agriculture

It was quite an honor to receive the Agriculture Communicator of the year at the 98th annual meeting of the Minnesota Farm Bureau on Friday evening at the DoubleTree Hotel in Bloomington. I was a little concerned about the weather so Louise and I allowed plenty of time Friday evening to get to the DoubleTree Hotel on Highway 100 just off of I-494 in Bloomington...

The Minnesota Corn Growers Association and the Minnesota Corn Research and Promotion Council have set a goal of helping Minnesota corn growers become the most sustainable and environmentally responsible farmers in the United States. That is a very ambitious goal, but the boards of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association and the Minnesota Corn Research and Promotion Council feel it can be achieved i

Biotechnology in crop production has been used for a little more than 20 years. Gene manipulation to this point has been used to protect crops from insects and to tolerate herbicides to better control weeds. It has been very controversial, but it seems like maybe consumers are becoming more accepting of biotechnology, at least in the United States...

Thursday the Faribault Chamber of Commerce Agri-Business Committee hosted the annual Farm Business Luncheon. The event was held again this year at the KC Hall in Faribault. A family-style turkey dinner was served. I call it practice for Thanksgiving...

Tuesday afternoon I was at Brad Spinler's farm by Morristown. Special thanks to Brad for hosting the annual Corn Harvest Broadcast on KRFO. It was a great time thanks also to Troy at Cash Wise Foods in Owatonna for bringing a great lunch, roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy...

The calendar does not say it is winter yet, but the winter meeting season begins this weekend with the Minnesota Farm Bureau and Minnesota Farmers Union annual conventions. There are some years when farmers are still trying to finish up harvest and tillage...

I know all farmers have been busy and some are still finishing up tillage. I drove out to the farm Sunday afternoon and did not see one field of corn left to be harvested. There is some dry fertilizer being applied, and I did see a couple of anhydrous ammonia nurse tanks being pulled down the road...

Farmers who rent land and those who rent out their farmland are often in a quandary as to what a fair rental rate should be. There will be a meeting on Tuesday, November 29, at 1PM at the Steele County Community Center in Owatonna to address this question...

I was very pleased at the weather forecast I saw this morning. A slight chance of light rain today and then warm and clear skies through Tuesday! There is always a chance the forecast can change, but let's hope not. This is a perfect forecast to hopefully finish harvesting the 2016 crop and get the fall tillage done...

There are a number of ways I know it is harvest time!