farmers reduce nitrate leaching across thousands of acres since 2023. Now, the Minnesota Legislature has an… Read More →
When debating a controversial topic in public, a well-proven trick is to never ask a question you don’t already have the answer to. That technique was on full display Tuesday evening in a packed-to-the-gills meeting held at Old No. 1 Bar & Grill in Morris, Minn. The topic at hand was a proposal by Riverview… Read More →
Sign Up for E-mail Delivery of The Land Line Nitrate is Quietly Polluting Rural Drinking Wells. How Researchers are Working to Help (4/21/26) Harvest Public Media reports that across the Midwest and Great Plains, large-scale fertilizer application and livestock facilities have increased the pace of nitrate contamination accumulating in groundwater. Highlights: Scientists have tested more… Read More →
Flooding the Market How Dairy Consolidation is Drowning Minnesota’s Farmers & Rural Communities April 2026 Minnesota is facing a generational crisis in agriculture as dairy farmers are pushed out of the industry at an alarming rate even as production continues to rise. Extreme consolidation, driven in part by the rapid expansion of mega-dairies like Riverview… Read More →
