rural economic development

Tell Congress a Farm Bailout is Not the Solution: We Must Invest in America’s Small & Mid-Sized Farmers

We need transformational change in our farm and food system, not another bailout.

October 22, 2025

It’s clear that the Trump administration’s tariffs and international trade war are harming American farmers and showing the weakness of our industrial agriculture model. With international commodity markets vanishing, some small and medium-sized farmers are having to decide if they can keep operating under this level of uncertainty, or if they need to sell off…  Read More →

Category: Action Alerts
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Ear to the Ground 386: A Farm to School Taste Test

How a small, rural school district is taking a trial run at sourcing food from local farmers. More Information • MDA Farm to School & Early Care Programs & Grants • Report: Building the Farm to School Network in West Central Minnesota • LSP’s Community-Based Food Systems Web Page • Ear to the Ground 385:…  Read More →

Ear to the Ground 385: A Longer Local Lunch Season

Jeanine Bowman believes having locally produced food on her school’s menu shouldn’t be a special occasion — it should be a daily part of nourishing kids while supporting the farm economy. More Information • MDA Farm to School & Early Care Programs & Grants • Report: Building the Farm to School Network in West Central…  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  • View video of Nov. 4, 2025, LSP Event Featuring Sonja Trom Eayrs & Austin Frerick: “Big…  Read More →

Ear to the Ground 377: Flour Power

When Peter and Brittany Haugen sought to diversify their western Minnesota crop farm, they realized there was little infrastructure available to support small grains. So they forged their own link in the food chain by launching Sandhill Mill. More Information • Register for LSP’s “Bringing Small Grains Back to Minnesota” Networking Meeting on Aug. 2,…  Read More →

Rolling Out the Welcome Mat for New Neighbors

LSP Members Use 'May Day Baskets' to Show Support for Immigrants in their Communities

By Clara Sanders
May 30, 2025

The Land Stewardship Project is an organization that believes we will not have a truly sustainable farm and food system until it is sustainable for everyone. That point was reinforced recently when we gathered input from our members and allies while putting together our current long range plan. That’s one reason LSP is working closely…  Read More →

Category: Blog
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Ear to the Ground 373: Know Your Neighbors

These are tumultuous times for immigrants, but COPAL’s Ryan Perez sees hope in grassroots organizing and making basic, human-centered connections. More Information • COPAL-Minnesota • Radio Jornalera • LSP’s Justice & Stewardship Web Page • LSP’s Long Range Plan: 2025-2030 You can find LSP Ear to the Ground podcast episodes on Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, YouTube, and…  Read More →

Land Line: Modern Dust Bowl, Corporate Indifference, Farmers’ Market Stores, Soybean Giant, SNAP & Local Foods, Carbon Markets, Farm Economy’s Twin Tale

By Brian DeVore (editor)
May 28, 2025

Dust Storm Friday Was City’s Worst Since 1930s, Weather Service Says (5/18/25) Block Club Chicago reports that on May 16 the city experienced its worst dust storm since the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The dust originated from central Illinois farms. Highlights: A little before 7 p.m. on May 16, a wall of dust slammed…  Read More →

Category: Blog
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Alan Perish’s Passion for Local Democracy

 'If you can’t control things locally, somebody else is going to control them for you...'

By Brian DeVore
May 19, 2025

When Alan Perish passed away May 14, we lost a stalwart advocate for  family farming and local democracy. Alan, a fourth-generation farmer, milked cows in central Minnesota’s Todd County for many years and he was a longtime Land Stewardship Project and Minnesota Farmers Union member. Over the years, I had several opportunities to talk with…  Read More →

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

By Brian DeVore (editor)
May 12, 2025

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 →

Category: Blog
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