Making sure 600,000 people are consistently consuming water that meets health standards for nitrates is Amy Kahler’s job. That’s a big challenge when the land upstream is some of the most productive crop ground in the country. (3rd in a series on nitrates, farming, and water) More Information • 1st in the “Nitrates, Farming, and… Read More →
Nutrient management expert Matthew Helmers has researched how certain land use practices can have a “disproportionate impact” when it comes to nitrate pollution reduction. He says it all starts with focusing on a simple mantra: “always be growing.” (2nd in a series on nitrates, farming, and water) More Information • 1st in the “Nitrates, Farming,… Read More →
The MPCA’s Justin Watkins sees nitrates leaking out of farm fields as an “invisible” problem that’s all too easily ignored. The solution is to shine a spotlight on widespread systems changes in agriculture. (1st in a series on nitrates, farming, and water) More Information • 2nd in the “Nitrates, Farming, and Water” LSP podcast series:… Read More →
MORRIS, Minn. — By giving the green light to what will be the largest concentrated animal feeding operation in Minnesota history, Stevens County officials have cast a vote for a type of livestock production that threatens water quality, puts small and medium-sized farmers out of business and empties rural Main Streets, said the Land Stewardship… Read More →
BYRON, Minn. — How do you grapple with a hidden problem? That was a question at the center of a Land Stewardship Project (LSP) “Smarter Nitrogen Policy” discussion involving around two dozen farmers, water quality experts and state legislators at the Martin Larsen farm near Byron Aug. 20. “We fix what we can see —… Read More →
On a recent July afternoon, southeastern Minnesota farmer Martin Larsen stopped his Gleaner R-62 combine in the middle of oat harvest, climbed down the ladder, and walked a hundred yards or so to where the Chair of the Minnesota Senate Agriculture Committee was standing at the edge of the field. Larsen then described to Sen.… Read More →
On a muggy, overcast July day in northwestern Iowa, Matt Bormann and Zack Smith were standing in front of a sophisticated piece of conservation tillage equipment that farmers like themselves use to keep soil in place while planting corn and soybeans. A few yards away, another farmer, James Hepp, was standing in front of a… Read More →
MORRIS, Minn. — The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) has joined Food & Water Watch in suing the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) over the state’s recent failure to order an environmental impact statement (EIS) for Riverview’s proposed West River Dairy expansion near Morris. If built, the 18,855-cow facility would be the largest factory farm in… Read More →
In June, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency failed Minnesotans when it refused to require a full environmental impact statement (EIS) for Riverview LLP’s massive West River Dairy expansion in Stevens County. That decision left Stevens County families, farmers, neighbors, and local officials to face the risks of an operation that would hold more than 26,000… Read More →
Sign Up for E-mail Delivery of The Land Line Morris-Based Mega-Dairy Coming Closer to Reality with Key Regulatory Ruling (6/7/26) The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) will not require an environmental impact statement for an expansion that would create the largest dairy CAFO in Minnesota, reports the Minnesota Reformer. Highlights: Riverview wants to expand a… Read More →
