Farmers Gather in Madison to Discuss ‘Bringing Small Grains Back to Minnesota’
MADISON, Minn. — “Welcome to my midlife crisis,” joked Peter Haugen on a Saturday morning in early August as a couple dozen farmers stood in…
LSP’s Soil Health Steering Committee got together in September 2024 to discuss ways of helping farmers in the region successfully adopt cover cropping, managed rotational grazing, no-till, and other regenerative practices. Discussions focused on developing a more viable small grains marketing infrastructure, supporting livestock integration into cropping operations, strengthening the Soil Builders’ Network, and making deeper investments in our localized peer learning groups such as soil hubs and grazing groups. For bios of Soil Health Steering Committee members, click here.
Are you farming in southeastern Minnesota and need help getting started in your soil health journey? LSP has put together a directory of technical assistance providers in southeastern Minnesota that can provide funding for cover crop establishment, as well as equipment rentals, testing services, and more. Check it out here.
Check out our LSP’s web calendar for the latest field Days, workshops and pasture walks.
Check out LSP’s new series of videos featuring farmers who are utilizing various methods to build soil health profitably.
Check out LSP’s ongoing Ear Dirt podcast series for conversations on cover cropping, no-till, managed rotational grazing, fungi, and just about anything else that builds soil health.
Through the publication, Bridge to Soil Health Program’s Peer-to-Peer Learning Groups: The Strategy & Construction of Regional Farmer Soil Hubs, LSP is sharing our experience constructing and implementing the Regional Soil Hubs through our Bridge to Soil Health initiative. We hope that other agricultural groups, including farmer-led groups, might want to borrow or adapt some of the approaches we’ve used.
If you have an idea you’d like to have featured in a video, blog, podcast, or field day, contact us.
LSP’s Soil Health, Water & Climate Change: A Pocket Guide to What You Need to Know, is available as a pdf document or as a mobile-friendly app.
In October 2020, a special LSP report was published: “Building the Bridge to Soil Health: The Power of Organizing Farmer-to-Farmer Engagement.” It describes the organization’s experience with launching the Bridge to Soil Health initiative. The report is available here.

MADISON, Minn. — “Welcome to my midlife crisis,” joked Peter Haugen on a Saturday morning in early August as a couple dozen farmers stood in…

On a misty June morning in northeastern Iowa, Nikki Meyer led half-a-dozen farmers down a field road through a thick stand of oaks and other…

From crunching the numbers to developing relationships with public and private landowners, Eric Heins of Hoosier Ridge Ranch isn’t afraid to question the status quo…
The Johnson Center for Land Stewardship Policy is excited to share that one of our its primary pillars of work — a published collection of Paul Johnson’s writings — is set for release on Oct. 2. The book features a brief biography and a discussion of Paul’s ideas within the historical and future contexts of private lands conservation.
For details on We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy click here.
The Johnson Center for Land Stewardship Policy is excited to share that one of our its primary pillars of work — a published collection of Paul Johnson’s writings — is set for release on Oct. 2. The book features a brief biography and a discussion of Paul’s ideas within the historical and future contexts of private lands conservation.
For details on We Can Do Better: Collected Writings on Land, Conservation, and Public Policy click here.
Calling all folk dance lovers! The Land Stewardship Project is co-sponsoring a potluck and folk dance at the Town Hall in Bay City, Wis., on Saturday, Nov. 1. Can you attend or volunteer? LSP is looking for one or two more people to help represent our people-powered organization by tabling at this event. To volunteer, reply directly to this e-mail and let me know you’re available.
For details, check out this flier.
The potluck and dance are co-hosted by LSP members from Oxheart Farm and the Oak Center General Store. No RSVP required; please direct questions to Emmet at oxheartfarm@gmail.com.
This 10-lesson Wild Farm Alliance virtual course teaches agricultural professionals and farmers how to support beneficial birds and manage pest birds on farms. By learning how to assess the farm’s avian needs and opportunities, farms can be designed to provide for a diversity of beneficial birds.
If pest birds are a problem, they can be discouraged with specific practices during the shorter periods when they cause damage. The sessions cover the latest research, tools and resources, and are given by experts in avian pest control, entomology, ornithology and conservation. While many topics and species are specific to the Midwest, most of the principles discussed are applicable across regions.
Continuing Education Credits have been requested and are expected to be approved from American Society of Agronomy.
For details and to register, click here.
The Course Schedule:
Tuesday, September 23, 2 p.m. CT
Tuesday, October 14, 11 a.m. CT
Tuesday, November 4, 11 a.m. CT
Tuesday, December 2, 11 a.m. CT
Tuesday, January 13, 11 a.m. CT
Tuesday, February 3, 11 a.m. CT
Tuesday, February 24, 11 a.m. CT
Tuesday, March 17, 11 a.m. CT
Tuesday, April 7, 11 a.m. CT
Tuesday, April 28, 11 a.m. CT
The concentration of money and power in our food and farming system is a threat to our rural way of life, the land, and Main Street economies. According to research compiled by Farm Action, agricultural industries ranging from poultry processing to seed distribution are now dominated by four or fewer corporations, creating a system that for all intents and purposes no longer represents an open market situation. This makes it next to impossible for small and mid-sized farms to compete economically.
Those of us who grew up in the rural Midwest have seen these effects firsthand. As once vibrant agricultural economies diminish, so too do community resources: hospitals, public schools, religious institutions, grocery stores, and more. Young people who see little opportunity in their hometowns move to cities and suburbs to start their careers and families.
A consolidated, corporate-controlled agricultural system is also wreaking havoc on our natural environment. Runoff from large-scale factory farms and row cropping operations threatens our drinking water and spoils natural landscapes that people from all walks of life cherish. Without intervention, it won’t be long before all of us — urban or rural, farmers and non-farmers, rich or poor, young or old — will be impacted by the devastation of Big Ag.
Join the Land Stewardship Project on Tuesday, Nov. 4, to hear from two people who think a lot about the power of Big Ag and its negative impacts — Austin Frerick and Sonja Trom Eayrs. They will lead a discussion about the forces threatening our rural communities and how we build the people power to take them on.
This is an opportunity to take the first steps toward developing the kind of positive future for our communities that builds homegrown wealth, treats people fairly, and is resilient in the long term. If you love something and someone, you fight for it. Come fight with us!
Austin Frerick Biography: Austin Frerick is an expert on agricultural and antitrust policy. In 2024, he published his debut book, Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry.
Sonja Trom Eayrs Biography: Sonja Trom Eayrs, author of Dodge County, Incorporated: Big Ag and the Undoing of Rural America, is a farmer’s daughter, rural advocate, and attorney.