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 18, 1998 - As part of the Our State, Our Forests series, a Mainstreet Radio special broadcast from MPR studios in Duluth, highlighting the Minnesota Northwoods. In this hour, MPR’s Rachel Reabe presents stories by reporters Leif Enger and Mary Losure which portray the timber industry past and present and describe its impact on the environment and economy of Northern Minnesota.
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.
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 mental health with local farmers and Winnie Stoltman, counselor with the Disaster Response Network based in East Grand Forks.
May 1, 1999 - American RadioWorks presents the documentary “The Forgotten 14 Million,” which explores why both government and the free market are failing the most vulnerable young Americans.
May 20, 1999 - A farm in southwest Minnesota probably is not the first place you'd expect a professional mezzo soprano to call home, but that is exactly what MPR’s Mark Steil found when talking with Gary Overgaard, a farmer, and his wife Emily Lodine, an opera singer.
May 26, 1999 - MPR’s Mary Losure reports that Governor Jesse Ventura has vetoed a bill that would have loosened the Minnesota Pollution Control's regulation of animal feedlots. The bill would have exempted livestock farmers from state air quality standards when they were spreading manure on farm fields. It also would have eliminated a new set of rules that govern which feedlots are subject to environmental review.