Every budding farm enterprise goes through that certain stage at least once—the one where setbacks outnumber successes, careful planning gets bushwhacked by forces beyond one’s control and the learning curve can resemble a roller coaster headed in one direction: up. It’s at that period in an enterprise’s life that minimal risk is a farm’s best… Read More →
If ever there was a shining example of a smart public investment in our food and farming future, Minnesota’s Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration Grant Program is it. This program has been an important driver of sustainable (and conventional) farming innovations in the state for almost a quarter-century. Farmers who qualify for these competitive grants are able… Read More →
NEWBURG TOWNSHIP, Minn. — In a highly unusual move, one of the partners of a proposed massive hog operation has filed a lawsuit in southeastern Minnesota’s Fillmore County asking the District Court to impose a restraining order preventing Newburg Township officials from meeting to adopt a one-year moratorium on new large-scale feedlots and other developments.… Read More →
Land Stewardship Project Sees Bill as Important Step for Getting More Beginning Farmers on the Land SAINT PAUL, Minn.—A bill moving through the Minnesota Legislature would help beginning farmers overcome one of the biggest barriers they face when trying to launch an agricultural business: access to land. According to farmer-members of the Land Stewardship Project… Read More →
The Minnesota legislative session ends in just six days and we need your help in ensuring a robust budget that invests in our farmers and communities makes it across the finish line. Check out the Land Stewardship Project’s latest blog for details on where our priorities stand. Here are two opportunities to take action: Join… Read More →
A Farm Transfers Ownership & a Farmer Transfers into a New Role What’s that stuff in soil that’s supposed to provide humans a sense of wellbeing? You know, like a protozoa-based version of Prozac? Emmalyn Kayser is trying to come up with the name on a recent March afternoon as she and Chris Burkhouse squat… Read More →
Legislation Providing Children with Local, Healthy Foods Draws Bipartisan Support at State Capitol SAINT PAUL, Minn. — A bipartisan bill that would provide school districts across the state with a reimbursement for feeding students healthy, local foods through farm-to-school initiatives was introduced in the Minnesota Legislature today. Senator Mike Goggin (R-Red Wing) and Representative Todd… Read More →
UPDATE (11/1/18): On October 31, the Ramsey County District Court rejected the attempts by corporate ag to squelch public comment on an environmental review of the mega-dairy expansion proposal described below. District Court Judge Jennifer L. Frisch ruled yesterday against an injunction filed by several Minnesota corporate ag groups seeking to limit the public comment… Read More →
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Farmers seeking resources on how to deal with financial stress are invited to a special Land Stewardship Project (LSP) meeting Wednesday, April 25, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Peace United Church of Christ (1503 2nd Ave. NE) in Rochester. The event is free and open to the public. For more… Read More →
The State of Iowa is on the verge of eliminating one of the nation’s leading centers of sustainable agriculture research and innovation. The Iowa Legislature’s vote to defund and close the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture comes at a time when the work of the 30-year-old institution is, in many ways, just beginning. It was… Read More →
