The deadline for farmers to enroll in the 2015 Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) has been extended to March 13. Farmers now have an additional two weeks to submit applications for new contracts. The deadline for farmers to renew existing contracts is still March 31. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has also released full information… Read More →
2nd of 3 LSP White Papers Examines Nation’s Biggest Farm Program BOYD, Minn. — A key federal farm program has become an engine for consolidating land and financial resources in rural communities in Minnesota and across the country, according to a new white paper released by the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) today. Launched in 1938… Read More →
How women play a major role in the future of farmland and our rural communities.
While walking a piece of North Dakota landscape under a withering summer sun, one’s thoughts turn to moisture—or rather, the lack of it. So when I and other participants in a soil health tour kicked up signs of cool, shady places while traipsing across a hay field, it seemed like a mirage. Green-and-black leopard frogs… Read More →
When you grow up on a farm in the shadow of the Jolly Green Giant, you can’t help but think that size matters when it comes to success in agriculture. Josh Reinitz’s family’s land sits between Minneapolis and Mankato, just a few miles from where a wooden likeness of the Green One and his apprentice… 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 →
Ashly Steinke remembers well the first time he saw a bobolink on pastured land that formerly grew corn and soybeans — it was a sign that he was successfully blending beef, birds, and biology. More Information • LSP’s Grazing & Soil Health Web Page • Audubon Conservation Ranching Program • The Monitoring Project’s “Tool Box”… Read More →
Note: LSP believes that a more sustainable food production system must be based on the kinds of farmer-to-farmer education networks that thrive at workshops, field days, and during informal conversations in the field and at the kitchen table. That’s why LSP is committed to building Soil Health Hubs and otherwise bringing farmers together to share… Read More →
Trump Suggests U.S. Will Buy Argentine Beef to Lower Prices (10/20/25) Farmdoc reports that President Donald Trump is proposing importing more Argentinian beef in an attempt to bring down prices for American consumers. Trump has been working to help Argentina bolster its collapsing economy with a $20 billion credit swap line and additional financing from… Read More →
Note: This commentary originally ran in the Minnesota Star Tribune on Oct. 17. When Minnesota’s growing season draws to a close, so does another kind of season: that period between spring and fall when farmers invite other farmers onto their land for “field days,” so they can share ideas about what’s working and what isn’t.… Read More →
