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Ag and Extension Briefs

Produce Safety Rule Training Available for Farmers WILLMAR — The University of Minnesota Extension, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, and other partners are hosting a FSMA Produce Safety Rule Grower Training in Willmar on March 10. Register today at www.psp.tix.com. Registration deadline is March 2. Space is limited. Do not delay your registration. If your farm is not excluded or exempt from the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Produce Safety Rule, at least one supervisor or responsible party from your farm must complete a training that uses FDA-recognized curriculum or ...

Petersen touts export markets, looks ahead to session

ST PAUL — Thom Petersen, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, said it was a jam-packed week leading up to the Minnesota State Legislature reconvening for session Tuesday. The commissioner said the department hosted visitors from Colombia and Taiwan to discuss trade relationships. The department of agriculture sees itself as “real ambassadors and connectors,” said Petersen. “We’re lucky to be home to a lot of big agriculture companies in Minnesota, from Land O’ Lakes, General Mills or Hormel,” said Petersen. “So it’s really important for us, those ...

Farm Resource Guide for 2020 is now available

WORTHINGTON — The Farm Resource Guide for 2020 is now available at many University of Minnesota Extension county offices across the state. This resource guide includes a wide variety of useful farm business management information including the following items: • Custom rates: What to charge for planting etc. • Average farmland rental rates by county: From two sources with projections for 2020. • Flexible Rental Agreements: Examples of how they work and how they have worked in past. • Lease forms for Cash Rent and Share Rent arrangements: Which you can fill in the ...

Getting ready for gardening season

As I look toward the grove of trees, in my mind I can see and hear the red winged blackbirds and hear the sound of the return of Canada geese once more on the marshy prairie that now surrounds our farm. The beautiful sun shining days of Minnesota are only in their purist form during these cold Minnesota January days. There are no days like these in very many places anymore. Anticipation always makes spring all the sweeter and as every day goes by, even when we have some terrible winter weather, we are now advancing toward spring. The days are gaining daylength and it is only a matter of ...

Southwestern Minnesota farmland values decrease .2 percent in 2019

At the end of each year for the last 25 years, a survey has been conducted of farm land sales in 14 southwestern Minnesota counties. The survey reports bare farm land sales to non-related parties for the first six months of each year. Land values had been steadily increasing until 2014. After reaching record high prices in 2013, the upward trend was broken as prices declined in 2014 and continued down through 2017. The trend changed to an increased in 2018 and remain constant in 2019. The summary report for this survey is available at the county extension offices in Chippewa, ...

Ag Briefs

Neighbors criticize plan for western Iowa chicken facility MINEOLA, Iowa (AP) — Neighboring residents and other people opposed to the construction of a chicken confinement facility in western Iowa filled a meeting at a church and roundly criticized the plan as better suited to an industrial park. The opponents’ concerns aired at St. John Lutheran Church in Mineola on Monday included the potential smell, the impact on the water table and the affect on local roads. 2 plead not guilty to charges stemming from grain scheme SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Two former officers at a ...