Category: Rural Headlines

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 ...

EXCERPT: “New Ulm—By now, most affected people know ISD 88 is not serving free lunch for kids this summer. Details as to why, however, may still be foggy for most…. “‘We are not area-eligible anymore,” Director of Dining Services Teri Jespersen said during the District 88 May study session. “We kind of really never have ...

EXCERPT: “Landowners have new state funding and a website to help them comply with a 2015 law requiring vegetative buffer strips to protect Minnesota’s waters. The Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources recently approved a cost-sharing program that will cover up to 75 percent of landowners’ expenses to install perennial buffer strips along public waters ...

EXCERPT: “A U.S. House Agriculture Committee “Listening Session” on the next Farm Bill will highlight the feature Forums at FARMFEST this year. The Farm Bill “Listening Session” will be held on Thursday, August 3, from 10:00 AM to 12:00 Noon, and is titled: “The Next Farm Bill …… Conversations in the Field”. The event will ...

EXCERPT: “Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says as lawmakers craft the new farm bill the funding priorities should be crop insurance number one followed by snap and the third being conservation. Minnesota Land Stewardship Project’s Policy Program Organizer Ben Anderson says conservation should be the top priority and crop insurance needs refining” INTERVIEW: http://bit.ly/2tyia0i ...

EXCERPT: “President Donald Trump has promised to expand broadband service to rural areas as part of his $1 trillion nationwide infrastructure plan. That may be easier said than done. It would take an estimated $80 billion to extend broadband to all U.S. areas that lack it, but the White House has initially proposed spending just $25 billion over ...

EXCERPT: “Entrepreneurs, like most business owners, are always on the lookout for ways to improve what they do and how they do it. Continuous improvement is certainly a goal for young dairy farmers like Karl Donner and Marissa McWilliam-Donner. The two recently hosted a visit by a team from the Minnesota Dairy Initiative’s Dairy Development & ...