Governor Mark Dayton announced in January his proposal to require an additional 125,000 acres of perennial vegetation along lakes, rivers and streams. There is a long history of utilizing such living borders to filter out fertilizers and herbicides, while fortifying streambanks and reducing the amount of eroded soil that ends up in the water. While… Read More →
Growing Small Grains Market in Albert Lea Attracting Attention from Farmers (1/28/25) KAAL-TV reports on a Land Stewardship Project workshop where over 150 people gathered to talk about ways of bringing small grains back to Minnesota. Highlights: After being mostly replaced by corn and soybeans during the past several decades, small grains such as oats… Read More →
Not long ago, Rich and Carol Radtke were on a bit of a roll. They had graduated from the Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Beginnings course and felt the program had provided them a solid basis for developing a profitable farming operation on land they and their three children moved to in 2008. Before taking the… Read More →
On the Internet, you’re only as old as you feel—at least until the person you’re corresponding with travels from two states away to meet you face-to-face. When Dave and Deb Welsch started communicating via e-mail with Steve and Shelley Lorenz in 2007, a lot of assumptions were made about the age of the parties on… Read More →
Farmers Face One of the Highest Rates of Suicide. This Social Worker Believes the Solution is Buried in Their Land (4/10/25) The Guardian newspaper describes how a social worker in Kansas has developed the LandLogic Model, a new way to train healthcare providers that uses farmers’ relationship to their land to identify and treat depression,… Read More →
I talked to a Todd County farmer yesterday who uses 100 percent no-till and other conservation measures to raise his crops. Conserving soil is important to him, and so he’s quite upset at how mobile humus has been on neighboring farms this fall/early winter. “You know that little skiff of snow we got the other… Read More →
ROCHESTER, Minn. — A “Finding Farmland” workshop will be held Saturday, Sept. 15, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Peace United Church of Christ in Rochester (1503 2nd Ave. NE). This event, which is sponsored by the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) and National Young Farmers Coalition (NYFC), is free, but participants are asked to… Read More →
The Minnesota Environmental Quality Board (EQB) is holding a public meeting in Red Wing at the St. James Hotel on Monday, March 25, at 5 p.m., to discuss the value of a Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) on nitrate pollution in the karst area of southeastern Minnesota. (RSVP here.) Two million dollars is proposed in… Read More →
Note: This is the 8th installment in the 12-part “A Sense of Where You Are” series. So, here’s a chicken or egg situation to ponder: when launching a farming operation, when should you approach the local NRCS office about applying for funding to set up infrastructure such as a high tunnel or a rotational grazing system?… Read More →
SCANDIA, Minn. — Members of the East African farming community and area landowners are invited to a special networking event Sunday, Oct. 22, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., at the Scandia City Hall Community Center (14727 209th St. N.). This Land Stewardship Project (LSP) event is free and food will be provided. Children are welcome… Read More →
