MINNESOTA (KVRR) — Minnesota farmers and rural communities have been hit hard again this year with an increase in their electricity bills. Minnesota Department of Commerce spoke with two Minnesota farmers who say they have turned to solar power for their daily energy. But many people say they are cutting costs by cutting back on medications or food. The deputy…
A producer harvests soybeans Sept. 28, 2025, near Hamberg, North Dakota. (Photo by Lora Wobbema/For the North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — North Dakota farmer Justin Sherlock said he is grateful for the federal ag assistance program announced by the Trump administration, but said it doesn’t replace the need for exports to China and other countries. “It’s going…
FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — Bad news was delivered Thursday at the annual American Crystal Sugar and Red River Valley Sugarbeet growers convention in Fargo. “People generally are more concerned about artificial sweeteners in their food products than they are real sugar. So that kind of messaging around the real natural qualities of sugar is what we’re attempting to do there….
ST. PAUL (KVRR) — Gov. Tim Walz held his annual presentation of Minnesota’s Thanksgiving Turkey. The state leads the nation in turkey production with over 600 farms. He thanked those farmers for everything they do to make Thanksgiving traditions possible. The turkey named “Gru” comes from a farm near Swanville, just east of Alexandria. But unlike The White House turkeys,…
Grand Farms near Casselton, North Dakota, was the site of a demonstration of a Bobcat tractor equipped with Agtonomy’s autonomous operating platform in a mock vineyard field at the Grand Farm Innovation Campus. In the background, the company Pyka demonstrates an autonomous crop protection aircraft. (Photo courtesy of Grand Farm)CASSELTON, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — North Dakota is investing $7…
ST. PAUL (KVRR/KFGO) — Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry has recovered more than $160,000 dollars in a settlement with RD Offutt Farms for employee sick time and recruitment violations. The department says the Fargo-based company will pay over $82,000 for earned sick and safe time and more than $80,000 dollars in penalties for failing to provide employee statements to…
ST. PAUL, Minn. (Minnesota Reformer) — A provision in the federal government’s shutdown-ending spending package would be a massive setback to Minnesota’s hemp-derived THC industry if it were to pass. Although the federal government isn’t likely to start kicking down doors seizing low-dose THC edibles and drinks, a new federal law against hemp-derived THC products would create new logistical hurdles for…
Cattle made their way around the show ring at the Kist Livestock Auction in Mandan on Nov. 5, 2025. (Photo by Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)BISMARCK, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) — North Dakota rancher August Heupel has yet to sell any of the beef calves he has raised this year, so far avoiding the recent drop in prices that was fueled…
GOODHUE CO., Minn. (KVRR) — Traditions continue during this opening weekend of the firearms deer hunting season in Minnesota and North Dakota. Nearly 400 thousand hunters take part in the season each year across Minnesota. Gov. Tim Walz celebrated the opening weekend on private land near Cannon Falls, Minnesota. He spent the morning enjoying the woods but did not harvest…
President Donald Trump’s administration is demanding states “undo” full SNAP benefits paid out under judges’ orders last week, now that the U.S. Supreme Court has stayed those rulings, marking the latest swing in a seesawing legal battle over the anti-hunger program used by 42 million Americans. The demand from the U.S. Department of Agriculture came as more than two dozen states warned…
