The USDA’s recent creation of urban ag service centers is a recognition that growing food in the city is more than a quirky news story. More Information • Kajsa Beatty Contact • USDA Office of Urban Ag & Innovative Production • USDA Urban Serv

Ear to the Ground 338: Microbial IRA

24 days ago 23m 4s

For Jerome Fulsaas, cover cropping and no-till are creating an individual retirement account based on a living soil bank, not dead dirt. More Information • LSP’s Bridge to Soil Health Web Page • LSP’s Soil Builders’ Network • Order Your LSP “Le

Ear to the Ground 337: ROI & Riding a Bike

25 days ago 24m 55s

Josh Nelson’s approach to farming means looking beyond the next corn crop and building the kind of soil that generates long-term return on investment. More Information • LSP’s Bridge to Soil Health Web Page • LSP’s Soil Builders’ Network You c

Ear to the Ground 336: Biology Booster

27 days ago 19m

Gary Zimmer says before a farm can be sustainable, it has to be regenerated — and that starts with the soil. More Information • LSP’s Bridge to Soil Health Web Page • LSP’s Microbiology & Soil Health Web Page • Gary Zimmer • Agri-View Article o

Ear to the Ground 335: Bumping Elbows

Mar 21st, 2024 33m 8s

From raising produce and working in a restaurant to teaching food safety and managing a farmers’ market, Sara George has experienced “farm-to-fork” from just about every angle possible. This has given her invaluable insights into the barriers,

Ear to the Ground 334: Youth Movement

Mar 15th, 2024 19m 49s

Farm Beginnings grad Marcos Giossi started his food-raising career as a teenager tilling soil on an old soccer field. Now he’s helping young urban farmers utilize a values-based decision making strategy to kick-off better communities. More Inf

Ear to the Ground 333: 2 Kinds of Power

Mar 13th, 2024 28m 51s

When LSP farmer-members like Paul Sobocinski took on Big Pork, it showed the long-term impact grassroots organizing can have. More Information • Making Change from the Ground Up: 40 Stories for 40 Years of Land Stewardship Project • LSP’s Polic

Ear to the Ground 332: Real Food, Real Impact

Mar 11th, 2024 27m 40s

Beverly Dougherty’s Real Food Hub is out to prove that connecting local farmers and local eaters makes sense nutritionally and financially — and is just plain fun. More Information • Read Food Hub • Minnesota Farmers’ Market Hubs • LSP’s Commun

Ear to the Ground 331: Reality Check

Mar 6th, 2024 32m 18s

Direct-marketing expert and farmer Ryan Pesch sees a lot of potential in the community/local food movement, but farmers hoping to enter that realm need to ask some key questions first. More Information • Ryan Pesch Contact Information • LSP’s C

Ear to the Ground 330: String Theory

Feb 25th, 2024 35m 58s

Soil, cows, ecology, economics: to milk producer Derek Schmitz, they are all linked, and that feeds his optimism even as tough times cast a shadow over dairy farming. More Information • LSP’s Grazing & Soil Health Web Page • Soil Health Academy

Ear to the Ground 329: Weather Whiplash

Feb 18th, 2024 46m 28s

Climate change may impact a vegetable producer and a livestock farmer in different ways, but the result is the same: uncertainty, stress…and a deeper desire to connect with community. More Information • Ear to the Ground 299: Road to Resilience

Ear to the Ground No. 328: Urban Ag Oasis

Dec 21st, 2023 43m 46s

Farm Beginnings grad Queen Frye just wants to raise food — even if she doesn’t resemble a famous Scottish farmer. More Information • R. Roots Garden • LSP’s Farm Beginnings Course You can find LSP Ear to the Ground podcast episodes on Spotify,

Ear to the Ground No. 327: Side-by-Side Soil

Dec 15th, 2023 27m 24s

A 30-farm study is comparing the impacts regenerative vs. conventional practices have on soil’s resiliency. Extreme drought has churned up some exciting results. More Information • Sand County Foundation Soil Health Initiative • LSP Soil Health

Ear to the Ground 326: Rooting Out Nitrates

Nov 7th, 2023 24m 58s

The Olmsted County Groundwater Protection and Soil Health Program could serve as a holistic model for supporting practices that are good for the farmer, the land, and water quality. More Information • Land Stewardship Letter article on Olmsted

Ear to the Ground 325: Return of the Fence

Nov 6th, 2023 32m 9s

Matt and Seth Tentis of White Barn Acres are creating a soil-smart farm using a mix of livestock, continuous living cover, and experimentation — with a healthy dose of community support tossed in for good measure. More Information • White Barn

Ear to the Ground 324: Good Grass Makes Good Neighbors

Nov 4th, 2023 15m 33s

The landowners Jeremy and Jessica Holst rent from like to see a green landscape — no wonder the dairy farmers’ rotational grazing system is considered a neighborhood asset. More Information • LSP’s Soil Health & Grazing Web Page • LSP’s Conserv

Ear to the Ground 323: Rainy Day Fund

Nov 3rd, 2023 22m 58s

With their dairy farm at the epicenter of the worst drought in over a century, the Vergin family adapts through diversification, flexibility, and making deposits in the soil bank. More Information • LSP’s Soil Health & Grazing Web Page • LSP’s

Ear to the Ground 322: Lunchroom Stewardship

Nov 1st, 2023 42m 12s

Aimee Haag is proving that farm-to-school arrangements can benefit kids, communities, and farmers…one tomato at a time. More Information • MDA Farm-to-School & Early Care Grants • Minnesota Farm-to-School Program • LSP’s Community-Based Food Sy

Ear to the Ground 321: Buried Knowledge

Oct 29th, 2023 33m 37s

A town lost to erosion offers a critical lesson as Sandy and Lonny Dietz strive to develop a viable no-till organic vegetable production system. More Information • Whitewater Gardens Farm • Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) •

Ear to the Ground 320: Season Stretcher

Oct 26th, 2023 24m 52s

An innovative program for promoting soil health and extending the grazing season came at just the right time for farmer Alan Bedtka. More Information • Ear to the Ground No. 326: Rooting Out Nitrates • Land Stewardship Letter article on Olmsted

Ear to the Ground 319: Right Place, Right Time

Oct 20th, 2023 35m 43s

Scott Elkins talks about why he is excited to join LSP’s staff as its executive director, and why the organization is well-placed to make a positive difference in creating a farm and food system based on integrity. More Information • Release: L

Ear to the Ground 318: Great Expectations

Oct 13th, 2023 34m 30s

Farmer Mike Seifert is realizing that building a solid soil house is not enough — he also has to stock its pantry. More Information • LSP’s Soil Microbiology Web Page • Ear to the Ground 297: Web of Willing Workers • Ear to the Ground 292: Work

Ear to the Ground 317: Policy on the Prairie

Oct 1st, 2023 23m 30s

Adam Griebie’s agricultural stewardship ethic has been bolstered by federal farm policy, but there’s room for improvement. More Information • LSP’s 2023 Farm Bill Platform • LSP’s Federal Policy Web Page You can find LSP Ear to the Ground podca

Ear to the Ground 316: Passing on Purity

Sep 23rd, 2023 26m 39s

Agronomist David Kleinschmidt says dealing with extreme weather on the farm requires compromise, even when it means taking a temporary step back on soil health. More Information • LSP’s Soil Health Web Page • LSP’s 2023 Field Day Special Report

Ear to the Ground 315: Healthcare’s Farm Failure

Sep 17th, 2023 26m 9s

Dana Seifert sees the healthcare system as being in the midst of a major drought, and it’s bleeding dry farmers and the rural communities that rely on them. More Information • LSP’s Healthcare Web Page • Ear to the Ground 310: Healthy Farmers,