Homegrown Stories

07/10/2025

"grassroots groups are recruiting rural residents and other underrepresented people to seek elected office, including on the local level. Organizers say they think there's renewed energy to bring fresh voices to politics."

We're bringing the fresh voices.
https://app.publicnewsservice.org/story/recruiting-of-rural-candidates/726ab806-6cad-4f45-af7f-ef2dbbf0c602?

In North Dakota and its neighbors to the west, grassroots groups are recruiting rural residents and other underrepresented people to seek elected office, including on the local level. Organizers say

07/02/2025

“We are owned by our members.” That’s what makes rural electric co-ops like DMEA powerful. 💡

Unlike big utilities, DMEA’s members elect their board, help set strategy, and own the infrastructure. The Garnet Mesa Solar Project locks in local energy rates, cuts emissions, and strengthens the co-op model.

When you put power in the hands of the people, everyone wins.

https://www.homegrownstories.org/groundbreaking-ceremony-for-garnet-mesa-solar-project-marks-a-major-step-forward-for-solar-co-ops

06/25/2025

Where could you grow food in your neighborhood?

A backyard, a school lawn, a strip of grass along the sidewalk?

Dylan says: “People see lawns, empty lots, even parking strips. But we see farm space.”

Tell us—what underutilized space could grow food where you live?

Sandy Seed Farm is transforming urban agriculture in Montrose, Colorado. Learn how small-scale farmers like Nicole and Dylan are using regenerative practices to grow food in underutilized spaces, inspiring a movement that’s reshaping our food systems.

06/17/2025

What if farmland could grow both food and electricity? 🌾☀️
That’s the idea behind agrivoltaics — and Garnet Mesa is leading the way.

600+ sheep will graze under solar panels that also provide shade and reduce water use. On top of that? The project’s planting 500 trees and 1,000 shrubs to restore native habitat.

This is climate resilience in action — built to sustain both land and livelihoods.

https://www.homegrownstories.org/groundbreaking-ceremony-for-garnet-mesa-solar-project-marks-a-major-step-forward-for-solar-co-ops

06/03/2025

✊ The people of Abercrombie, ND are organizing, attending hearings, and demanding stronger water protections.

You can help amplify their voices:
✅ Share their story
✅ Call on local officials to oppose the permit
✅ Support groups like

“We may be small, but we’re standing together.” – Mary Sahl

📖 Learn more, take action.
🔗 https://www.homegrownstories.org/we-take-last-place-north-dakota-residents-fight-industrial-dairy-threat-to-land-and-legacy
📸 Visual: Community protest or neighbor group + overlay: “Solidarity is growing”

In the wide open farmland outside the quiet town of Abercrombie, ND, generations of families have built lives reliant on the health of the surrounding land. But today, many of them are staring down a future that feels like it’s being written without them—one where industrial agriculture takes pr...

05/29/2025

“I gotta worry about my kids and their kids in the future.”
– Dylan Johnson, who lives just a mile from the proposed site.

Abercrombie residents aren’t just fighting a dairy—they’re fighting for the next generation’s right to clean water, fresh air, and the ability to stay on their land.

They’ve lived here for over 100 years. Shouldn’t they have a say in what happens next?

📰 Meet the people behind the resistance.
🔗 https://www.homegrownstories.org/we-take-last-place-north-dakota-residents-fight-industrial-dairy-threat-to-land-and-legacy
📸 Visual: Family photo near farmland + text overlay: "We’re not giving up our home."

In the wide open farmland outside the quiet town of Abercrombie, ND, generations of families have built lives reliant on the health of the surrounding land. But today, many of them are staring down a future that feels like it’s being written without them—one where industrial agriculture takes pr...

05/21/2025

A Japanese philosophy meaning “half-agriculture, half-something else.”

Dylan at Sandy Seed Farm believes this idea could help more people become part-time growers—contributing to a resilient local food system without giving up their other passions or income.

Farming doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

https://www.homegrownstories.org/how-sandy-seed-farm-is-cultivating-a-new-future-for-urban-agriculture

05/20/2025

💧 Would you give up your drinking water so a corporation can grow?
That’s the reality facing families near Abercrombie, ND, where a proposed mega-dairy could use 300,000–500,000 gallons of water every day.

When Mary asked what happens if her well runs dry while battling breast cancer, the answer?

“Get rural water.”
But many residents don’t have access to it—and new wells aren’t cheap.

📰 See how corporate farming is reshaping who gets to live on the land—and how.
🔗

In the wide open farmland outside the quiet town of Abercrombie, ND, generations of families have built lives reliant on the health of the surrounding land. But today, many of them are staring down a future that feels like it’s being written without them—one where industrial agriculture takes pr...

05/15/2025

💥 A corporate dairy operation wants to bring 19,000 cows to this small town. Locals fear it will drain water, pollute wells, and erase generations of family farming.

Mary and David Sahl, whose family has farmed here since the 1800s, are sounding the alarm:

“That’s a lot of cows. That’s a lot of manure.”

📰 Read the full story of the fight for clean water, local control, and the future of rural life.
🔗 https://www.homegrownstories.org/we-take-last-place-north-dakota-residents-fight-industrial-dairy-threat-to-land-and-legacy

Dakota Resource Council

In the wide open farmland outside the quiet town of Abercrombie, ND, generations of families have built lives reliant on the health of the surrounding land. But today, many of them are staring down a future that feels like it’s being written without them—one where industrial agriculture takes pr...

05/13/2025

A groundbreaking ceremony in 100-degree heat — and not just because of the sun. ☀️ The Garnet Mesa Solar Project officially broke ground in Delta County, marking a major win for rural energy and community action.

The road to get here wasn’t easy. Local residents had to organize, write letters, testify, and overturn a vote to make this project a reality. The result? Colorado’s largest agrivoltaic solar farm — built by and for the people who live here.

https://www.homegrownstories.org/groundbreaking-ceremony-for-garnet-mesa-solar-project-marks-a-major-step-forward-for-solar-co-ops

05/09/2025

When friends in Montrose started building a new home, Dylan got garlic in the ground before the first wall went up.

"We figured out irrigation before they designed the sprinkler system,” he says.

The result? Less lawn to mow, more food for the community. This is how grows—with neighbors, not just soil.

https://www.homegrownstories.org/how-sandy-seed-farm-is-cultivating-a-new-future-for-urban-agriculture

05/03/2025

"You don’t need acres of land to grow good food. You just need creativity, community, and a willingness to experiment.” — Dylan Fadgen, Sandy Seed Farm

What started as a 1/16-acre garden in a friend's backyard has grown into a thriving half-acre farm across two locations in Montrose, Utah. Dylan and Nicole are showing what's possible when we rethink what a farm can be.

https://www.homegrownstories.org/how-sandy-seed-farm-is-cultivating-a-new-future-for-urban-agriculture