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Agriculture
August 1, 2020
Jack Weber drove his wheat combine on his field. The wheat doesn't bring much cash but it does improve the health of his soil. ] GLEN STUBBE ¥ glen.s

As acid rain is curtailed, wheat gets less sulfur needed for tasty bread

With lockdowns due to COVID-19 curbing air pollution globally, sulfur deficiency could become even more acute in the farm belt, soil scientists said.
Agriculture
August 1, 2020
The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Thursday that private exporters sold 1.937 million metric tons of corn to China for delivery in the 2020-2021

China bought a record amount of corn the other day, but it's unlikely to hit trade-deal target

The recent purchases put China closer to the ambitious $36.5 billion target for imports of U.S. farm goods this year set in the Phase One trade deal.
Agriculture
July 20, 2020
Rural towns' economies rest on farming: "It doesn't matter what you do in North Dakota, your income is based somehow off of agriculture," said farmer

Farmers in Upper Midwest are hurting: 'I don't see an end in sight'

Buffeted by a two-year trade war, followed by a disappointing — at least so far — trade deal and then a worldwide pandemic, there aren't a lot of farmers, or rural communities, feeling flush right now.
Local
July 10, 2020
Mejia, who was infected with COVID-19 along with all her family members, talked about being tired from having to work double shifts to cover a shortag

Meatpacking is nearly normal, but workers left to cope with COVID-19's toll

More than 30,000 meatpacking workers nationally have fallen ill. At least 100 have died, with the lives of others upended or permanently altered.
Agriculture
July 9, 2020
Lance Daberkow and his family have seen income from their farm shrink over the past two years. "It's tight, especially with two kids," he says.

Struggling Minnesota farmers weigh their support for Trump

Many growers around Minnesota facing an uncertain farm economy are having their faith in President Trump tested this time around.
Agriculture
July 4, 2020

Meat shortages reopen a path to smaller slaughterhouses

Agriculture
July 3, 2020
FILE - In this March 27, 2012 file photo, workers use combines to harvest soybeans in Tangara da Serra, State of Mato Grosso, Brazil. For more than a

Cargill mapping project in Brazil meant to help control deforestation

Local
June 11, 2020

Meatpacking plants nearly back at capacity, but COVID fallout continues on farms

Farmers and consumers continue to pay a price from the shutdown.
Agriculture
June 8, 2020
FILE - In this July 11, 2017, file photo, a farmer shows damage to soybean plants from dicamba in Marvell, Ark. Monsanto, which makes a dicamba weed k

Minnesota soybean farmers may use dicamba despite court ruling

The recent court ruling was "very untimely," says Minnesota's ag commissioner.
Agriculture
June 5, 2020
Guardian Energy ethanol plant in Janesville is among idled plants now reopened. (GLEN STUBBE/Star Tribune)

Minnesota ethanol production ramping up again

Three of four Minnesota plants idled as demand tanked due to COVID-19 have reopened.
Local
June 5, 2020
Hormel headquarters in Austin, Minn. (Glen Stubbe/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS) ORG XMIT: 1500059

More than 200 at Quality Pork, Hormel in Austin test positive for COVID-19

The two companies' plants in Austin had seen limited exposure, but over 200 now have the virus.
Agriculture
June 4, 2020

American exporters sell soy to China despite rising tensions

Agriculture
June 2, 2020

Minnesota farmer charged with cheating grain elevator

Federal prosecutors say he had two co-conspirators who worked at the CHS elevator in Herman.
Local
May 28, 2020
Long Prairie Packing, which is in Long Prairie, is the latest meatpacking plant in Minnesota with a COVID-19 outbreak.

Long Prairie Packing latest Minnesota meatpacking plant to have COVID-19 outbreak

It has sparked a more than sixfold increase in COVID-19 cases in Todd County over the past two weeks.
Local
May 28, 2020
Farmers apply fertilizer to their fields south of Edgerton.

Manure, fertilizers overload parts of Minnesota with nitrogen, mapping project finds

Group tracks where nearly 50 million tons of animal waste goes on Minnesota fields, adding nitrates to wells, rivers and lakes.
Agriculture
May 26, 2020
Comfrey Farms Prime Pork, which Taylor founded in 2016 to resurrect a former beef packing plant in Windom, now employs more than 650 people.

Glen Taylor-owned pork firm in Windom to merge with Canadian pork producer

Manitoba-based HyLife is one of Canada's largest producers.
Local
May 25, 2020
The USDA has allowed chicken processors to boost production-line speeds in recent months, though the JBS plant in Cold Spring, shown here in a 2016 ph

Virus hit meat plants just as workers asked to speed up

Even as the outbreak began to force plants to temporarily close last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture continued granting permission to chicken processors to boost speeds by 25% on production lines.
Agriculture
May 22, 2020
Corn planting around the U.S. this spring suggests a record crop is going in despite slumping demand and ultralow prices.

Corn prices keep slumping, and Minnesota farmers keep planting more

Farmers call it "plant and pray." With supply far outpacing demand, another huge corn crop is projected in 2020.
Agriculture
May 22, 2020
President Donald Trump speaks about the food supply chain during the coronavirus pandemic, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Tuesday, May 19,

U.S. farmers will get $16 billion in direct aid because of COVID-19

Payments to go to farmers, ranchers facing price declines and market disruptions

Agriculture

News coverage and the latest trends in Minnesota agriculture, including dairy, cattle, poultry and wheat, corn, soybean and potato farming.