Agriculture

A grass-roots movement for healthy soil spreads among farmers
America's farmers are digging soil like never before. A movement for "regenerative agriculture" is dedicated to building healthier soil and could even lead to a new eco-label on food.
When robots milk cows, farm families taste freedom
On a growing number of dairy farms, cows, not people, decide when they need to be milked. Robots can do the job day or night. For some farm families, the robots free them from rigid milking schedules.
Minnesota farmers endured 5th straight year of thin profits
A new report says bumper crops and occasional upticks in prices weren't enough to save most Minnesota farmers from a fifth straight year of thin profits in 2017.
As milk prices decline, worries about dairy farmer suicides rise
The nation's dairy farmers are facing their fourth year of depressed milk prices. The outlook is so bleak, it's increased worries about farmer suicides. One recent outreach effort drew criticism.
U study: Wetlands key to keeping harmful nitrates out of waters
A new University of Minnesota study found wetlands are providing a significant water quality benefit by keeping nitrates from crop fertilizer out of rivers.
Free nitrate tests meet farmer resistance in Brown County
Brown County recently became the first Minnesota county not to accept the Department of Agriculture program after citizens voiced concerns that the data could be used to target farmers for additional regulations.
Northern Minnesota sheriff gets aggressive with wolves
The Kittson County sheriff says ranchers are angry with wolf killings of cattle, and that his office can investigate such reports better than state or federal authorities.
Inside the whiskey revolution in northern Minnesota
One craft distiller in Hallock, Minn., got a state grant to study how different rye varieties affect taste in whiskey. The results, he says, show promise for the state's booze industry.
Know your pork: Comparing 2 very different pig farms
Minnesota farmers marketed 16 million pigs last year. Here's a look at how 5,200 of them were raised at two farms with contrasting approaches.