Matthew Fitzgerald is a well-known farmer in Minnesota for his work with beginning farmer policy issues, but most of his time is spent stewarding land and raising healthy organic grains — with an eye toward our increasingly volatile climate. Matthew grows corn, soybeans, wheat and edible peas and beans near Hutchinson, Minnesota. The farm has…

Climate Land Leader Paula Westmoreland talks about her history with Iowa farmland and her plans to devote the proceeds of that land’s sale to regeneration and equity. I grew up on a farm in the prairie pothole region of northwestern Iowa near Storm Lake. Dad bought 240 acres in 1955 and by the time I…

Climate Land Leaders frequently come together to learn from each other and from experts in climate-friendly agriculture. Jack Hedin of Featherstone Farm is both a Climate Land Leader and veteran vegetable farmer in southeast Minnesota, and he recently joined the group for an illuminating conversation about growing commercial vegetables as the climate changes. Here we’ll…

Climate Land Leader Wendy Johnson gave this speech at a Sharing Our Roots for the Climate field day on Sept. 9, 2021, at the Sharing Our Roots Farm near Northfield. Good afternoon! I am very happy to be here today. What a beautiful day it is for a field day! My name is Wendy Johnson,…

Climate Land Leaders are eager to address climate change on their lands, and they know that they first need to reduce emissions (decreasing or eliminating pesticide and fertilizer use, for example). Over the years they also look to draw down carbon into the soil. But what is the carbon sequestration potential for these farms? Well,…

“When I am asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same,” the author Paul Hawken writes.* “If you look at the science that describes what is happening on earth today and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t have the correct data. If you meet the [people working for social…