Minnesota Agri News has a new reporter cranking out copy. He loves writing about how great it is to spend public funds helping CAFOs put in pits full of liquid poop. He’s a good writer. Trouble is, he’s got a bit of a conflict of interest, one that Agri News has neglected to mention: tax dollars pay his salary. See your money at work in the Jan. 15 edition of Agri News.

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Organic and sustainable farming systems are a luxury only well-fed countries like the U.S. can afford, right? Actually, recent United Nations research shows that such natural systems may be the only hope for attaining true food security in places like Africa. It turns out sustainably raised food isn’t just for First World yuppies. (more…)

Monday’s Star Tribune business feature on LSP’s Farm Beginnings program quoted Chris Blanchard, a southeast Minnesota farmer who regularly speaks to FB classes. Blanchard’s presentations on long-term business planning exemplify Farm Beginnings’ bottom line goal: don’t set wannabe farmers up for failure. More than one graduate has told me that Blanchard’s practical advice helped them avoid many a pitfall once they got down-and-dirty in the real world of farming. To get a flavor if how passionate Blanchard is about long-term planning and sustainable farming, check episode 59 of LSP’s Ear to the Ground podcast.

All the speculating in farm country is over: President-elect Barack Obama has made official his nomination of Tom Vilsack as the next Secretary of Agriculture. LSP’s Policy Program Friday released an official statement on the proposed appointment: (more…)

How has atrazine, a weed killer so controversial that it can’t be used in the European Union and is verboten on 1.2 million acres of Wisconsin farmland, escaped stringent regulation in most of the U.S., including here in Minnesota? (more…)

With government cost-cutting all the rage, here’s four important letters D.C. decision- makers should keep in mind: EQIP. It stands for “Environmental Quality Incentives Program.” A benign sounding name, but as a report released today by the Campaign for Family Farms and the Environment (CFFE) makes clear, it has evolved into a major subsidy for highly-polluting industrial livestock operations. It doesn’t have to be this way.

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As this blog has made clear in the past, the 2008 Farm Bill is far from perfect. But buried in the status-quo quagmire are a few gems like the newly revamped Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). (more…)

Farmer Mike Gilles has a succinct way of describing what a mess the 2008 Minnesota Legislature made of the popular Green Acres program: “Pretty much it’s a slap in the face to anyone who is conservation-minded.” It’s a slap that could leave bruises on the state’s landscape for decades to come. (more…)

Recent charges that the MPCA has been giving proposers of an Olmsted County ethanol plant most favored customer status need to be taken seriously: putting up a facility that will pump millions of gallons of water out of karst aquifers is no laughing matter. And it’s not just the direct environmental impacts of this facility that warrant scrutiny. One indirect impact of a giant ethanol plant in the region—more corn on the landscape—is of particular concern at a time when corn fertilizer pollution is already a major problem in the region. (more…)

Kent Solberg was born, as he puts it, “With a heart for the land.” And in the most recent LSP podcast (episode 57), the central Minnesota farmer wears his heart on the sleeve of his work shirt. Is there anything more enjoyable than chatting with someone who’s found a way to combine a love for the land with a way to make a living on that land? (more…)