Note: This is the 10th installment in the 12-part “A Sense of Where You Are” series. There’s nothing like getting diminishing returns on your investment in time, labor, and resources to put things in context. “I just got sick and tired of spending money on fertilizer, planting in the dry powder, and watching the soil blow… Read More →
Jordan and Rachelle Meyer are using goats to add value to marginal land…one thistle at a time. More Information • LSP’s Soil Health & Grazing Web Page • LSP’s 2023 Field Day Special Report: “A Long, Hot Summer” • Wholesome Family Farms Web Page • Wholesome Family Farms’ Grazing YouTube Page • LSP’s 2023 Pasture… Read More →
LEWISTON, Minn. — Are you a farmer or landowner thinking about the next steps for your farm and land? The Land Stewardship Project’s Farm Transition Planning Course provides an opportunity to dig into important topics and learn from experienced farmers and professionals. The online course will be held on six Thursday evenings in 2023: Jan. 26,… Read More →
Staff from the Land Stewardship Project’s Bridge to Soil Health Program have been getting out and visiting farms the past few months. These visits are primarily to: network and meet with farmers in our Soil Builders’ Network, see what practices people are trying out on the landscape, determine what farmers want more information on, and… Read More →
When Lauren Barry pulls a weed or harvests a tomato this summer, she’s doing so on a one-acre plot of land steeped in history. Not the ancient, dusty kind that may or may not have relevance to the current situation, but history rooted in recent growing seasons, when other beginning farmers faced the same meteorological,… Read More →
I am not seeing any solid program that addresses access to land for new farmers. I do see networking and apprentice efforts (such as the one we have at our Earth Wisdom Farm) but I am not seen a comprehensive program that actually provides a viable path to ownership, or resident stewardship. With so much… Read More →
While leading a group of natural resource professionals through one of his dairy pastures one early fall day, Martin Jaus made it crystal clear he farms the land for more than a milk check. “Every day we see something that just amazes us,” he said with a smile. “One day I was making hay and… Read More →
ROCHESTER, Minn. — Diversifying the region’s cropping systems beyond raw, export-driven commodities like corn and soybeans will require a team effort, said the farmer-presenters at the “Beyond Exports: Rebuilding Local Markets” meeting held at the Rochester International Event Center Jan. 27. More than 125 farmers from Minnesota and Iowa gathered for the Land Stewardship Project… Read More →
PAYNESVILLE, Minn. — Unprecedented consolidation in agriculture is emptying the landscape of farmers, which is having a trickle-down impact on everything from rural schools and churches to Main Street businesses, said three-dozen farmers and other rural residents who gathered Aug. 24 for an open-air Land Stewardship Project (LSP) town hall meeting on the shores of… Read More →
DONNELLY, Minn. — As winter winds howled outside, farmers gathered in a machine shed near Donnelly on March 4 to share stories with Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison on how consolidation in everything from livestock markets to ag implement repairs is negatively impacting their operations and communities. The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) meeting was held… Read More →
