LSP Urges Farmers to Apply to this Working Lands Conservation Program Before the March 2 Deadline American farmers and ranchers have until March 2 to submit an initial fiscal year 2018 application for the nation’s largest working lands program—the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). This program is administered by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).… Read More →
Meeting Focuses on Need for Policies that Support Family Farmers, Affordable Healthcare & Strong Local Government STAPLES, Minn.— If the 2018 session of the Minnesota Legislature is to advance policies that support rural communities, then lawmakers need to support family farmers, affordable healthcare and strong local government, according to a group of farmers and other… Read More →
The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) is under threat. This is an attack on our soil, our water and our work to build a healthier food and farming system for all. In their first draft of the 2018 Farm Bill, House Agriculture Committee leaders are talking about dramatic cuts to the program—or even eliminating it altogether.… Read More →
Appeal of Lower Court Ruling Puts County Feedlot Permit on Hold ZUMBROTA, Minn. — Residents of Zumbrota Township in southeastern Minnesota’s Goodhue County filed an appeal today with the Minnesota Supreme Court in an ongoing effort to protect their community from a proposed factory hog farm. The proposed facility would house 4,700 hogs, a 3.5-million-gallon… Read More →
On an afternoon in late June, west-central Minnesota farmers Anne and Peter Schwagerl walk out of the bright sun into the deep shade of an old granary that has six separate storage areas for various kinds of harvested crops—a throwback to an era when most Midwestern farms produced more than corn and soybeans. On many… Read More →
Local Residents Deliver 687 Postcards from Across Minnesota to Jeff Kohlnhofer at Kohlnhofer Insurance Agency LAKEVILLE, Minn.—In the wake of a ruling from the Minnesota Court of Appeals, rural neighbors to a proposed factory hog farm in Goodhue County’s Zumbrota Township gathered in Lakeville today to announce their next steps in the fight to stop… Read More →
Hydrogen Sulfide Study this Summer Raised Public Health Concerns & Initiated Further Investigation ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Pollution Control (MPCA) has ordered continuous air monitoring at a Goodhue County, Minn., factory hog farm owned by brothers Mike, Yon and Jeff Kohlnhofer. The decision to monitor came in response to an air quality study… Read More →
Citizens Call on Court to Hold County Board Accountable for Rubber-stamping Factory Farm Permit ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Minnesota Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments Thursday, Sept. 21, in a case that could determine the human health and environmental safety of a southeastern Minnesota township. In February, farmers and other rural residents from… Read More →
Citizens Deliver Report to Kohlnhofer Insurance Agency & Call for Immediate Action from State Environmental & Health Officials LAKEVILLE, Minn. — Farmers and rural residents of southeastern Minnesota’s Zumbrota Township today released a report entitled, “A Community at Risk: A Report on Citizens’ Hydrogen Sulfide Monitoring at Kohlnhofer Factory Hog Farms in Goodhue County, Minn.”… Read More →
LSP Holds On-Farm Meeting with Ranking Member of U.S. House Ag Committee as Ag Policy Debate Enters Next Stage BARRETT, Minn. — During an Aug. 28 on-farm meeting near Barrett in west-central Minnesota, the ranking member of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee agreed to fight for policy that supports working lands conservation policy and family… Read More →
