According to a study done by the University of Minnesota, there were a total of seven Minnesota wineries in 1995. By 2007 that number had almost quadrupled, and the most recent tally stands at thirty seven. The increase is due largely to an improved ability by Minnesota growers to manage cold climate conditions. KFAI’s Jake Hodge says the growers have had a significant amount of help from the University of Minnesota’s cold hardy grapes program. [Audio below] Continue Reading
The 2012 Farm Bill got through the U.S. Senate and is, or is about to be, in conference committee with the House, where it will presumably only get worse.
Grass fed beef is the specialty at “Farm on Wheels”, a family run farm in Kenyon, MN. Linda, Mike and Dillon Noble have been selling their beef at the St. Paul Farmers’ market for over twelve years. In this episode, Linda Noble gives a tour of their family farm to SPNN’s Market host Jill Jones and talks about the health benefits of eating beef raised in this natural way. Continue Reading
The quinoa was done, the baked beans and deer brats were piping hot, and the snap peas were steamed to a perfect crisp-tender-sweet. Dinner time. I was hungry.
Big River Farms is an agricultural training program of the Minnesota Food Association. Aaron Blyth, farm manager, tells SPNN’s Market crew how he prepares for the 2012 growing season and how, as a farmer, he deals with the ever changing weather in Minnesota. Continue Reading
From north to south, Mexican farmers are facing some of the most severe climate instability they’ve ever confronted. The northern states are suffering from what the Mexican government has called the worst drought the country has ever experienced; rain just won’t fall, and the crops that have been planted have dried up. Continue Reading
On April 25th I got a chance to tour the Garden Fresh Farms aquaponics facility in Maplewood, MN. Don’t know what aquaponics is? That’s ok, I’ll explain.
Two sets of entrepreneurs that sometimes struggle to make their businesses economically viable are teaming up.Community-supported agricultural operations (CSAs) already have an organized logistics chain to deliver those delicious farm fresh goods to your door. At least two CSAs are leveraging that asset by teaming with CSP (community-supported pottery) artists to deliver their goods as well, helping small local artists enhance their marketing reach.Put in other words, Minnesota CSAs—whereby consumers contract in advance for a certain amount of produce or meats with farmers—are diversifying with a value added service.“It’s like an informal cooperative,” explains Jack McCann, who with his wife Betsy operate True Cost Farm, an organic and CSA pastured meats and eggs farm at Montrose that works with other small, sustainable and organic farms in the Twin Cities metro area.Through their state-licensed butcher shop, they also supply customers with pasture-raised, organic beef, pork, chicken, duck, lamb and egg products from animals they’ve raised or secured from other farmers who practice agriculture in the same way.In addition, the McCanns acquire fresh herbs from Sleepy Root Farm at nearby Howard Lake, on which Brandon Wiarda is a CSA supplier of fresh herbs and vegetables to customers. The McCanns then use Wiarda’s herbs for seasoning the sausage they make on their farm.Expanding the circle of producers and consumers, Sleepy Root Farm in turn offers its customers a “pottery link” on its website that encourages customers to contract for ceramic dishware and related products from a group of aligned artisans.When it makes delivery of contracted boxes of fresh herbs and vegetables to homes or to urban drop off points, Sleepy Root will also deliver boxes of contracted cups, mugs, plates and other pottery products the customers have ordered.“We think this is the first pottery share arrangement in Minnesota. There might be more, but it’s a pretty new concept,” said Eric Mullins, a St. Paul artist who supplies pottery products through the Sleepy Root Farm web site in addition to galleries and sites in the Twin Cities.A variation of this system is operated through Springboard for the Arts, a site and program of MNartists.org, an organization started with grants and support from the Walker Art Center and McKnight Foundation. Continue Reading
Provisions in the 2012 Farm Bill could sustain environmental stewardship going forward. Conservation practices like alternative tilling help farmers reduce topsoil erosion and improve water quality.Area farmers and advocates from the National Wildlife Federation and the Izaak Walton League toured a farm near Northfield to illustrate reasons why land conservation practices could be aligned with taxpayer-supported crop insurance. Continue Reading
