Many beginning farmers struggle to find the capital they need to get started. Buying a piece of land, fencing supplies, a packing shed, tractor, young fruit trees—these things can add up to an overwhelming initial investment. And these farmers often have a hard time finding the financing that fits their operations. Dean Harrington is a… Read More →
As part of our work to help beginning farmers gain access to farmland, the Land Stewardship Project has been working with the Plainview Land Access Organizing Committee in southeast Minnesota. For the past two years, farmers, business owners and others in the agricultural community of Plainview have been meeting to raise awareness of issues beginning… 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 →
The Land Stewardship Project congratulates the 2025 recipients of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s AGRI Farm to School and Early Care Programs. This includes K-12 school districts and early care centers that received reimbursement grants, as well as family daycare providers participating in the MDA’s first-ever Local Tots Cost-Share Program. Grantees span the… Read More →
The Unnatural History of Bird Flu (2/12/25) Science journalist Brandon Keim, writing in Nautilus, provides an in-depth overview of the causes of the current H5N1 avian influenza outbreak, which has resulted in the death of 150 million chickens and turkeys, either by the virus itself or due to euthanasia as officials attempt to curb its spread.… Read More →
A cornerstone of creating a regenerative agricultural system in the Upper Midwest is reintegrating livestock onto the land in a way that farmers can add value to forages and grains while cycling nutrients in a manner that manure becomes a way to build soil biology, rather than a waste product to be disposed of. Over… Read More →
During this legislative session, Minnesota lawmakers are considering the passage of a bill to create a PRESCRIPTION DRUG AFFORDABILITY BOARD (PDAB) and pharmaceutical corporations are doing everything they can to stop it. On Friday, April 14, an amendment was passed on the Senate Floor that would exclude rare disease drugs, as well as any drug that has been… Read More →
