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Christmas tree growers anticipate healthy demand despite drought challenges

Christmas tree growers anticipate healthy demand despite drought challenges

Minnesota’s Christmas tree farms are busier than ever getting ready to sell their harvest to the public. The demand for live trees remains strong despite much of the state suffering repeated droughts during the last several years.  
by Hannah Yang and Kerem Yücel

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Ag industry testing driverless trucks to solve labor shortage

Ag industry testing driverless trucks to solve labor shortage

A sugar beet cooperative in western Minnesota and eastern North Dakota is turning to autonomous trucks to solve a driver shortage. Minn-Dak Farmers Cooperative says the trucks can make the company more efficient.
by Dan Gunderson

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Minnesota officials ready for potential feral pig invasion

Minnesota officials ready for potential feral pig invasion

With wild hogs in Canada approaching the U.S. border, Minnesota officials are reviewing state management of feral pigs to limit potential future damage from the destructive invasive species.
by Dan Kraker

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Emerging Farmers office pushes to expand diversity in farming

Emerging Farmers office pushes to expand diversity in farming

Lillian Otieno is the first director of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Office of Emerging Farmers. She was a coordinator with the office and its sole employee before state lawmakers voted to expand it in May 2023.
by Cathy Wurzer and Alanna Elder

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EPA says 'further actions' needed to protect human health from nitrate in southeast Minnesota

EPA says 'further actions' needed to protect human health from nitrate in southeast Minnesota

Environmental groups petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, saying nitrate in the groundwater in southeast Minnesota’s karst region — largely from fertilizer and manure applied to crop land — poses an imminent danger to human health.
by Kirsti Marohn

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The battle over land use: Farm crops versus solar farms

The battle over land use: Farm crops versus solar farms

The U.S. Department of Energy estimates the U.S. will need 10 million acres of solar panels by 2050 to meet the nation’s net zero-carbon goals. That means acreage currently used for farmland will become solar farms.
by Hannah Yang

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Mixing solar and farming could be key to clean energy future

Mixing solar and farming could be key to clean energy future

As Minnesota and the nation shift to cleaner energy, there’s a growing demand for land for new solar farms. At the same time there’s growing interest in what’s known as agrivoltaics.
by Kirsti Marohn

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Southeast Minnesota struggles for common ground on nitrate pollution as health worries rise

Southeast Minnesota struggles for common ground on nitrate pollution as health worries rise

In a petition filed in April, environmental groups asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to use its emergency powers under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act to intervene in what they call an “imminent and substantial endangerment to human health.”
by Kirsti Marohn

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