Sign Up for E-mail Delivery of The Land Line Report Calls for Stricter Fertilizer Rules as US Nitrate Pollution Crisis Grows (6/1/26) The New Lede writes about a report that finds lax regulations and mismanaged applications are contributing to making nitrogen runoff a major water pollution problem in the U.S. Highlights: U.S. farmers annually apply… Read More →
Minnesota’s largest dairy producer has applied to build the first livestock operation in the state to hold over 20,000 animal units. If built, the concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) will hold 18,855 dairy cattle, bringing the total animal units to 26,397 in one facility. This proposed operation is the first of its size in Minnesota.… Read More →
Iowa Farm & Rural Life Poll: 2025 Summary (November) The majority of farmers responding to the latest Iowa Farm & Rural Life Poll feel that a reliance on specialized commodity agriculture is bad for them and their communities. Highlights: Sixty-nine percent agreed with the statement “Increased specialization in commodities (corn, soybeans, hogs, etc.) has led… Read More →
CANNON FALLS, Minn. — Shea-Lynn Ramthun stood in a recently harvested oat field on her family’s farm near Cannon Falls last week and described to a couple dozen lawmakers a dilemma that’s all-too-common in the agriculture business: she had just successfully raised a bumper crop, only to run into the brick wall of not having… Read More →
2026-2027 Farm Beginnings Class LSP is now accepting applications for its 2026-2027 Farm Beginnings class session. For details, click here. ♦ ♦ ♦ By the time Elyssa Eull moved back to Minnesota a few years ago, she already had several years of experience working on vegetable farms. But she felt that in order to successfully… Read More →
Note: This is the 6th installment in the 12-part “A Sense of Where You Are” series. When your context is farming in the city, everything is a little faster, denser, and louder. “We grow everything very intensively,” said Elyssa Eull on a warm evening in early September while she stood near the entrance to California… Read More →
Elyssa Eull’s tiny farm is tucked between railroad tracks and an empty lot in the heart of a major metropolitan area, but its city soil is producing food on a commercial scale. More Information • LSP’s Farm Beginnings Course • California Street Farm • Twin Cities Metro Growers Network • USDA Urban Agriculture Programs at a Glance… Read More →
The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is an essential initiative that gives thousands of farmers the tools they need to implement sustainable practices such as cover cropping and managed rotational grazing. Yet, a majority of farmers are unable to access EQIP funding. In 2022, only 26% of EQIP applicants in Minnesota were awarded contracts, which… Read More →
Earlier this month, Land Stewardship Project farmer-members James Kanne and Adam Griebie flew to Washington, D.C., with me for a few days to gather with farmers and organizers from across the Midwest who are a part of the Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment and to meet with members of Congress about our shared… Read More →
Oct. 30: An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities Prevented Plant at Historic Highs Again in 2020 (10/26/20) Over 10 million acres of U.S. crop ground was not planted this year as a result of extreme weather conditions, reports Agricultural Economic Insights. This growing season marks the second-highest “prevented plant” level in… Read More →
