November 26, 1999 - Competition is increasing in the telecommunications business and its reaching all corners of the state. One of the most heated battles is underway in southwest Minnesota where McLeod USA is about to go head to head with several established phone and cable television companies.
November 19, 1999 - A hog processing plant built and owned by farmers may be in business by next spring near the southwest Minnesota town of Dawson. Ground was broken yesterday for the six million dollar plant, believed to be the first of its kind in the nation. With the farm crisis tightening its grip on hog producers, some say the plant is their last chance to stay in business.
November 8, 1999 - The record warmth we've been enjoying is also raising concerns this may the early stages of a drought. The eastern U.S. experienced a drought this summer, and some climatologists say dry cycles tend to start in the east before moving into the midwest. So far southwest Minnesota has seen the driest conditions, where many areas have received less than two inches of rain since July.
November 5, 1999 - The farm crisis has touched nearly every sector of agriculture in southern Minnesota but it may be hog producers who have suffered most. It was their fate to be caught between two profit destroying events: record low prices and wrenching structural changes which are transforming the hog industry. When prices collapsed a year ago some farmers began selling hogs and processed meat directly to consumers in hopes of getting a better price. The market has recovered a little this year but prices are still below the break even point. Some farmers wonder if hogs will ever again be the profit center they were a few years ago.
October 18, 1999 - For the second year in a row a great Minnesota corn and soybean crop is being spoiled by low prices. The grain market slump means many farmers will either lose money or eke out a minimum wage profit this year. Off farm employment and government aid has kept them going but that could change if the poor prices continue into next year.
October 5, 1999 - MPR’s Mark Steil reports on the complicated nature of grain storage during the fall harvest, especially with the boom in genetically modified crops.
September 21, 1999 - A survey of farmers in Swift County in west central Minnesota shows that agriculture is rapidly becoming a landlord-tenant system rather than the familiar independent family farm. That trend has accelerated as farmers economic problems intensify. The survey and what it means for the local economy will be discussed tonight at a meeting in Benson as county officials look for ways to keep farmers in business.
September 8, 1999 - This is a great time to be an ethanol producer. At least that's what many Minnesota producers of the corn based fuel are saying now that ethanol's chief rival in the gasoline business has stumbled and may be on its way out. Congress could play a major role in determining whether the midwest's favorite becomes the nation's gasoline additive of choice.
September 3, 1999 - Minnesota's agriculture commissioner Gene Hugoson says its too early to judge whether 8% of the states farmers will go out of business in the next year because of low prices. U.S. Agriculture Department officials made the prediction Wednesday, arguing the state should be declared an economic disaster area. Hugoson says that could do more harm than good.
August 10, 1999 - Mainstreet Radio visits several towns, each trying a different technique to make sure they are "wired." On this segment, MPR’s Mark Steil reports on how the town of Windom is considering a local phone service. City officials in Windom in southwest Minnesota are considering launching the state's first new municipal telephone business in more than 75 years.