In 2005, Sara Morrison was driving home to Minnesota after spending a few long days at a Saint Louis horse show. Traveling, often with a horse trailer in tow, was nothing new to her. Since getting a degree in equine science eight years before, Morrison had spent much of her life on the road, preparing… Read More →
If ever there was a shining example of a smart public investment in our food and farming future, Minnesota’s Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration Grant Program is it. This program has been an important driver of sustainable (and conventional) farming innovations in the state for almost a quarter-century. Farmers who qualify for these competitive grants are able… Read More →
When a new food and farming model is introduced to a region, it can be slow to catch on—if at all. On the other hand, sometimes a new concept takes off like a galloping horse, challenging its practitioners to hang on for the ride. One Saturday last October, Kristianna Gehant and Nick Siddens were on… Read More →
MADISON, Minn. — “Welcome to my midlife crisis,” joked Peter Haugen on a Saturday morning in early August as a couple dozen farmers stood in a semi-circle around him and his wife, Brittany, at the edge of a 12-acre field south of Madison. The “crisis” Peter was referring to was what was growing in that… Read More →
LEWISTON, Minn. — One of the most successful beginning farmer training programs in the country is now accepting applications for its 2025-2026 course session serving the Minnesota, western Wisconsin and northern Iowa region. The Land Stewardship Project’s (LSP) Farm Beginnings initiative is a training program that focuses on the goal-setting, marketing and financial skills needed to… Read More →
ALBERT LEA, Minn. — Corn and soybeans may dominate the agricultural landscape in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa, but reintroducing small grains such as oats into the rotation could help make farming more economically, agronomically and environmentally sustainable, while serving a growing consumer demand for healthy food, said a panel of national and local experts during… Read More →
LEWISTON, Minn. — One of the most successful beginning farmer training programs in the country is now accepting applications for its 2024-2025 course session serving the Minnesota, western Wisconsin and northern Iowa region. The Land Stewardship Project’s (LSP) Farm Beginnings initiative is a training program that focuses on the goal-setting, marketing and financial skills needed to establish… Read More →
Letter Signed by over 2,100 U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Highlights the Impacts of the Climate Crisis & the Opportunities for Ag to Lead on Solutions WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a letter delivered to the U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis this week, Congress is being urged by farmers from Minnesota and across the… Read More →
Minnesota Part of 10-State Rural & Small Town Organizing Strategy WASHINGTON, D.C.—Racial justice is an essential element in developing a food and farming system that supports healthy and prosperous rural communities, said central Minnesota farmer Laura Frerichs today during a national rural progressive strategy summit at the National Press Club in Washington. Frerichs, a member… Read More →
Austin Crop & Livestock Farmer Testifies at Special Congressional Hearing on the Need to Support Healthy Soil in the Next Farm Bill WASHINGTON, D.C.—Building healthy soil on agricultural acres doesn’t just benefit rural communities, said a southern Minnesota farmer during a special Congressional hearing on soil health that was held in Washington today. And that’s… Read More →
