Even a brief conversation with Tom Cogger makes it clear what he enjoys doing: producing food. And that’s what he’s done on his Maple Hill Farm near Washburn in northwestern Wisconsin for almost two decades. In the early years, Cogger concentrated mostly on produce, but since his son Matthew joined the operation in 2009, pork… Read More →
Since the 2023 session of the Minnesota Legislature ended last May, Land Stewardship Project members have been celebrating our historic wins and preparing to build upon them during the 2024 session, which begins Monday, Feb. 12. This past summer and fall, LSP organizers engaged in hundreds of one-to-one and group conversations with LSP members, supporters,… Read More →
Stephan is seeking 10 acres (a combination of pasture, tillable and forested) in Wisconsin. Housing is necessary. Fencing and an additional outbuilding would be preferred but not necessary. Stephan is ready for this opportunity 2/28/25.
Nick is seeking five pastured/ tillable acres in Wisconsin.
When Nathan Vergin applied to work as an apprentice on Polyface Farm in Virginia back in the mid-2000s, he had to undergo a three-day “working interview.” Vergin, who grew up helping out on a sheep dairy near Northfield, Minn., passed the trial by fire, and went on to serve a two-year apprenticeship with the farm’s… Read More →
The Land Stewardship Project works for solutions to the healthcare crisis in rural Minnesota because we know that lack of affordable, high-quality care is a major barrier to having thriving rural communities with more farmers on the land. We are pleased to see that Governor Tim Walz and Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan’s proposed Budget for… Read More →
Despite Previous Rulings, MN Sands Attempts to Yet Again Circumvent Environmental Law LEWISTON, Minn. — The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) today called on the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board (EQB) to continue to enforce its requirement of a comprehensive environmental review of a proposed frac sand mining project in southeastern Minnesota. Earlier this week, EQB considered… Read More →
As a Nature Conservancy scientist based in a Midwestern state, Steve Chaplin thinks a lot about the impact agriculture has on ecological treasures such as native tallgrass prairie. “Other than plowing, grazing has probably been responsible for the degradation of more prairie than any other source,” says Chaplin, who is in the Conservancy’s Minnesota field… Read More →
On an afternoon in late June, west-central Minnesota farmers Anne and Peter Schwagerl walk out of the bright sun into the deep shade of an old granary that has six separate storage areas for various kinds of harvested crops—a throwback to an era when most Midwestern farms produced more than corn and soybeans. On many… Read More →
Cover crops proved themselves foul weather friends during the Great Drought of 2012. A groundbreaking farmer survey conducted in the Upper Mississippi River watershed showed that during that year’s brutal growing season keeping the soil covered with small grains and other plants helped fields preserve enough precious moisture to provide a yield bump of, in… Read More →
