After Nitrate Lawsuit, Minnesota Opens Farm Fertilizer Rule for Public Comment (2/18/26) The Star Tribune reports that the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is seeking public comment on its 2019 groundwater protection rule, a standard that governs how and when fertilizer is applied. Highlights: It’s the first step in the MDA’s review of the standard… Read More →
Something Smells With the Feedlot Trend, and it’s More Than Just the Manure 3/16/25 Ron Way, former assistant director of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, writes in the Star Tribune about how factory farms have transformed the landscape in southern and central Minnesota. Highlights: Since the 1970s, backers of large-scale, industrialized livestock production have successfully… Read More →
Ryan is seeking a farmer to rent 16 pastured acres in Milltown, Polk County, Wisconsin. The acres are fenced in, there are small outbuildings, and a small open air barn. There is no housing. $300- $400/ month rent and the acres are available immediately.
Lanee is seeking a farmer to rent 18 acres (9 tillable and 9 pasture) in Lone Jack, Missouri, Jackson County. There is a metal horse barn with four stalls, fencing, water and electricity. There is no housing available. Rent is $1,500 and is available 7/1/26.
Soil Health Specialists Sound the Alarm on Continuing Soil Erosion (5/9/25) Despite a “Wake-up Call” warning issued a decade ago, wind erosion has continued to significantly damage soil health in North Dakota, according to Agweek. Highlights: Ten years after NDSU soil health expert Dave Franzen issued a report called “Wake-up Call” that highlighted high levels… Read More →
Katherine is seeking 10 acres of farmland to rent or buy. Housing is necessary (fenced in yard would be great) and having outbuildings is preferred. Available 3/31/26.
Do you own farmland and want to make sure it is taken care of using good stewardship practices? Two “Managing for Stewardship” workshops are being presented in Minnesota this winter by the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) and the Upper Mississippi Region of the League of Women Voters. These workshops are for farmland owners, retired farm… Read More →
While recording a recent LSP podcast interview with southwest Minnesota farmer Carmen Fernholz, I was reminded of how important it is that farmers identify closely with the land they’re producing a livelihood from. As Fernholz put it: “If you’re a good farmer you can’t help but become attached to the land. And when you become… Read More →
Thousands of Land Stewardship Project members and supporters from across Minnesota came together during the 2021 session of the state Legislature and organized around our shared values. Together, we mobilized around a collective vision that includes a just food and farm system, a healthy landscape, thriving small and mid-sized farms, just and prosperous communities, and… Read More →
CANNON FALLS, Minn. — Shea-Lynn Ramthun stood in a recently harvested oat field on her family’s farm near Cannon Falls last week and described to a couple dozen lawmakers a dilemma that’s all-too-common in the agriculture business: she had just successfully raised a bumper crop, only to run into the brick wall of not having… Read More →
