Dan Specht, who was taken from us all too soon last week by a haying accident, was the embodiment of the stewardship farmer. His kind, curious nature—housed in a powerfully-built, bear-like body—was complemented nicely by a passion for the land. And he represented what may be our best bet for balancing food production with a… Read More →
Steve O’Neil, the Land Stewardship Project’s first community organizer who went on to serve as a mentor and adviser to the organization for most of its history, lost a battle with cancer on Monday. He was 63. Steve was hired in 1982 by Ron Kroese shortly after Kroese and Victor Ray founded LSP. O’Neil’s first… Read More →
There’s farm planning. And then there’s long-term farm planning. Figuring out what kind of rotation to use the following growing season is one thing; picturing what the entire farm will look like in a decade or so is quite another. Abbie Baldwin and Mitch Hawes are well aware that when the enterprise you are undertaking… Read More →
Bill Backs Corporate Interests Over Family Farmers, Rural Communities & the Environment A deeply flawed U.S. House Farm Bill represents corporate interests, particularly industrial livestock operations, at the expense of independent farm families and the environment, and should be swiftly rejected when it comes to a vote this month, the Land Stewardship Project, along with… Read More →
Dear Senator Klobuchar: In considering whether or not to support the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal, I hope you will look beyond the positions of main stream economists who believe in more globalization of economic activity and seek out those economists who think more deeply and comprehensively about economic and social realities and believe in… Read More →
Former Purdue University professor Don Huber is no chemo-phobe — he just hates to see a product of science go to waste. LSP’s podcast/PowerPoint presentation on the herbicide glyphosate featuring Huber makes that point. In the presentation, Huber comes across as a scientist who is profoundly disappointed that a sound crop production tool has, in… Read More →
On Aug. 28, Land Stewardship Project board member Tex Hawkins spoke to a busload of LSP members and friends who visited a farm near Dodge, Wis., to witness firsthand the effects of frac, or silica, sand mining on a neighboring piece of property. I live in Winona. I’m on the LSP Board now, and have… Read More →
It’s hard to believe it’s been almost a month since the Land Stewardship Project participated in The Brave of Us: The Midwest Democracy and Power Summit June 11-12 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The Summit was an inspiring two days focused on both learning from what we’ve accomplished and creating the future we want. Programming… Read More →
Farming, we love this life. No matter what type of farmer you are, we all know how tough it can be to live the farming life. From unpredictable weather, markets we have no control over, input cost increases, equipment breaking down, exhaustion, and now tariffs — the U.S. agriculture system is entering a crisis not… Read More →
Some sins against the land can be masked over with deep tillage, chemical inputs, and, when all else fails, moving dirt around with heavy equipment. But you can’t fool a good soil probe. For Mike and Jennifer Rupprecht, that revelation came when a retired soil scientist sunk his equipment deep into a couple spots on… Read More →
