December 29, 1998 - Most farmers in our area will shudder when they think back on 1998. The agricultural economy moves in well defined peaks and valleys. 1998 was a valley. Nearly every farmer felt the disquieting unknown of economic hard times. Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil reports: The seeds of the farm slump were as farflung as the asian financial crisis and as down-home as weather, overproduction and disease. It was a year when Minnesota farmers took home their first billion bushel corn crop, a record soybean harvest and wagons full of red ink. The farm crisis o
December 16, 1998 - Minnesota hog farmers are wondering when a price slump which has made their pigs almost worthless will end. Prices fell sharply again yesterday as an oversupply of hogs continues to drive the market down. More than 300 producers voiced anger at their precarious economic situation last night in Marshall, during a meeting organized by congressman David Minge. Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil reports: The collapse of the hog market is the crisis of a lifetime for pork producers. the worst slump they've ever experienced. The Mar
December 15, 1998 - Rivers of red ink are threatening to drown hog producers all across the midwest. Prices are the lowest they've been in more than 25 years. It's a variation on the oldest of economic forumula's too many hogs despite healthy demand. U.S. meatpackers can't process the animals fast enough to keep ahead of the glut. Some farmers wonder if the rise of a new form of hog marketing, the contract, is causing the industry's current problems. Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil reports: These are gloomy days for hog producers. Everyone expected a price drop, but no one thought it would get this bad. J
November 30, 1998 - A field cloaked in rusty brown grass and scrub trees near the Minnesota River was once the scene of rifle shots, battle yells and death. Now one of the best preserved battle fields from the 1862 Dakota Conflict is being restored to better tell the events of that fateful day. The Minnesota Historical Society plans to install trails and interpretive signs explaining the many perspectives of the war. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Steil reports: Unless you're a real student of the events of 1862 its difficult to make much sense of what happened at the Birch Coulee battlefield just north of Morton in southwest Minnesota. A granite marker indicates two of
November 23, 1998 - Cold winter winds usually signal an end to the construction season, but not in one southwest Minnesota community. Residents of Comfrey have been rebuilding at a furious pace since a March tornado bulldozed through town. In the next month they'll see a new grocery store open, the towns' fire hall completed and ground broken for a new school. With virtually every business in town expected to reopen and most home-owners rebuilding, it appears the tornado will be remembered as a fresh start for the prairie village instead of the beginning of the end. Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil reports: Big things are happening in a white steel-sided building in do
November 17, 1998 - Minnesota farmers faced with their worst financial outlook in a decade received some good news the past month. Congress approved emergency federal aid for agriculture and farmers finished harvesting a record corn and soybean crop. The extra dollars from the government and the extra bushels in the bins helps improve the economic outlook but falls far short of returning profit to agriculture for most farmers. Mainstreet Radio's Mark Steil reports: Driving through southwest Minnesota on a cloudy fall day it's easy to spot a new color brightening the autumn landscape. Look for a grain elevator, then next to it, a splash of gold, glowing like neo
November 10, 1998 - MPR’s Mark Steil reports from Worthington, detailing stranded motorists and power outages as a blizzard moves through Minnesota, with up to a foot of snow.
October 30, 1998 - An MPR Special, presenting various reports on the major issues in this year's Gubernatorial campaign: taxes, education, crime, housing and agriculture. Program includes interviews and speech excerpts.
October 8, 1998 - President Clinton's veto today of an emergency farm relief measure leaves congress only days to act before their election break. There's not only a money gap between republicans and democrats on the issue, but also a philosophical gap.
September 22, 1998 - A Mainstreet Radio special broadcast from Sioux Falls. Program highlights the controversy over the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern coal train. The railroad wishes to create large expansion as coal hauler from Wyoming, through South Dakota, and into southern Minnesota. Mark Steil interviews Kevin Schieffer, president of Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad; and Paul Wilson, co-chair of Olmsted DM&E taskforce.