Water
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Continuous Learning About Continuous Living Cover
When it comes to introducing and supporting innovative sustainable farming practices, nothing beats a field day. Such events provide an opportunity for farmers to see firsthand how profitable, environmentally sound production practices…
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First Test of 2013 MN Frac Sand Law is Successful
By Johanna Rupprecht, Land Stewardship Project The owner of a controversial Houston County silica sand mine was notified Monday by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) that he must stop mining…
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Soil Health: Numbers vs. Knowing
Sometimes it takes a bit of an evangelist to remind us that praying at the altar of facts and figures can blind one to how they all connect in the bigger picture.…
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Is your swimming hole safe? Better check.
As Minnesotans, we have 10,000 lakes. And we have hot summers. That combination gives us the right as Minnesotans to be able to jump into a lake to cool off. Here in…
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Restoring Lake Superior, one Cook County stream at a time
Cook County residents have seen local rivers send ribbons of mud into Lake Superior every spring and after every major rainstorm. The clay banks are eroding and the brook trout are disappearing.…
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Forever Green & Highly Efficient Agriculture
To understand why the Forever Green Initiative is so important to the future of Minnesota’s landscape, one has to consider this: there is a big difference between agricultural productivity and agricultural efficiency.…
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Cover Crops: Not Just Foul Weather Friends
Cover crops proved themselves foul weather friends during the Great Drought of 2012. A groundbreaking farmer survey conducted in the Upper Mississippi River watershed showed that during that year’s brutal growing season…
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Prepping Prairie Strips for the Real World
Gary Van Ryswyk’s concern for how his farming methods impact the landscape is obvious. A practitioner of a no-till system that avoids disturbing a field’s surface as much as possible, he is…
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Fertilizer, Fishing & Farmer Specht
Dan Specht, who was taken from us all too soon last week by a haying accident, was the embodiment of the stewardship farmer. His kind, curious nature—housed in a powerfully-built, bear-like body—was…
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Nitrogen Pollution’s Farm Policy Roots
By Adam Warthesen, Land Stewardship Project Talk about ignoring the elephant in the room. When Minnesota environmental officials announced the results of a new major nitrogen pollution study on Thursday, they were…