oats

Land Line: Invisible Hand, Price-Fixing, Oat Mafia, Bird Flu, Profitable Conservation, SNAP, Compost, Farm Subsidizers

The Invisible Hand, Elasticity, and the Vanishing Farmer (5/7/25) Writing on the AGDAILY website, farmer and international consultant Ben Henson describes how the traditional building blocks of the American agricultural economy are being undermined by unprecedented consolidation in farming. Highlights: One basis of economic theory is “inelastic” versus “elastic” demand for products. Food is considered…  Read More

Land Line: Small Grains, Manure, Soil Carbon, Rural Empowerment, Regenerative Generation

Feb. 3: An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities

Growing Small Grains Market in Albert Lea Attracting Attention from Farmers (1/28/25) KAAL-TV reports on a Land Stewardship Project workshop where over 150 people gathered to talk about ways of bringing small grains back to Minnesota. Highlights: After being mostly replaced by corn and soybeans during the past several decades, small grains such as oats…  Read More

Ear to the Ground 363: Small Grain-Big Opportunity

Landon Plagge’s experience growing oats has proven that this humble grain can play a big role in revitalizing soil health on corn-soybean farms. Can the milling facility he’s proposing do the same for rural communities? (Third in a three-part series on small grains and community-based foods.) More Information • Episode 2 in Ear to the Ground Small Grains Workshop…  Read More

Oats & The 3-Legged Stool of Farm Resiliency

This Humble Grain Represents One Commonsense Approach to Diversifying the Landscape

In case you haven’t noticed, the humble oat is having a bit of a moment. After decades of declines in oat plantings in Minnesota, acreage increased this year. Market demand for the small grain is up, a group of farmers are attempting to pull together funding for a major processing plant in southern Minnesota, and…  Read More