Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen told an audience in Willmar that agriculture continues to benefit from bipartisan support in Legislature.
The bacterial insecticide 鈥� nontoxic to people, animals and bees 鈥� can only be applied during a short period in the spring, at a certain moment in an insect's lifespan. The money didn't come in time.
A total of 28 grants supporting programs in the state have been delayed, frozen or seemingly made unavailable, according to the Minnesota Management and Budget agency
The grants are intended to encourage urban youth agricultural education and community development by assisting organizations and communities in obtaining the materials and services necessary for successful promotion of urban agriculture.
A coordinated state and federal response to the avian influenza outbreak in Minnesota is headquartered at the Kandiyohi County Law Enforcement Center in Willmar. The presence of the Minnesota Poultry Testing Laboratory in the city also greatly augments the ability to the manage the threat the disease poses to turkey and poultry flocks.
The proposal is not final, it will now come before a panel of House and Senate members to iron out differences before it could come up for another vote.
North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton, N.D., an hour south of Moorhead, started a meat-processing program last fall. Two Minnesota technical colleges plan to start meat-cutting programs later this year, and according to one official, there is strong student interest.
On land that was farmed as a dairy for over 50 years, Tiffany Tripp and Andy Olson run Graise Farm, where they raise a few hundred ducks for eggs, chickens for eggs and farrow-to-finish pastured pork.
A Nov. 18 virtual event which included speakers Minnesota Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, State Representative Samantha Vang, Union Hmong Kitchen Chef Yia Vang and HAFA co-founders Pakou and Janssen Hang, celebrated the association reaching its funding goal to purchase the 155 acres it now farms on.
