Messages From The Dean

Radio Transcript from Minnesota Farm Network, On the Farm radio show with Tom Rothman

This is Bev Durgan on the Farm. Traditionally, Asian buyers tended to discount Minnesota soybeans because of low crude protein numbers. Today these buyers are learning to look at more than crude protein and that is good news for Minnesota soybean growers.

Radio Transcript from Minnesota Farm Network, On the Farm radio show with Tom Rothman

This is Bev Durgan on the Farm. There are teenage boys growing up in this state who have no idea what a potato looks like. They have seen plenty of french fries and potato chips, but they have never seen a raw potato. I saw this example in a recent video about Farm to School programs in Minnesota.

Radio Transcript from Minnesota Farm Network, On the Farm radio show with Tom Rothman

This is Bev Durgan on the Farm. Spring is always a nervous time for farmers. This year there is more tension than normal. I see that tension in the faces of farmers I talk to at Extension meetings and I see the reason for that tension in fields as I drive across the state.

Thursday, March 8 is National Agriculture Day. Much has changed since University of Minnesota grad, Don Neth, started this day to honor agriculture more than 40 years ago. Back then, talk about agriculture focused on "the farm problem" and what to do with surpluses. Today the surpluses are gone, and some are suggesting this might be the Golden Age of Agriculture.

The year 2011 was a wild ride for agriculture with unpredictable weather and prices. That makes someone in my role cautious when asked to predict what will happen next.

I do not know what the weather will be in 2012, but I am fairly certain Minnesota agriculture in 2012 and beyond will be driven by three key factors:

Radio Transcript from Minnesota Farm Network, On the Farm radio show with Tom Rothman

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Too many people read the top line of the US Census data showing rural Minnesota losing population and make judgments about the vitality of rural communities. Fortunately, Dick Senese, Associate Dean of the University of Minnesota Extension's Center for Community Vitality, dug deeper into the numbers and found three points worth remembering...

Radio Transcript from Minnesota Farm Network, On the Farm radio show with Tom Rothman

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This is Bev Durgan on the Farm. Governor Mark Dayton declared September as Farm to School Month in Minnesota. The phrase "farm to school" refers to programs that encourage schools to use more local foods in their cafeterias and encourage teachers to include food and agriculture in their lesson plans.