LSP's Ear to the Ground

In 1986, Joe Paddock co-authored a book called Soil and Survival. Its message: the relationship between farming and the land is in serious need of repair. Four decades later, that message is more relevant than ever.More Information:• Soil and Survival • Planting in the Dust Script • Joe Paddock • Joe Paddock’s Books • Nancy Paddock • Carol Bly • Making Change from the Ground Up: 40 Stories for 40 Years of Land Stewardship Project

These three crop producers see no reason why productive farming and clean water can’t co-exist. But first, we need to stop the greenwashing and get our hands dirty. (2 of 2 parts; part 1 is here)More Information:• Ear to the Ground 395: The Lobe Rangers • LSP Soil Health Web Page • LSP Myth Buster No. 68: “When Nitrogen is Gone, it Can be Forgotten” • SARE Fact Sheet: “Cover Crops at Work: Keeping Nutrients Out of Waterways” • Article: “A report tied Iowa’s water pollution to agriculture. Then the money to promote it mysteriously disappeared” • Researcher’s Analysis of Nov. 2025 Iowa Farm Bureau Statement on Water Quality • LSP Blog: The Crop Insurance Conundrum • PNAS Paper: “The Extent of Soil Loss Across the US Corn Belt” • ISU CARD Analysis: “Cover Crop Adoption Decelerates and No-till Area Stagnates in the I-States”

In the Corn Belt, water quality is not improving at a rate that is leading to meaningful landscape level change, and these poster boys for conservation farming say it’s time for the ag industry, commodity groups, and government to step up and take responsibility. (1 of 2 parts; part 2 here)More Information:• Ear to the Ground 396: Accountable Ag• LSP Soil Health Web Page• LSP Myth Buster No. 68: “When Nitrogen is Gone, it Can be Forgotten”• SARE Fact Sheet: “Cover Crops at Work: Keeping Nutrients Out of Waterways”• LSP Blog: The Crop Insurance Conundrum• Researcher’s Analysis of Nov. 2025 Iowa Farm Bureau Statement on Water Quality• PNAS Paper: “The Extent of Soil Loss Across the US Corn Belt”• ISU CARD Analysis: “Cover Crop Adoption Decelerates and No-till Area Stagnates in the I-States”

As a farmer and entrepreneur, John Strohfus sees the production of food-grade crops as a key opportunity for regenerative farmers to forge links in a value chain based on building healthy soil.More Information:• Jan. 27, 2026, LSP Workshop — “Beyond Exports: Rebuilding Local Markets”• Field Theory Foods• LSP Small Grains Web Page• Ear to the Ground podcast 393: Risk Reducers• Ear to the Ground podcast 392: Diversity’s Diet

Alan Jostock uses the kind of diversity that builds soil health as a kind of insurance policy for his farm. That means meshing his crop and livestock enterprises in a way that they prop each other up through thick and thin. More Information:• Jan. 27, 2026, LSP Workshop — “Beyond Exports: Rebuilding Local Markets” • LSP Small Grains Web Page • Ear to the Ground podcast 392: Diversity’s Diet • Rolling J Farm’s Facebook Page • Minnesota Farm Business Management Programs

Farmer and small grains marketer Matt Kruger sees a rotation based on raising food grade crops as a way for farmers to get rewarded for building soil health. It’s also a way to fight the only thing he truly hates.More Information:• Jan. 27, 2026, LSP Workshop — “Beyond Exports: Rebuilding Local Markets” • LSP Small Grains Web Page • Green Acres Milling • Ear to the Ground podcast 363: Small Grain-Big Opportunity

Ashly Steinke remembers well the first time he saw a bobolink on pastured land that formerly grew corn and soybeans — it was a sign that he was successfully blending beef, birds, and biology.More Information:• LSP’s Grazing & Soil Health Web Page • Audubon Conservation Ranching Program • The Monitoring Project’s “Tool Box” • Ear to the Ground 390: Sounds of Success • Ear to the Ground 371: Avian Award • Ear to the Ground 370: Bending the Bird Curve • Ear to the Ground 275: Blurring the Bobolink Boundaries

More Information:• LSP’s Grazing & Soil Health Web Page • NODPA Article on Kevin Mahalko • Ear to the Ground 371: Avian Award • Ear to the Ground 370: Bending the Bird Curve • Ear to the Ground 275: Blurring the Bobolink Boundaries

Minnesota Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Odette says in the battle to make sure Big Ag plays by the rules, knowledge is power. That’s why, if we are to have a fair, vibrant farm and food system, average citizens must wield this weapon and report what they’re seeing in the countryside.More Information:• Report Possible Illegal Market Activities/Aintitrust Issues to the MN Attorney General• Call the MN Attorney General: 1-800-657-3787• Ear to the Ground podcast interview with antitrust expert Austin Frerick• LSP Press Release — Farmers to AG: Take Action to Counteract Community-Killing Consolidation

Scientist Kris Nichols finds the disconnect between food production and soil health “terrifying” and says the stakes are too high not to mend that break. So what are we waiting for? (2 of 2 parts)More Information:• Ear to the Ground No. 387 Interview with Kris Nichols (1 of 2 parts)• LSP’s Soil Builders’ Web Page • Kris Nichols’s Facebook Page• Ear to the Ground Interview with Tom Cotter• 2012 Ear to the Ground episode featuring Kris Nichols & Jay Fuhrer• 2012 Land Stewardship Letter article on Burleigh County Soil Health TeamYou can find LSP Ear to the Ground podcast episodes on Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, YouTube, and other podcast platforms.

When farmers challenged what Kris Nichols had learned from her college textbooks, the soil microbiologist didn’t dismiss them — instead, she dug deeper into the world beneath our feet (1 of 2 parts).More Information:• Ear to the Ground No. 388 Interview with Kris Nichols (2 of 2 parts)• LSP’s Soil Builders’ Web Page• Kris Nichols’s Facebook Page• Ear to the Ground Interview with Tom Cotter• Ear to the Ground interview with Jay Fuhrer• 2012 Ear to the Ground episode featuring Kris Nichols• 2012 Land Stewardship Letter article on Burleigh County Soil Health Team

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: A Longer Local Lunch Season • Ear to the Ground 322: Lunchroom Stewardship

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 Minnesota• LSP’s Community-Based Food Systems Web Page• Ear to the Ground 386: A Farm to School Taste Test• Ear to the Ground 322: Lunchroom Stewardship

Ag antitrust expert Austin Frerick sees the current food system as a mechanism for modern robber barons to treat rural communities as mere “extraction colonies.” But, he argues, changing how we eat isn’t enough — we need to disrupt how power is distributed all along the food chain (2 of 2 parts).More Information:• Austin Frerick’s website• View video of Nov. 4, 2025, LSP Event Featuring Sonja Trom Eayrs & Austin Frerick: “Big Ag, Big Problems: A Panel on Rural Consolidation”• Ear to the Ground podcast with Sonja Trom Eayrs: “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 Ag, Big Problems: A Panel on Rural Consolidation”• Ear to the Ground episode with Austin Frerich: “Power Play”

LSP’s Local Democracy Challenge is a reminder that we can’t allow democracy to grow dormant between elections.More Information:• LSP’s Local Democracy Challenge Web Page • Land Stewardship Action • Ear to the Ground Podcast 341 Featuring Land Stewardship Action

Chris MacLeod came to Mill City hoping to source local grain while pursuing his passion for baking. When confronted with the reality of the export-driven commodity system, he doubled down on connecting with local farmers.More Information:• Laune Bread• Baker’s Field Flour & Bread• LSP’s Small Grains Web Page• Ear to the Ground 379 with pioneer miller Gilbert Williams• Ear to the Ground 377 with Sandhill Mill• Summary of “Bringing Small Grains Back to Minnesota” Networking Meeting on Aug. 2, 2025, in Madison, Minn.

Amy Rager wasn’t thrilled about moving from the North Woods to the land of grass. But three decades later, she’s an impassioned advocate for this treeless biome. More Information:• Minnesota Master Naturalist Program • Land Stewardship Letter review of Sea of Grass • Ear to the Ground episode 258: Prairie’s Horizontal Grandeur • LSP Soil Builders Web PageYou can find LSP Ear to the Ground podcast episodes on Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, YouTube, and other podcast platforms.

Gilbert Williams is a pioneer in processing local grains for local markets. His advice? Go stand in the field, put your name on the package, and tell your story.More Information:• Ear to the Ground 378 with Noreen Thomas • Ear to the Ground 377 with Peter & Brittany Haugen • Ear to the Ground 366 with Gary Zimmer • Summary of “Bringing Small Grains Back to Minnesota” Networking Meeting on Aug. 2, 2025, in Madison, Minn. • 2025 LSP Albert Lea Small Grains Workshop Presentations • Meadowlark Farm & Mill