Land Stewardship Project

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State Policy

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State legislatures and administrations set policy and allocate resources that make a big difference to how the land is cared for, the prosperity of our communities, and the health of our democracy. Unfortunately, lobbyists representing big agribusiness and corporate interests too often run the show, claiming to speak on behalf of Minnesotans. They seek to dominate state budgets, re-write the rules in their favor, and diminish our voices. To make our vision for Minnesota a reality, we need to defend against these attacks while advancing policies and investments that reflect our values. Doing so requires all of us to come together, make our voices heard, and act in solidarity. Join us in making Minnesota a state where people and the land come first!

MN Farm, Food & Climate Funding in 2023:

During the recently adjourned session of the Minnesota Legislature, LSP and its allies won record funding for public programs that support farmers, conservation, and community food systems, among other things. We are now pivoting to the implementation stage to ensure these dollars and programs serve our members, as well as other small- and mid-sized farmers and processors, farmworkers, processing workers, food businesses, farmers’ markets, and local governments, as best as possible. For a detailed list of funding that’s available and how to apply, click here.

LSP State Policy in Action:

• Fact Sheet: Minnesota Farmland Down Payment Assistance
• 2021 Legislative Session Wrap-Up: Good News for Soil Health, Local Foods, Emerging Farmers — Bad News for Healthcare
• 2021 Legislative Priorities: Dairy Farming, Financial Crisis, Soil Health, Regional Food Systems, Healthcare
• LSP Member Statement: A Vision for Rural Minnesota
• Pulling Together, Moving Forward: LSP Member Statement on the Current Farm Crisis
• LSP Commentary: “Economic justice, for people and the land: A legislative agenda to heal land and people” (Minnesota Reformer, 2/9/21)

Click here to sign up for the latest state policy updates and ways to take action.

Check Out Our Latest Action Alerts

 

State Policy Resources

• Contact your MN Legislator

• Protecting Your Township From Unwanted Development: A Guide for MN Townships on Using the Interim Ordinance

•  The Money Pit: How MN Property Taxpayers are Subsidizing Factory Farms

• Creating a Bright Future for Livestock Farms in Minnesota: A Report by the Citizen Task Force on Livestock Farms & Rural Communities

• Watch a short video featuring township resident Jan Bruce talking about LSP’s workshop in Frontenac, Minn., on controlling frac sand mining and other potentially harmful developments.

Related Posts

  • MN Ag Bill Supports Market Access, Land Access & Soil Health 

    May 21, 2025

    SAINT PAUL, Minn. — Although the Minnesota Legislature wrapped up its 2025 session on May 19 with some unfinished business, the Agriculture Bill passed before…

    News Releases
    AGRI Farm to School and Early Care Programs, community based food systems, emerging farmers, farmland access, Local Food Purchase Assistance Program, Minnesota Legislature, nitrate pollution, Olmsted County Groundwater Protection and Soil Health Program, soil health, state policy
    MN Ag Bill Supports Market Access, Land Access & Soil Health 
  • Contact the MPCA by July 22 About Revising its Feedlot Rules

    July 2, 2025

    The Land Stewardship Project and our members have worked for 43 years to push back against the expansion of a factory farming model that forces…

    Action Alerts
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    Contact the MPCA by July 22 About Revising its Feedlot Rules
  • Ear to the Ground 374: The Power of Being Heard

    LSP members and allies spoke out during the 2025 session of the Minnesota Legislature. It paid off in the form of support for local food…

    Ear to the Ground 374: The Power of Being Heard

Contact

Laura Schreiber, LSP government relations director, e-mail, 612-207-4693

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        • Anti-Competitiveness & Price Gouging
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      • Federal Policy
        • A Farm Bill For Us
      • State Policy
        • MN Farm, Food & Climate Funding
      • Developing Leadership
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    • Building People Power
  • Join, Donate, or Renew
  • Building People Power

Upcoming Events

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July 2025

Wednesday July 9

8:00 am – 10:00 am
Risk to Resilience Climate Cohort
Wednesday July 9
8:00 am – 10:00 am
Risk to Resilience Climate Cohort
Online

Farming has always required adaptability, and today’s changing weather patterns are creating new challenges and opportunities. The Land Stewardship Project, in collaboration with University of Minnesota Extension, has created a resilience-focused program that gives commodity and small grain growers the opportunity to join a cohort with other like-minded farmers and learn how to prepare their operations for the future. At this Risk to Resilience cohort, you will learn:

  • How changing weather patterns in the Upper Midwest are likely to affect your farm. 
  • How you can prepare a plan that protects your farm from a changing climate.
  • How to improve your planning skills and meet with experts for opportunities to grow climate resilience  on your farm.
  • How to build community with fellow farmers interested in creating operations that are sustainable and resilient in the long term.

Program Details:

  •  Online format — join from your home or farm.
  •  Four sessions, 10-15 hours total investment — built for busy schedules, beginning July 2025. We’ll pause workshops for small grains harvest and resume in August 2025.
  • A $250 stipend will be provided to participants who attend the sessions and provide feedback on experience and content.

Dates of the Risk to Resilience Sessions:

  • Wednesday, July 9, 8 a.m.-10 a.m.
  • Wednesday, July 16, 8 a.m.-10 a.m.
  • Harvest Break
  • Wednesday, August 20, 8 a.m.-10 a.m.
  • Wednesday, August 27, 8 a.m.-10 a.m. 

To register, click here. 

12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
LSP Lewiston Office Summer Potluck Lunch
Wednesday July 9
12:00 pm – 2:00 pm
LSP Lewiston Office Summer Potluck Lunch
Land Stewardship Project, 180 E Main St, Lewiston, MN 55952, USA

Spring planting is behind us and midsummer is upon us! Take a quick break from all the action by celebrating summer with the Land Stewardship Project by joining us for lunch at our Lewiston office.

Our Summer Potluck will be held on Wednesday, July 9, from noon to 2 p.m., at our office in downtown Lewiston, Minn. (180 E. Main Street). This will be an opportunity to build community, hear from other farmers, socialize, and enjoy a great meal together. We also invite everyone to take a self-guided tour of the newly renovated spaces in our office that we have been working on over the winter. As a member-driven organization, this is your space too.

LSP will be providing the main dish (meat and vegetarian options) and we invite you to bring a dish to pass. This event is open to all, so please bring a friend or two as well. Let’s celebrate the joy of summer through good food and good company!

RSVP’s are encouraged, but not required. Hope to see you there — you can RSVP by e-mailing LSP’s Alex Romano direct.

Saturday July 12

10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Fishing, Farming & Food: Rush Creek's Fish Kill Anniversary & Why it Matters
Saturday July 12
10:00 am – 2:00 pm
Fishing, Farming & Food: Rush Creek's Fish Kill Anniversary & Why it Matters
Farmers Community Park, 23274 Arches Road Lewiston, MN 55952

During the Fishing, Farming & Food: Rush Creek’s Fish Kill Anniversary & Why it Matters event, the Land Stewardship Project will mark the three-year anniversary of a major fish kill in southeastern Minnesota that spawned citizen action and led to new public policy around how such events are reported. Join Land Stewardship Project and our partners at Farmers Park, Saturday July 12, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Lewiston, Minnesota. Register here.

What to expect?

  • Fly fishing demonstration led by Minnesota Trout Unlimted and LSP member, Lee Stoe. Please bring your own fishing gear.

  • Minnesota Trout Unlimited & Izaak Walton League staff and members will be leading macroinvertebrate sampling of Garvin Brook and discussing what they tell us about the health of the stream.

  • Discussion on how regenerative farming systems can support healthy soil and clean water.

  • Opportunity to take action! Help prevent future fish kills by sharing how you think the Minnesot Feedlot Rule, which is open for comment through July 22, should be stronger. Postcards will be available to fill out and send with your comments.

  • Farmers Park is a great spot for birding. Please bring your binoculars!

  • You are welcome to bring your own snacks or picnic lunch; food will not be provided at this event.

LSP is partnering with several community groups for this event, including:

Minnesota Trout Unlimited, Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, Izaak Walton League, Food & Water Watch, and Savanna Institute

Register HERE. For more information, contact LSP’s Kate Rowe at krowe@landstewardshipproject.org.

Tuesday July 15

5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Organic Fruit & Vegetable Field Day
Tuesday July 15
5:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Organic Fruit & Vegetable Field Day
1805 Dudley Ave, Falcon Heights, MN 55113, USA

Join U of M researchers and Extension for updates on organic fruit and vegetable research and tour the Student Organic Farm and the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station in Saint Paul. Topics include: organic insect management, integrating livestock into vegetable farms, new crops for Minnesota, irrigation strategies, and more. Free to the public.
 
For details and to register, click here.

Wednesday July 16

8:00 am – 10:00 am
Risk to Resilience Climate Cohort
Wednesday July 16
8:00 am – 10:00 am
Risk to Resilience Climate Cohort
Online

Farming has always required adaptability, and today’s changing weather patterns are creating new challenges and opportunities. The Land Stewardship Project, in collaboration with University of Minnesota Extension, has created a resilience-focused program that gives commodity and small grain growers the opportunity to join a cohort with other like-minded farmers and learn how to prepare their operations for the future. At this Risk to Resilience cohort, you will learn:

  • How changing weather patterns in the Upper Midwest are likely to affect your farm. 
  • How you can prepare a plan that protects your farm from a changing climate.
  • How to improve your planning skills and meet with experts for opportunities to grow climate resilience  on your farm.
  • How to build community with fellow farmers interested in creating operations that are sustainable and resilient in the long term.

Program Details:

  •  Online format — join from your home or farm.
  •  Four sessions, 10-15 hours total investment — built for busy schedules, beginning July 2025. We’ll pause workshops for small grains harvest and resume in August 2025.
  • A $250 stipend will be provided to participants who attend the sessions and provide feedback on experience and content.

Dates of the Risk to Resilience Sessions:

  • Wednesday, July 9, 8 a.m.-10 a.m.
  • Wednesday, July 16, 8 a.m.-10 a.m.
  • Harvest Break
  • Wednesday, August 20, 8 a.m.-10 a.m.
  • Wednesday, August 27, 8 a.m.-10 a.m. 

To register, click here. 

View Full Calendar

Recent Posts

  • Contact the MPCA by July 22 About Revising its Feedlot Rules July 2, 2025
  • Tell Your Representatives: We Want a Farm Bill for All, Not a Tax Break for the Wealthiest July 2, 2025
  • U.S. Supreme Court’s Decline of Iowa Case Bolsters Local Control July 2, 2025
  • Land Line: Senate Budget Bill, Who Owns Land?, Nitrates, Conservation Cuts, Immigration, Drought When Wet, Judging Soil, Sea of Grass July 1, 2025
  • California Dreaming June 30, 2025

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