COMMONGROUND: Via Minnesota Corn, VERBATIM: “CommonGround Minnesota is a group of women farmers who volunteer their time to have conversations about food and farming with consumers. Started at the national level in 2010 with support from the National Corn Growers Association and the United Soybean Board, CommonGround aims to connect consumers with farmers to answer questions, dispel myths, and generally share information about agriculture that consumers otherwise would not have access to. Fourteen years later, CommonGround continues to promote agriculture to the non-farming public and strives to be a resource consumers can turn to with questions about food and farming practices. In 2024,CommonGround experienced an exciting year filled with new initiatives.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4fXJZpb (SPONSORED: Minnesota Corn Growers Association)
TRADE: From Mark Dorenkamp via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “Ag groups are anxious to see how the incoming administration handles trade policy. Minnesota State Cattlemen’s Association executive director Kaitlyn Root says it’s unclear whether President-elect Trump will follow through on tariff threats made throughout his campaign. ‘We don’t know enough at this point, but there is definitely some concern. We don’t want to see issues with prices, so absolutely something we will continue to keep an eye on.’ She tells Brownfield trade is a major factor in beef profitability.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3VrI3wP
MOROCCO: From MN Soybean Growers via X, VERBATIM: “Exec. Dir. Joe Smentek is joining @MNagriculture this week on a @USDA trade mission to Morocco. Day 1's agenda included a discussion on the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway as an export route. Joe is also accompanying MDA officials to Egypt to promote more ag trade w/ Minnesota.” PHOTOS: https://fluence-media.co/3Vn0naq
LABELS: Via USDA, VERBATIM: “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) today are announcing a joint Request for Information (RFI) about food date labeling, which includes the usage of terms such as ‘Sell By,’ ‘Use By’ and ‘Best By.’ The RFI seeks information on industry practices and preferences for date labeling, research results on consumer perceptions of date labeling, and any impact date labeling may have on food waste and grocery costs.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3Zmogjz
GOODNEWS: MNGood – the good stories of Minnesota from non-profits, philanthropy and corporate giving. SIGNUP: https://fluence-media.co/MNGOODSignUP
Check out all the episodes of Sunday Take on 830 WCCO. CLICK: https://fluence-media.co/3KsuDrZ
BIRD FLU: From Jason Hackett via KARE-TV, VERBATIM: “With the outbreak growing, farmers were looking for anything to mitigate the spread. The Bird Control Group has come up with an idea straight out of a spy film: lasers. Representative Craig Duhr said it all started with a simple idea in the Netherlands in 2012. ‘Literally a guy messing around with a green laser light and moved it over some birds and the birds moved,’ Duhr said. Since then, the company's global reach has expanded, and the technology has evolved.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/3D5rMqW
2025: From Mark Dorenkamp via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “A west-central Minnesota farmer anticipates another difficult year in 2025. Anne Schwagerl and her husband own and operate a diversified grain and livestock farm in Big Stone County. ‘It’s going to be another tough year. This year was tough because we had relatively low prices, but then we got hammered on the weather. That flash drought in August and September really hurt the bean production.’ She tells Brownfield a good snowpack this winter would help replenish soil moisture.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/41jfzcl
FORECAST: From Cami Koons via Minnesota Reformer, VERBATIM: “Farm income is forecasted to have decreased in 2024 by 4% from 2023, largely because of a decrease in cash receipts, or the gross income, from the sale of commodity crops, according to the December update of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s farm income forecast. Carrie Litkowski, the farm income team leader with USDA Economic Research Service, presented the latest update in a webinar Tuesday, and said the forecast was very similar to its previous September iteration.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3ZiCHoJ
MID-SIZE FARMS: Via MPR, VERBATIM: “The land area used for farming in Minnesota hasn’t changed much in the last few years, according to data released in February. But there are fewer farms on that land and the average farm has grown larger. This fits into a nationwide pattern of farm consolidation that has been happening for generations. For Brian Reisinger, it took searching through generations of family history to understand why. Reisinger is the author of the book ‘Land Rich, Cash Poor: My Family’s Hope and the Untold History of the Disappearing American Farmer.’ His family farm is in the driftless region of Wisconsin and he has farming roots in Minnesota.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3Bhou3t
TAXES: From Mark Dorenkamp via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “The National Farmers Union is looking at how possible changes to federal tax policy might impact farmers. President Rob Larew says several provisions from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 expire in 2025. ‘First of all, we’re always going to be looking at whether or not any tax cuts or any pay-fors if you will for these policies are going to impact family farmers and ranchers. So we’re going to be watching that very closely.’ He tells Brownfield there’s precedent for unintended consequences when Congress writes a tax bill.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3OCW5b8
From lunch take…
HORMEL: Via Associated Press, VERBATIM: “Hormel Foods Corp. (HRL) on Wednesday reported fiscal fourth-quarter profit of $220.2 million. The Austin, Minnesota-based company said it had net income of 40 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 42 cents per share. The results fell short of Wall Street expectations . . . The maker of Spam canned ham, Dinty Moore stew and other foods posted revenue of $3.14 billion in the period, which matched Street forecasts.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4ine17d
CARGILL: Via Reuters, VERBATIM: “Global commodities trader Cargill began laying off employees across its vast operations on Tuesday in a drive to slash headcount by 5%, sending U.S. workers from supply chain, inventory control and other roles to look for new jobs . . . In Minnesota, home to its headquarters, Cargill plans to terminate 475 employees at an office center in Wayzata starting on Feb. 5, the company said in a letter to state officials.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3CY5Gqp
USDA: Via USDA, VERBATIM: “The Biden-Harris Administration today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) supported more than 23,000 climate-focused conservation contracts funded by the Inflation Reduction Act. These investments cover over 11 million acres in fiscal year 2024, contributing to the highest total investment in private lands conservation in any year in the history of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4fXt9GY
WORKSHOPS: Via Worthington Globe, VERBATIM: “The Minnesota Dairy Initiative will host a farm financial workshop series available to dairy farmers across Minnesota. The workshops will be presented at the Pipestone County Government Center Southwest, 1016 Eighth Ave. SW, Pipestone. Workshop dates are Dec. 11, Jan. 15, Jan. 29 and Feb. 19.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4imgMFV
ARC/PLC: From Mark Dorenkamp via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “A crop insurance specialist suggests Title I Commodity programs should play a bigger part in risk management in 2025. Cole Patrick with Compeer Financial says Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage are designed to be more effective when markets are down.” PATRICK: “Where they are going to come into play is when these commodity prices come off of high years into low years. And the reason that is important is because those operate off of what’s called an ‘olympic average’ over five years.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3ZoaUU9
(DISCLOSURE: Compeer is a sponsor of Fluence Media)
COUNCIL: Via MDA, VERBATIM: “The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) works with Minnesota’s 13 research and promotion councils (also known as commodity councils) to promote our state’s diverse agricultural sector. One of these councils is the Minnesota Barley Research and Promotion Council, which is dedicated to serving the barley industry. Specifically, their focus is on agricultural research, aiming to advance knowledge and development within the barley industry. The Minnesota Barley Research and Promotion Council was established in 1990 and has served this purpose for decades. However, as the number of barley producers has declined, the future of the Council is now in question. The MDA received a petition requesting to terminate the Council on November 22, 2024. The petition is signed by more than 10% of Minnesota barley producers. These barley producers believe the Council is no longer a needed resource as utilization of barley as a commodity in Minnesota is decreasing.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4ie5kw7
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
WATER QUALITY: From MDA via X, VERBATIM: “Congratulations to Dawn & Grant Breitkreutz of Redwood Falls, MN Ag Water Quality certified farmers, for winning of the Aldo Leopold Conservation award!” TWEETS: https://fluence-media.co/3ZmVYFt
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