Brian DeVore

Brian DeVore's picture

Biography

About me

Brian DeVore (bdevore [at] landstewardshipproject [dot] org) works for the Land Stewardship Project, edits the Land Stewardship Letter, and writes frequently in the Loon Commons blog.

Denying the science, derailing the solutions

By Brian DeVore, Loon Commons

I talked to a Todd County farmer yesterday who uses 100 percent no-till and other conservation measures to raise his crops. Conserving soil is important to him, and so he’s quite upset at how mobile humus has been on neighboring farms this fall/early winter. “You know that little skiff of snow we got the other day?

MORE »
Loon Commons

Conversations with the Land

By Brian DeVore, Loon Commons

Many good arguments can be made for supporting a type of agriculture less reliant on energy, technology and Wall Street, and more on soil, communities and people: it’s better for the environment, produces good food and keeps more Main Street businesses open, to name a few.

MORE »
Loon Commons

Why 'middleman' doesn't have to be a dirty word for farmers

By Brian DeVore, Loon Commons

At a time when we’re all scanning the dark horizon of recession land for any economic spark, local food systems look to be a flare-up that’s got some staying power. The past several weeks have been full of signs that both in  Minnesota and nationally producing and consuming food in our own collective backyard isn’t just good for our palates — it’s good for the bottom line.

MORE »
Loon Commons

D.C. takes a dive on livestock market reform

By Brian DeVore, Loon Commons

Happy 90th Birthday Packers and Stockyards Act. One present you won’t be getting is a new set of teeth.

MORE »
Loon Commons

The food desert's hidden oasis

By Brian DeVore, Loon Commons

While spending time in western Minnesota’s Big Stone County recently, I came across a lot of talk about food deserts—those places where people don’t have good access to healthy, affordable food.

MORE »
Loon Commons

When buildings are more than buildings

By Brian DeVore, Loon Commons

When a business closes in a rural community, the following 24 months or so are key. Whether it be a farm, small town grocery or repair shop, if the real estate it occupied is still lacking a day-to-day human presence a year or two down the road, it sends a troubling message about the future not only of that particular enterprise, but the community as a whole.

MORE »
Loon Commons

How Gov. Dayton can keep pheasant openers part of Minnesota's future

By Brian DeVore, Loon Commons

Minnesota’s first ever Governor’s Pheasant Opener next week couldn’t come at a better time in terms of highlighting the need for supporting working lands conservation. After Gov.

MORE »
Loon Commons

Putting out the welcome mat for new agrarians

By Brian DeVore, Loon Commons

There are numerous ways of communicating the value society places on having more family farmers on the land, not fewer. This morning, the USDA announced it was awarding $18 million in grants to groups that are helping beginning farmers nationwide.

MORE »
Loon Commons

Troubled Waters: One year later, more trouble ahead

By Brian DeVore, TC Daily Planet

Algae growth caused by too many nutrients in a west-central Minnesota lake in June 2011. (Photo by Brian DeVore)

BRANDON, Minn. — A three-hour drive separates the rolling hills of Minnesota’s Douglas County from the front steps of the Bell Museum of Natural History.

MORE »

Mob rule in livestock land

By Brian DeVore, Loon Commons

What do you do when a resource becomes increasingly scarce? One option is to use it more efficiently. That’s a key point livestock producer Greg Judy is going to make Sept.

MORE »
Loon Commons
Syndicate content