Ag antitrust expert Austin Frerich 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 Frerich’s website

• Nov. 4, 2025 — LSP Event Featuring Sonja Trom Eayrs & Austin Frerich: “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

• Nov. 4, 2025 — LSP Event Featuring Sonja Trom Eayrs & Austin Frerich: “Big Ag, Big Problems: A Panel on Rural Consolidation”

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 Page

You 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

Noreen Thomas got into organic crop farming almost three decades ago as a way to produce healthy food and survive economically. Today, she’s the mentor she never had.

More Information

• Register for LSP’s “Bringing Small Grains Back to Minnesota” Networking Meeting on Aug. 2, 2025, in Madison, Minn.

• Doubting Thomas Farms

• 2025 LSP Albert Lea Small Grains Workshop Presentations

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, 2025, in Madison, Minn.

• Sandhill Mill

• 2025 LSP Albert Lea Small Grains Workshop Presentations

One farmer says he benefits from grazing publicly-managed wildlife habitat. But what does a natural resource professional think about bringing bovines into a natural biome?

More Information:

• Hoosier Ridge Ranch

• LSP’s Grazing & Soil Health Web page

• MN DNR Whitewater Wildlife Management Area

From crunching the numbers to developing relationships with public and private landowners, Eric Heins of Hoosier Ridge Ranch isn’t afraid to question the status quo when it comes to grazing livestock.

More Information:

• Hoosier Ridge Ranch

• LSP’s Grazing & Soil Health Web page