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 →
Good things go bad when out of their rightful places. Take farm fertilizer and soil, essential ingredients in the field but all wrong in the 27 percent of Minnesota lakes now too contaminated to drink. Last month’s report from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) blasted corn-and-soybean agriculture as the major source of nitrogen contamination… Read More →
Nov. 6 : An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities Relay Cropping Helps Northeast Iowa Farmer Reach a Lofty Goal (October 2020) Northeastern Iowa farmer Loran Steinlage is using “relay cropping” to keep living roots in the soil 365-days-a-year, according to 4R Plus. Steinlage was getting good yields growing continuous corn-on-corn. But… Read More →
On April 17, Land Stewardship Project members gathered in Menomonie, Wis., to discuss the challenges they face as beginning farmers seeking land to farm. They also discussed how to shape the initial stages of LSP’s organizing for more affordable, secure land tenure. These farmers shared stories about how skyrocketing land prices are creating a crisis… Read More →
The temperature hovers a few degrees above zero and fresh snow swirls around their feet as Bryan Crigler and Katelyn Foerster bend into a fierce wind and head into a stand of walnut trees on a recent January day. In contrast to the wild woods, neat rows of ironwood logs are leaning on wires amidst… Read More →
Hannah Bernhardt and Jason Misik couldn’t afford prime farmland brimming with infrastructure. But sweat equity and soil health are helping them transform a marginal piece of ground far from Corn Country.
NORTHFIELD, Minn. — A “Finding Farmland: Strategies and Tools for Accessing Affordable Land” workshop will be held Saturday, March 30, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Northfield Public Library (210 Washington St.). There is no charge for this Land Stewardship Project (LSP) event. Please RSVP by Tuesday, March 26, by contacting LSP’s Karen… Read More →
*This blog contains new information as of Nov. 1* The individual health insurance market, the place where many self-employed individuals purchase medical insurance is — candidly — a mess. Many Land Stewardship Project members are adversely affected by the current state of this market: premiums exploding, coverage choices dwindling, provider networks shrinking. What are the… Read More →
Pack-shed or people? That’s the question Les Macare and Els Dobrick are grappling with on a dank day in mid-March as they brave a biting wind to inspect the garden plots, cover crops, and outbuildings on Racing Heart Farm in western Wisconsin. With the exception of some onions sprouting in one of the hoop houses,… Read More →
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — As discussions around the 2023 Farm Bill get off the ground, a key group of people are being asked to share their views on the future of agricultural policy: farmers. During the next several weeks, the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) is circulating the National Young Farmer Survey in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin in… Read More →
