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.
June 1, 1998 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger reports on Aitkin County farmers experimentation in establishing cranberry bogs for harvesting. Cranberries take deep pockets and sturdy patience; but now, after three years and hundreds of thousands of dollars, the Aitkin County bogs are ready to produce.
June 9, 1998 - Midday presents a Mainstreet Radio special broadcast on what's being called the "New Midwestern Farm Crisis." The program contains reports on farming issues, including insurance, scab plant disease, government programs, global markets, and Freedom to Farm Act.
August 26, 1998 - MPR’s Michael Khoo reports on a movement known as Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA, which is demonstrating the viability of local, small-scale farming. Members buy shares in a farm at the outset of the growing season and are then entitled to a portion of the weekly harvests.
September 7, 1998 - MPR's Tom Robertson reports from Bemidji, where It's harvest time for wild rice in Minnesota, and nowhere is the season more important than on the Leech Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota. The reservation has more than 6,000 acres of wild rice beds within its boundaries.
September 17, 1998 - The small family farm is a dying breed, even in Minnesota. But it remains important in our consciousness as a haven from the ills of society and a refuge to raise strong, wonderful children. In a way, there's some truth in that ... at least for author Kent Meyers.
November 17, 1998 - MPR’s Dan Olson reports on how some Minnesota farmers are putting a few extra dollars in their pocket by selling what they usually plow under. A St. Peter company is making building materials as strong as wood from the straw left after farmers harvest soybeans and wheat.
November 24, 1998 - MPR’s Kathryn Herzog presents a Mainstreet Radio report on the lack of crop diversity on many modern Minnesota farms. Some farmers and agronomists are looking for ways to bring the diversity back.
January 1, 1999 - Mainstreet Radio's Kathryn Herzog pays a visit to one small town butcher shop, where business is making for some long days. Business at meat markets and butcher shops across the state is booming during holiday season. With pork prices as low as they've been in more than twenty five years, sales of pork are on the rise.
February 15, 1999 - MPR’s Gretchen Lehmann reports that after years battling severe weather, scab and low crop prices, many farmers in western Minnesota and the Dakotas are looking for a new way to make money off the land. Farmers along Interstate-29 believe they've found the answer... join forces with your neighbors and invest in a dairy.
February 24, 1999 - A Mainstreet Radio special broadcast from community room at City Hall in Thief River Falls. Mark Steil hosts a discussion on farm crisis and its impact on small towns with guests Howard Pearson, Pennington County Extension Agent; and Bob Bergland, former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture.