Do you own farmland and want to make sure it is taken care of using good stewardship practices? A series of “Managing for Stewardship” workshops will be held in Minnesota during January and February. These workshops are for farmland owners, retired farm men and women, those inheriting a farmland investment and farmers who would like… Read More →
During this session of the Minnesota Legislature, Land Stewardship Project members have been making their voices heard loud and clear. Dozens of farmers and rural LSP members have testified in committee hearings, hundreds have come to the Capitol to meet with their elected officials, and thousands have taken action by signing a petition, contacting their… Read More →
I recently witnessed the return of life to Jordan and Rachelle Meyers’ fields, which are transitioning from giant ragweed and thistles into soil-building plants such as chicory, red clover, and wild bergamot. During the past few years, the family, which farms in southeastern Minnesota’s Houston County, has used hard work and attention to the soil… Read More →
With a single phrase, we can put conservation to work on rented land. And that would have a major impact from a landscape point of view: more than half the crops in Minnesota and Iowa alone are produced on rented acres, and every one of them could be saving soil, water, habitat and money with… Read More →
After a lifetime of working for others in agricultural jobs, and retired after a career with the postal service, Tom Hoekstra and his wife, Lisa, bought a 150-acre farm outside of Plainview in southeastern Minnesota. Tom was 59 when they bought the farm in 2009. Right after their purchase, they immediately went to work re-building… Read More →
The Land Stewardship Project began organizing around healthcare in 2008 after hearing over and over again from our members that one of the primary barriers to getting into farming, or staying in it, is lack of access to affordable and useful health insurance. Farmers and other self-employed people do not have employer-based healthcare coverage without off-the-farm or… Read More →
The past few months have been harder than ever for thousands of Minnesotans. Our communities were already facing a serious farm crisis, inaccessible and unaffordable healthcare, increasing impacts of climate change, corporate consolidation across our economy, and more. On top of that, a pandemic has wreaked havoc on our healthcare system, farm and food system,… Read More →
As of today— April 10 — due to the outbreak of COVID-19, nearly 350,000 Minnesotans have applied for unemployment benefits. That is already more than the total number of applicants in all of 2019. Nationally, 16.6 million Americans have applied for unemployment benefits in the past three weeks. In the wake of a global pandemic,… 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 →
When we talk to our friends and neighbors who are on Medicare, they are happy with it and sure don’t want to give it up. The same is said by veterans who use Veteran’s Administration healthcare. Social Security is another popular government run program. We need to build on this success. During an “Addressing the… Read More →
