CAFO

 ‘Big Ag, Big Problems’ Panel to Feature 2 Experts on Consolidation Nov. 4 in Lanesboro

Authors of 'Barons' & 'Dodge County' to Speak

LANESBORO, Minn. — The impacts on rural communities of unprecedented consolidation in agriculture and what local citizens can do to address this issue will be the focus of a Land Stewardship Project (LSP) panel discussion Tuesday, Nov. 4, from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., at the Lanesboro Community Center (202 Parkway Ave. South). To reserve…  Read More

Land Line: Argentine Beef, Farm Bankruptcies, Monopolies, Rural Hunger, School Lunch, Nitrate Fertilizer, Avian Flu

Trump Suggests U.S. Will Buy Argentine Beef to Lower Prices (10/20/25) Farmdoc reports that President Donald Trump is proposing importing more Argentinian beef in an attempt to bring down prices for American consumers. Trump has been working to help Argentina bolster its collapsing economy with a $20 billion credit swap line and additional financing from…  Read More

Ear to the Ground 384: Power Play

Ag antitrust expert Austin Frerick sees the current food system as a mechanism for modern robber barons to treat rural communities as mere “extraction colonies.” But, he argues, changing how we eat isn’t enough —  we need to disrupt how power is distributed all along the food chain (2 of 2 parts). More Information •…  Read More

Ear to the Ground 383: Corporate Vs. Community

Sonja Trom Eayrs started out writing about her own family’s fight against factory farms. She ended up telling a larger story of corporate capture of rural communities (1 of 2 parts). More Information • Sonja Trom Eayrs’s website  • Nov. 4, 2025 — Register for LSP Event Featuring Sonja Trom Eayrs & Austin Frerich: “Big…  Read More

As Avian Flu Reemerges in Minnesota, White Paper Asks: Are Factory Farms the Victims or the Vectors?

LSP Report Examines Latest Research into the Development of Highly Pathogenic Influenza & Calls for a More Resilient Approach to Farming

LEWISTON, Minn. — Last week’s announcement that a deadly strain of avian influenza has reemerged in Minnesota raises renewed questions about the role large, industrialized poultry operations play in propagating this disease, say authors of a new white paper published by the Land Stewardship Project (LSP). “Big Bird. Big Problem: How the Poultry Industry is…  Read More

Land Line: Tax Bill’s Ag Impact, Farmer Privacy, CAFO Water Demand, Honeybees, Nitrates, Solar’s Bright Spot, Farm Bankruptcies

House Passes Tax Bill With SNAP Cuts, Billions for Immigration Enforcement, and Climate Rollbacks (7/7/25) President Donald Trump’s massive tax bill was passed by the U.S. House July 3 and signed into law by the President on July 4, reports Civil Eats. Highlights:  The bill includes the biggest-ever changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program…  Read More

Contact the MPCA by July 22 About Revising its Feedlot Rules

This is a Once-in-a-Generation Opportunity to Improve How Minnesota's Manure is Managed

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 out farmers, harms the land and water, and puts our communities at risk. This work is built upon that experience, and the stories of our farmer and rural members who…  Read More

U.S. Supreme Court’s Decline of Iowa Case Bolsters Local Control

SCOTUS Action a Good Indicator That These Kinds of Laws Work

On July 1, the United States Supreme Court delivered a win for local control and a blow to Big Ag when it declined to hear the Iowa Pork Producers Association’s case against a California law that mandates the amount of space livestock animals, in particular hogs, have while being raised. The Iowa Capitol Dispatch explains…  Read More

community holding signs against factory farms

LSP Applauds State Supreme Court’s Rejection of Daley Appeal

Ruling Comes After Yearslong Attempt to Circumvent Winona County’s Local Rules Related to CAFOs 

LEWISTON, Minn. —  The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) applauded the Minnesota Supreme Court’s recent decision to deny a Winona County factory farm owner’s attempt to circumvent Winona County’s rules governing the size of livestock operations. On March 18, Chief Justice Natalie Hudson announced that the Court would not hear an appeal filed by Daley Farm…  Read More

The Devil’s in the Details

Regenerative Ag Can Help Bring Our Dysfunctional Relationship with Phosphorus Back into Balance

In the early 2000s, I wrote a series of Land Stewardship Letter articles about a generic environmental impact statement study that was done on Minnesota’s livestock industry. The final report had an interesting finding related to phosphorus, a key source of crop fertility: small livestock farms had a medium phosphorus shortage of 17 pounds per…  Read More