BIOFUELS: Via Minnesota Corn, VERBATIM: “The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) cost-share program that helps fuel retailers upgrade to equipment compatible with E15 and higher ethanol blends has opened for 2026 applications. The AGRI Biofuels Infrastructure Grant program is accepting applications between now and Oct. 23. MDA will review applications this fall and plans to notify applicants whether they will receive funding in early February.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4ngJiKU (SPONSORED: Minnesota Corn Growers Association)
All Fluence Media tip sheets are now available to read and share online at our website, The Daily Agenda:
OATS: Via Investigate Midwest, VERBATIM: “Few people outside Quaker Oats know exactly what the Cedar Rapids factory is making when a sweet, wholesome smell wafts from the plant north of downtown. Locals call it a Crunch Berry day because Quaker – the world’s largest cereal plant – makes Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries, but the aroma could also be oats roasting for Oatmeal Squares or maple-flavored instant oatmeal. The oats fueling that sweet-smelling goodness come not from the rich Iowa soil near the plant, but from up to 1,000 miles away in Canada. For decades, the plumpest, most consistent oats came from the northern plains, but new field trials show food-grade oats can be grown in Iowa and Minnesota by farmers eager for an alternative to corn and soybeans.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3JHRbdT
SCREWWORM: Via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “A gruesome flesh-eating parasite, eradicated from the U.S. for decades, is once again casting a shadow over the nation’s livestock industry, and Minnesota officials are urging farmers and pet owners to be vigilant. The New World screwworm, a maggot that feeds on the living tissue of warm-blooded animals, was recently detected in Maryland in a person who had traveled to El Salvador, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced this week. It’s the first reported U.S. case tied to travel to a country with a current outbreak.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4n625s0
WORKFORCE: Via Associated Press, VERBATIM: “As parades and other events celebrating the contributions of workers in the U.S. are held Monday for the Labor Day holiday, experts say President Donald Trump’s stepped-up immigration policies are impacting the nation's labor force. More than 1.2 million immigrants disappeared from the labor force from January through the end of July, according to preliminary Census Bureau data analyzed by the Pew Research Center. That includes people who are in the country illegally as well as legal residents. Immigrants make up almost 20 percent of the U.S. workforce and that data shows 45 percent of workers in farming, fishing and forestry are immigrants, according to Pew senior researcher Stephanie Kramer.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4g8t18j
Check out all the episodes of Sunday Take on 830 WCCO. CLICK: https://fluence-media.co/3VZAwp9
FARM BILL: Via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “The twice-extended 2018 Farm Bill faces expiration in less than a month. American Farm Bureau president Zippy Duvall tells Brownfield the deadline is September 30th.” DUVALL: “Or we revert back to old law, so that’s one timeline we need to pay attention to. It could be extended of course, but I think they’re on track to try to get something done. And depending on who you talk to, some of them think it’s going to be pretty easy (and) some think it’s difficult.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/428yXIF
STATE FAIR: Via MplsStPaul, VERBATIM: “The Minnesota State Fair’s All-You-Can-Drink Milk Stand is celebrating its 70th anniversary. When the milk stand debuted at the fair in 1955, it was actually a milk tent, and milk was served from a five-gallon can. Technology (and food safety, lord knows what was brewing in fairgoers’ stomachs back in the ’50s) has since leveled up. Here’s a look at the stand through the years, by the numbers.” SEE: https://fluence-media.co/45ZuhWD
SEED SACKS: Via KEYC-TV, VERBATIM: “The Agriculture Horticulture Building is always one of the must-stop attractions at the Minnesota State Fair. On the outside, fairgoers line up for the famous honey ice cream. Step inside and you’ll find giant pumpkins, prize-winning Christmas trees, and tucked away in the seed wing, an eye-catching wall covered with hundreds of colorful seed sacks. That display comes from Ron Kelsey, a man whose roots run as deep as the cornfields he grew up in.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/4n6Qklc
AGRILYMPICS: Via MplsStPaul, VERBATIM: “Chris Shaffer is WCCO’s chief meteorologist. He can predict the weather, and he has the Emmys to prove it. He can also create startlingly accurate farm animal noises. He has an award to prove that, too. It’s called the Agrilympics. The Agrilympics started 25 years ago at the Minnesota State Fair, thanks to Doris Mold, founder of the fair’s Moo Booth.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/4g73psn
CROP PROGRESS: Via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “A southwest Minnesota farmer is optimistic about corn and soybean yields with harvest about a month away. Bryan Biegler farms near Lake Wilson.” BIEGLER: “Our crops are looking really well, I don’t know if could get much more of an ideal growing season than what we’ve had. I know there are a lot of places that had some either too wet or too dry (conditions), but we had a pocket down in southwest Minnesota here where we had some really good conditions.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/3JLCZQU
WILD RICE: Via Sahan Journal, VERBATIM: “Rice Lake, part of a National Wildlife Refuge northeast of Lake Mille Lacs, is one of the richest rice beds harvested by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. And this year, the pending harvest looks promising . . . A proposed mining project a few miles from Rice Lake could put manoomin and other natural resources at risk, the Mille Lacs Band fears. The Tamarack Mine is a joint venture between the Talon Metals Corp. and the international mining corporation Rio Tinto, which wants to extract nickel from deep beneath the Earth’s surface.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/47s8KIO
WATER: Via MDA, VERBATIM: “The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) offered free nitrate well testing for the first time at Farmfest this year, giving well owners instant answers about their drinking water. Over the three-day event, 107 private wells were tested. Six exceeded the federal health standard of 10 milligrams per liter (mg/L) nitrate-nitrogen, and another nine showed elevated levels between 5 and 10 mg/L. About three in four Minnesotans rely on groundwater for their drinking water—making its protection a statewide concern.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/463Mtyi
LAND O’LAKES: Via news release from Arden Hills-based Land O’Lakes, VERBATIM: “Today, Land O'Lakes, Inc. unveiled its participation in AgRogue Growth Partners, a bold initiative aimed at harnessing the strength of the cooperative model to fast-track the discovery, investment and adoption of breakthrough technologies to support farmers, their businesses, and their communities. In recent years, agriculture has seen cutting edge innovation and technology meet resistance at the farmgate, then fail to reach its potential. As the Land O'Lakes cooperative system has a long history of driving adoption of the latest ag technologies, Land O'Lakes and a coalition of its retailer-owners will invest up to $7 million in each of 10 to 15 companies focused on improving crop inputs, ag data, supply chain processes, business models and more.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3JNL0EW
TRUTERRA: Via Star Tribune, VERBATIM: “Land O’Lakes is folding its Truterra division into other business units and laying off some employees as the sustainability arm of the Minnesota cooperative grapples with the loss of a major federal grant and other difficulties. Truterra laid off about 30 workers last week, according to several sources familiar with the situation. Employees were told earlier last month the business would merge with the three other Land O’Lakes divisions: dairy foods, WinField United and animal nutrition.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/46k12PM
FORESTS: Via USDA, VERBATIM: “The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing more than $8 million for five new projects to reduce wildfire risk, protect water quality, and improve forest health across the nation. This expands President Trump’s mission to improve the lives of American families, support rural communities, and expand domestic timber production.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3I6mlLg
FRESH15: The latest season of Fresh15 includes interviews with new Minnesota House members. So far, five new members have shared their goals, background and fun facts before they take office in a historic session this January.
Rep. Kari Rehrauer
Rep. Wayne Johnson
Rep. Julie Greene
Rep. Keith Allen
Rep. Peter Johnson
Follow on your favorite podcast platform, or at www.TheDailyAgenda.com/Podcasts. (SPONSORED: Minnesota Telecom Alliance)
RISK: Via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “An ag risk specialist is concerned as farmers deal with increasing uncertainty. Bill Moore with Compeer Financial calls 2025 interesting. ‘Things are moving pretty fast (and) it’s tough frankly to stay on top of things, between tariffs and legal challenges and changing tariffs and delays and then retaliation and production costs.’ He tells Brownfield crop insurance will help some growers this year.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/463eJ4q
(DISCLOSURE: Compeer is a Fluence sponsor)
LOANS: Via farm management analyst Kent Thiesse, VERBATIM: “Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) commodity loans on harvested corn, soybeans and wheat were regularly used by farm operators in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, as well as from 2015 to 2019, as a grain marketing tool. The use of CCC commodity loans dropped off considerably from 2008-2014 and again from 2020-2023, when grain prices reached their highest levels in many years. As farmers prepare for the 2025 harvest season, the use of marketing assistance loans (MAL’s), which are the same as the previous CCC commodity loans, has taken on more significance as an option in setting up post-harvest grain marketing and cash flow plans for corn and soybeans.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/45OYUzr
E15: Via Brownfield, VERBATIM: “The push for nationwide year-round E15 could intensify in the fourth quarter of 2025. Minnesota Biofuels Association executive director Brian Werner says Congress nearly made it happen at the end of 2024.” WERNER: “We’re a little bit like Lucy with the football with E15. We had it in the Continuing Resolution in 2024 until that got pulled out, we had it permanently solved in 2019 through rulemaking through EPA. That got overturned in the courts, so every other avenue has been exhausted (and) we just need Congress to step in and fix this once and for all.” LISTEN: https://fluence-media.co/41DQHeN
WIND: Via Agweek, VERBATIM: “Spring 2025 goes down as one of the windiest on record for large portions of the country from Minnesota to Florida and from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to Washington, D.C. . . . Stephanie McLain, Minnesota’s state soil health specialist with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, took notice of the wind, as it is hard to ignore from her office in Marshall, Minnesota, where the wind never seems to slow and the wind turbines stay very busy.” MCLAIN: “We experience wind erosion problems every year, and 2025 was no exception to that. In fact, I think 2025 was one of the worst wind erosion years that I’ve seen in a long time.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/47n88Ed
FORUM: If you’re interested in having the Fluence Forum host a topic, please contact Blois Olson at bloisolson@gmail.com
HISTORY: Via City of Brooklyn Park, VERBATIM: “Historic Eidem Farm invites you to experience farm life and explore nature this summer on the 19 acre site. There is a wide variety of opportunities to get hands-on experience, learn about the farm’s rich cultural history, play in the dirt, explore the gardens, and visit the animals. Historic Eidem Farm is a living history site that highlights life on the farm during the 1905-1920 era in Brooklyn Park.” SEE: https://fluence-media.co/3HTm9PE
CREAMERY: Via Cheese Reporter, VERBATIM: “Brent Ziegler, chairman of Bongards’ Creameries, announced this week that Dennis Thomas has been appointed president and chief executive officer for the cooperative, effective January 1, 2026. Thomas, currently Bongards’ chief operating officer, will assume his new role on the retirement of Daryl Larson, who has served as president and chief executive officer since 2018. Thomas’ extensive background in the dairy industry prior to Bongards includes general management roles with Dairy Farmers of America, Foremost Farms, Land O’Lakes, and Kraft Foods.” READ: https://fluence-media.co/3HUbZyc
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