The Land Stewardship Project
The Land Stewardship Project (LSP) is a private
nonprofit organization, founded in 1982 to foster an ethic of stewardship for farmland, to promote
sustainable agriculture and to develop sustainable communities. Comprised of farmers as well as rural
and urban residents, LSP's members work together to: secure a healthful food supply; preserve soil,
water and wildlife; support diversified, profitable family-sized farms; organize communities for
positive change; hold corporations and government accountable; and create a new sustainable vision
for our food and agriculture system.
LSP's Multiple Benefits of Agriculture project promotes sustainable farming practices through
valuable research. This important research estimated and compared the various benefits of diverse
agriculture operations in two watersheds in Minnesota through on-farm research and modeling.
Specifically, this study recognizes that agriculture produces public benefits beyond food and
fiber production, such as enhanced soil and water quality, improved wildlife habitat, healthful
foods and stronger rural economies. Study results indicate that Minnesotans are willing to
provide the economic incentives farmers need to adopt "best management practices" that produce
significant improvements in environmental performance. This shows that non-market goods, such
as reduced soil erosion and improved wildlife habitat do, in fact, have economic value. This
study also indicates that if present land use trends continue, environmental, social and economic
problems will worsen.
Results of this innovative research will be used to develop and promote new policy initiatives
that reward farmers for producing public benefits such as enhanced soil and water quality, improved
wildlife habitat, healthful food and stronger rural economies. LSP's past work in policy,
facilitated by their Federal Farm Policy Committee, includes influencing the content of the
Conservation Security Act of 2000 and testifying before the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee in
2001 on the importance of such stewardship-based policy.
The FoodRoutes Network is enthusiastically supporting LSP's valuable research work on the Multiple
Benefits of Agriculture. Specifically, the FoodRoutes Network has provided resources to help LSP conduct a literature
review, Comparative Regional Economic Impacts from Agriculture, completed in
January of 2002, on the local and regional economic impacts of diverse farming systems. This
information will assist LSP in developing an economic model of the region?s inputs and outputs
and will guide the further development of their ongoing Multiple Benefits of Agriculture project.
Phase One of LSP's Multiple Benefits of Agriculture project is complete and both the full
52-page report, The Multiple Benefits of Agriculture Project, An Economic, Environmental and
Social Analysis, and the five-page Executive Summary can be download here.
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