Year: 2022

by Marnie Werner, VP Research & Operations Between 2000 and 2015, the price of farmland went on a tear. Prices climbed to levels unseen before, making people nervous. Now, after a respite between 2015 and 2020 where prices stayed fairly level, the farmland market is heating up again. These record prices have implications not just ...

EXCERPT: “A few years ago, Tiffany Jennen was looking for a large commercial space to lease in order to open a new gymnastics facility in Fergus Falls. She found one in a building that had previously been a Shopko home goods store. Shopko filed for bankruptcy in 2019. Its parent company cited piling up debt and a decline ...

EXCERPT: “Federal COVID-19 relief dollars for child care providers will continue to flow through the states this year, cheered by both Republican and Democratic governors who say parents need affordable child care to get back to work. But child care providers and advocates warn that the federal money, which expires in 2024, won’t solve the ...

EXCERPT: “Minnesota exports of agricultural, mining and manufactured products continued to grow, increasing by 19% to $5.7 billion in the third quarter of 2021, according to a report released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). State exports increased $916 million over the third quarter of 2020, continuing their strong recovery ...

January 2022 Whitney Oachs, Research Associate For a printable version of this report, click here. In 2007, Minnesota set a goal of reducing the state’s carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. Since then, electric utilities have been making significant progress, but not enough to meet the state’s interim carbon-reduction goals. The MN Department of Commerce’s ...

Whitney Oachs, Research Associate Tomorrow, I publish a new report, “Shifting Energy Infrastructure and Rural Minnesota,” which outlines the progress and barriers associated with a shift toward renewable energy. In conducting the research for this report, I heard many different perspectives on renewables, ranging from support for 100% green energy to a desire to continue ...