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Agriculture

Smithfield Foods announces indefinite closure of Sioux Falls plant amid COVID-19 outbreak

Smithfield Foods announces indefinite closure of Sioux Falls plant amid COVID-19 outbreak

Smithfield Foods announced Sunday that its massive pork processing plant in Sioux Falls, S.D., will close indefinitely amid a coronavirus outbreak. As of Saturday, more than 230 employees had tested positive for COVID-19, out of a workforce of about 3,700 people.
by MPR News Staff

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DNR reviews impacts of farmer’s plan to irrigate cropland in Pineland Sands

DNR reviews impacts of farmer’s plan to irrigate cropland in Pineland Sands

Farmer Tim Nolte wants to irrigate about 300 acres to grow hay and other crops, and graze his cattle. But the request has gotten caught up in a larger debate over the conversion of forests to potato fields in the region, which covers Wadena, Cass, Becker and Hubbard counties in north-central Minnesota.
by Kirsti Marohn

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Food comes full circle in Sleepy Eye, where even the bison eat local

Food comes full circle in Sleepy Eye, where even the bison eat local

A new brewery in downtown Sleepy Eye has partnered with a local bison farmer in an unusual arrangement: The bison eat the spent grains that the would otherwise get thrown away, a byproduct of the brewing process — and eventually, the meat from those bison shows up on the brewery cafe’s menu.
by Hannah Yang

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'Momma on a mission' backs Walz's call for farm safety money

'Momma on a mission' backs Walz's call for farm safety money

Gov. Tim Walz has proposed more funding to reduce farm accidents by reimbursing farmers who retrofit their tractors and grain bins with safety equipment. He was joined at a news conference by Michele Gran, the mother of Landon Gran, who was 18 when he died in a grain bin accident last August.
by The Associated Press

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Some U.S. farmers boxed in by coronavirus outbreak

Some U.S. farmers boxed in by coronavirus outbreak

Fewer ships from China are docking in the U.S., which hurts U.S. farmers who send exports on the ships' return trips. And perishables that do make it sometimes rot on the docks in China.
by Anna King

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An Airbnb for farmland hits a snag, as farmers raise data privacy concerns

An Airbnb for farmland hits a snag, as farmers raise data privacy concerns

The internet startup Tillable wants to match farmers with farmland available for rent. The problem? Farmers already on that land fear their farm data is being used against them.
by Dan Charles

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Trump signals he's prepared to give farmers more federal aid

Trump signals he's prepared to give farmers more federal aid

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue had said that a third year of financial assistance would not be necessary since China had committed to increasing its agriculture purchases under a trade deal. But China’s economy is being rocked by the new virus.
by The Associated Press

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Report: Minnesota paying out $135K annually due to wolf kills

Report: Minnesota paying out $135K annually due to wolf kills

In the last decade, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture has paid out an average of $135,000 on about 110 wolf depredation claims each year.

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First, they invented a way to rescue people from grain bin accidents. Now they’re trying to prevent them.

First, they invented a way to rescue people from grain bin accidents. Now they’re trying to prevent them.

They’re ubiquitous in farm country: Tall silver grain bins that are used to store the fall harvest. But they’re also dangerous. Now a western Minnesota family has developed a way to avoid deaths when workers fall in, and they hope state officials will do something to ensure farms have the equipment to prevent accidents altogether.
by Dan Gunderson

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