Gutting Green Acres: Slap in the face from 2008 MN legislature

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by Brian Devore • 11/14/08 • Farmer Mike Gilles has a succinct way of describing what a mess the 2008 Minnesota Legislature made of the popular Green Acres program: “Pretty much it’s a slap in the face to anyone who is conservation-minded.” It’s a slap that could leave bruises on the state’s landscape for decades to come.

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Is the customer always right?

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by Brian Devore • 11/6/08 • Ethanol in Olmsted County

Recent charges that the MPCA has been giving proposers of an Olmsted County ethanol plant most favored customer status need to be taken seriously: putting up a facility that will pump millions of gallons of water out of karst aquifers is no laughing matter. And it’s not just the direct environmental impacts of this facility that warrant scrutiny. Continue Reading

The farmer as natural resource professional

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by Brian DeVore • 10/31/08 • Kent Solberg was born, as he puts it, “With a heart for the land.” And in the most recent LSP podcast (episode 57), the central Minnesota farmer wears his heart on the sleeve of his work shirt. Is there anything more enjoyable than chatting with someone who’s found a way to combine a love for the land with a way to make a living on that land? Continue Reading

Deep background

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by Brian Devore • 10/17/08 • It’s the difference between having the 24-hour flu, and cancer.

An interesting postscript to the devastating flooding that hit southeast Minnesota in August 2007: after the deluge, the Minnesota Department of Health tested 65 wells in the area for contamination. The good news is that most of the chemical pollution that may have been due to the flooding was short-lived. Continue Reading

The 3rd P of Plugging into the Prairie

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by Brian Devore, 10/3/08 • In July, I reported on the possibilities and problems associated with making diverse native prairie systems part of our bioenergy mix on Midwestern farms. Two weeks ago, I had a chance to get a farmer’s eye view of yet another prairie energy “P”: practicality.

Loon Commons is a blog of the Land Stewardship Project. Contact Loon Commons at bdevore@landstewardshipproject.org

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