Category: Rural Headlines

EXCERPT: “Bob Worth barely kept his composure as he revealed two close friends, both fellow farmers, recently committed suicide. They killed themselves over agriculture stresses, he said, speaking as part of a panel discussion about challenges of farming. “Don’t ever do that to your family,” he urged farmers in the Tuesday, Aug. 1, audience at Farmfest ...

EXCERPT: “The challenge of the “brain drain” from rural America to the big city, in some parts of the country, is very real. But the Pew Charitable Trust’s recent report provides proof that it doesn’t have to be. The reality is that rural America can continue to prosper and grow, but only by using all of the tools ...

EXCERPT: “The community of Vernon Center gained national and even international attention during the week of Sept. 11-17, 1972. Shady Brook Farms just north of the town, owned by Bert Hansen, became the site of the 19th World Ploughing Contest. The yearly gathering blossomed into a 1,400-acre agricultural extravaganza with more than a 1,000 acres of ...

EXCERPT:  “Farmers attending last week’s National Corn Growers Association Corn Congress called for faster access to new biotechnology-enhanced crop traits.  The move reflects growing frustration among NCGA members over excessive regulatory delays in the international marketplace . . . The NCGA’s new policy supports the commercialization of new biotechnology-enhanced corn traits that: a) have been ...

EXCERPT: “Ag is a big deal in this state, generating $16 billion in economic output and 150,000 direct and indirect jobs. Minnesota ranks fifth in the nation for ag production, including livestock (in turkeys it’s first, hogs third and dairy cows sixth). It ranks first, second and third in production of sugar beets, corn and soybeans, ...

EXCERPT: “A new program, one which (Hoffman, MN farmer Andrew) Barsness worked to create, should help beginning farmers in Minnesota. The program, approved this spring, gives a state income tax credit to landowners when they sell or rent land or other ag assets to beginning farmers. The credit equals 5 percent of the sale price, or ...

EXCERPT: From the New Ulm Journal — Minnesota’s Human Services Assistant Commissioner Jim Koppel visited a new childcare center in Franklin to celebrate a success that he’s like to see repeated around the state. Koppel visited the 6-month-old Cougar Cub Child Care Center to emphasize the challenges facing childcare, particularly in greater Minnesota. Read the ...

EXCERPT: “With talks underway in Congress for the next Farm Bill, Minnesota Farmers Union invites rural citizens to attend two Rural Issue Discussions about what’s essential to the bill. ‘The Next Farm Bill: A Rural Voices Discussion’ will be held on July 26 in Mankato and July 27 in Willmar. Both sessions are open to the ...

Minnesota State Climatologist Greg Spoden writes about the 2012 drought’s lasting impact on the state in a report issued by the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. EXCERPT: “Minnesota is facing increased pressure on its water resources. This pressure is accentuated during drought. Minnesotans used a record amount of water in 2012. Even in a water-rich state ...