Agriculture has been an integral part of Minnesota’s land and water for a thousand years. While crops have changed, the spirit of farming has remained constant. MPR Archive presents a selection of stories that reflect the diversity of what has been harvested, such as corn, soybeans, wild rice, and even tree fiber. This collection is also about the many hands that toil in, and care for, the soil and water…from the migrant farm worker in Red River Valley’s sugar beet fields, the Hmong immigrant planting near Homer, the Chanarambie Township farmer amidst the 1980s farm crisis, and Ojibwe members following ancient harvesting traditions.
August 30, 1994 - MPR’s Lorna Benson aks a group of farm kids at the Minnesota State Fair about their future plans, and if it includes farming and agriculture. The four young men share thoughts and concerns over present day farming.
June 21, 1995 - A special Mainstreet Radio broadcast From the Chuckwagon in Cleveland, Minnesota. Host Mark Steil presents a report and panel discussion about controversy over large hog production. It’s a battle between efficiency and economical supply vs. concerns over environmental impact to rural residents and economic hardships to small farms.
August 2, 1995 - MPR’s John Rabe visits the St. Paul Farmers Market and talks with Hmong farmers about their background, experiences, and strategies for farming in Minnesota.
November 10, 1995 - Midday presents a Mainstreet Radio special broadcast from Starbuck, Minnesota. Host Mark Steil looks back at the farm crisis of the 1980s. Program includes a chronology of the crisis, commentary from an economist, and various interviews of farmers and officials on the experience.
June 17, 1996 - As U.S. farmers are getting older and the high price of starting an agricultural operation increases, Mainstreet Radio’s Mark Steil reports on a Minnesota program based in Granite Falls that is making efforts to get young farmers in the business. The hope is that by matching beginning farmers with established farmers, farm ownership can gradually be transferred to a new generation.
June 24, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger reports on ‘fiber farming’ in Minnesota. Northern Minnesota farmers are trying to grow and harvest hybrid poplar trees as a new source of pulp for the paper industry and even a possible savior of Minnesota forestlands.
August 14, 1996 - MPR’s Laura McCallum reports from Stearns County, the state's biggest dairy county and home to more feedlots than any other county. Stearns is now considering a county feedlot permitting process. It's a move the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency supports because of the high number of Stearns County feedlots without state permits and pollution concerns.
March 5, 1998 - Carl Vogt, an Extension Forester with the University of Minnesota, discusses how the maple sap is flowing and the prospects for the syrup harvest.
April 21, 1998 - Mainstreet Radio's Dan Gunderson reports that while farmers across the region are getting their machinery lined up for an early start on spring planting, in northwestern Minnesota and eastern North Dakota, hundreds of farmers are lining equipment up to be sold at auction. Some are angry…but many are relieved.
May 14, 1998 - MPR’s Perry Finelli looks at Minnesota cropland. While not an endangered commodity, some contend it's being lost too quickly in places where farming has been a way of life. The United States Agriculture Department says even though urban areas are growing, Minnesota's cropland has not been reduced. That's because the urban landscape is still only a tiny fraction of the state's total amount of land.