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Join the Land Stewardship Project at the Minnesota Capitol on Monday, Jan. 10, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. We will use the day to communicate to lawmakers the importance of supporting legislation that promotes family farms, clean water and local democracy.

• 10 a.m.—Press conference to announce the legislative priorities of the Citizen Task Force on Livestock Farmers and Rural Communities

•11 a.m.-noon—Training for grassroots lobbying

• Noon-2 p.m.— Individual meetings with legislators about promoting sustainable agriculture and local democracy

• MORE INFORMATION: Contact LSP’s Bobby King at 507-523-3366 or
bking@landstewardshipproject.org for details.

• BACKGROUND: The Land Stewardship Project, National Farmers Organization of Minnesota, Minnesota Farmers Union and the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota have worked collaboratively as the Citizen Task Force on Livestock Farmers and Rural Communities to create comprehensive policy recommendations for promoting more livestock on family farms. The recommendations focus on promoting independent family farmers, local democracy and the rural environment.

We will call on legislative leaders to ensure that all legislation aimed to help livestock farmers, particularly dairy farmers, passes the "96% test." This is in reference to the fact that 96% of dairy farms in Minnesota milk 200 cows or less. State legislative initiatives that focus primarily on promoting large-scale dairy operations ignore the critical needs of the overwhelming number of existing Minnesota dairy farmers.

REPORT AVAILABLE: The Citizen Task Force’s full report is available at
www.landstewardshipproject.org/pdf/citiz_task_report.pdf.

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