Even when times are tough, farmers have traditionally resisted the idea of giving up a profession that is rooted in family history. But a new program in southeastern Minnesota aims to make it easier for struggling farmers to make that decision and sharpen their skills for a new career.
Finding land is a big barrier for those who want to get into any kind of farming, but a mentorship program pairing beginning farmers with farmland navigators is working to make things easier.
Fertilizer runoff is fueling the toxic algae bloom in the Gulf of Mexico. Farmers could help by growing crops in rotation to reduce the need for fertilizer. But it's unclear who will buy them.
They call it the Cosmic Crisp. It's not a video game, a superhero or the title of a Grateful Dead song. It's a new variety of apple, coming to a grocery store near you Dec. 1.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum said Friday he will ask for federal help in dealing with the widespread flooding that occurred in the aftermath of heavy snow that fell last week.
The drive to produce more milk has had an unsavory side effect: Cows have become more genetically similar and less fertile. Now scientists are trying to recover valuable genetic variation that was lost over the past few decades.
Minnesota and the Dakotas have seen snow and rain in recent weeks that have hampered an already difficult harvest. Many farmers in the Midwest and South whose planting this year was interrupted by wet weather are getting a reprieve, though a few Northern states have seen their harvest prospects go from bad to worse.
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