Business and Economic News

U study: Farming may have aided Minnesota bird flu outbreak
Farmers who tilled fields near turkey barns in the early days of Minnesota's avian influenza outbreak last year may have unwittingly helped spread the virus, a new University of Minnesota study says.
City leaders hope to convene a task force to explore specifics of how businesses of all sizes in St. Paul could offer earned sick and safe time benefits to their employees.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation finished an environmental review of the line but doesn't have funds to proceed with design and construction.
Upbeat Cliffs CEO: Iron Range mines stay idled but better times near
Northshore Mining and United Taconite will stay idled through March, but an improving steel market should have those mines back running this year, Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves said Wednesday in a surprisingly positive analysis.
3M beats Street 4Q forecasts
3M Co. on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter earnings of $1.04 billion.
As crop prices fall, MN farmers may roll more land into conservation
Major grain prices are so low many farmers will lose money trying to put a crop in the ground. That's rekindling farmer interest in enrolling land in the federal Conservation Reserve Program.