Latest news with #Agweek
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Hair-raising study reveals invasive species network spreading across state lines: 'We should really encourage better understanding'
You can buy almost anything on the internet, including invasive plant species. According to Agweek, the University of Minnesota's Invasive Terrestrial Plants and Pests Center and the Minnesota Department of Agriculture looked to see how easy it was to get invasive plants delivered to your door. They were shocked by the results. The team aimed to purchase 77 plant samples from various sellers and collect the data. The Minnesota Noxious Weed Law regulates 57 of them, and 20 are unregulated but considered potentially harmful. Amy Morey, the principal investigator, used Google Chrome to search for the samples and purchase them. She found most of them quickly but didn't spend more than 10 minutes looking. Morey bought 57 of the regulated plants, and only 8% of the purchases were denied. She bought them from 30 U.S. states and 20 countries. "The result was surprising," she said. "We got all sorts of plant material, things that were in pots, that were a couple feet high, bare roots, that were dormant, rhizomes and seeds were the predominant type of material that we received. But those also came in various shapes and sizes in terms of packaging and where they came from." Morey said that many people who buy invasive species online may not know they are doing so given how many plants there are, how difficult it can be to keep track of the problematic ones, and the fact that the threat may vary by state. However, the plants she purchased are invasive in Minnesota. Exotic plants may look cool, but if they are invasive to your area, they can harm the economy, your health, and the environment. Invasive species include not only plants but also animals and aquatic life. According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, some invasive plants in the state are wild parsnip, creeping meadow foxtail, Norway maple, and porcelain berry. Not all foreign plants are invasive, but once invasive species are introduced to an area, they grow quickly and make it hard for native plants to get the nutrients they need, often killing them off. They can also threaten livestock and fish and damage public utility operations. Invasive species cost the U.S. almost $20 billion annually. Some invasive species transmit disease and carry parasites, which can harm human health. Should we be actively working to kill invasive species? Absolutely It depends on the species I don't know No — leave nature alone Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. If invasive species take out native ones, the ecosystem can suffer. Ecosystems require balance; if one species dies off, others may lose a food source and die off too. As Morey noted, "We should really encourage better understanding of what it is that you're what you're purchasing and ultimately putting in the ground." It's vital that you educate yourself about what species are invasive in your area. You should check to see what the native plants are in your zone so you can purchase them. Rewilding your yard can be beneficial, but doing so requires that you get the right species. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Longtime Agweek reporter Jonathan Knutson has died
Apr. 28—GRAND FORKS, N.D. — Longtime Agweek reporter Jonathan Knutson died Friday, April 25, 2025, under the care of hospice. He was 65. Knutson was a respected and renowned agriculture journalist and a past president of the North American Agricultural Journalists. "Jon was one of the best. A great reporter and writer, sure, but he also was a great mentor — both down and up. If we had a new reporter or a new editor on the team, he went out of his way to share his knowledge, which was unmatched. He made everyone around him better," said Kirsten Stromsodt, executive editor for Forum Communications who formerly served as director of content for Agweek. "Jon was a stellar reporter and an even better person," said Jenny Schlecht, director of content for Agweek. "He was an important part of the fabric of Agweek, providing steady, thorough reporting and insightful commentary, straight from someone who knew the world of agriculture personally. We're all better for having worked with him and learned from his experiences." Knutson always described himself as a "farm kid." He grew up on his family farm near McVille, North Dakota. He graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, with a bachelor's degree, then received a master's degree in international management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Phoenix, Arizona. Knutson spent five years at the Bismarck (North Dakota) Tribune. He first came to Agweek in 1989. He spent two years there before moving on to The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead in February 1991, where he covered agriculture and business. Knutson returned to Agweek on April Fools' Day in 2010. Knutson was a big piece of the beginning of AgweekTV , which launched in January 2015. While a print reporter at heart, Knutson became adept at appearing on television, giving his reporting a new audience. He became a fixture on the program for years and helped bring accurate agriculture information into the living rooms of the region. After his retirement in August 2021, Knutson still regularly wrote his popular "Plain Living" column for Agweek and Forum Communications. Throughout his career, Knutson wrote many stories important to agriculture, agriculture policy and ag business, along with many insightful profiles on the agriculture community of the region. When he retired, he chose "five fairly representative stories of which I'm proud" and provided comments on them: 1. A long, wet ag disaster : "Many Agweek readers remember the long rise of Devils Lake adjacent to the North Dakota city bearing the same name. This story, which took first place in the annual North American Agricultural Journalists writing contest, examined how farmers were affected." 2. The man from Moccasin, Mont. : "I've had the great, good fortune to write many personality stories, or feature stories on individuals. This one involved a trip to Great Falls, Mont. — a long drive that proves Agweek's commitment to serving the region — to profile a wheat farmer and national commodity leader whom I dubbed 'the Man from Moccasin, Mont.' " 3. Cultured meat: Good or bad, promise or peril? "I'd like to think I've always written fair, balanced stories. Even though I grew up on a ranch and once owned cattle, this award-winning story, which looked at the pros and cons, friends and foes of cultured meat (aka cell-based meat) fairly reflected the cell-based industry's point of view, or so an industry official told me after the story ran." 4. Flood control creates tough times for farmers, ranchers : "This is the longest story I ever wrote. It looked at disastrous flooding around Towner, North Dakota. I received a second-place in the annual NAAJ writing contest; the first-place winner that year visited China for his story, the third-place winner went to New Zealand. Ah, well, Towner was fine by me; nice town, nice people." 5. 'Arrogant journalists' not found in Upper Midwest ag : "My "Plain Living" columns typically focus on the joys and challenges of modern agriculture. This one looks at the joys and challenges of being an ag journalist. A private graveside service for Knutson is planned for later this year. In lieu of memorials, his family believes the best way to honor his memory is to schedule a cancer screening, especially for colon cancer. To read his full obituary, visit
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
EDITORIAL: A positive step to help promote small, family-owned farms
Apr. 19—Some pictures really are worth 1,000 words. For example, we'd point to a photograph taken April 7 by former Post Bulletin reporter Noah Fish, who now works for Agweek. The photo (you can it find online easily enough) shows Tony Lent and Allie Kuppenbender on their farm in Mazeppa. Also in the photo are the couple's children, Otto, 4, and Aurora, 6 months. If you want to believe that family farming has a future in Minnesota, then this photo gives you reason for hope — but this family, like a lot of other young farmers, needs some help. Lent and Kuppenbender don't plant hundreds of acres of corn and soybeans. They don't milk 500 cows. They don't have containment buildings filled with hogs or feedlots packed with steers. Their farm, Bleed Heart Floral Farm & Design, operates on just 14 acres. They derive the bulk of their family's income from just 2 acres, on which they grow a variety of flowers. They sell cut flowers wholesale, provide arrangements for weddings and other social events, and also offer a subscription-based service of fresh, seasonal bouquets. These young farmers battle many of the same elements that crop farmers face, including unpredictable weather, weeds, insects and other pests, but they lack some of the built-in advantages that bigger, more conventional agricultural operations enjoy. Sen. Steve Drazkowski, a Republican from Mazeppa, and Sen. Aric Putnam, a DFLer from St. Cloud, are teaming up to help level the playing field for farmers like Lent and Kuppenbender. They have co-authored a bill that would qualify flower farms for agricultural classification. Why is such a change needed? Currently, Minnesota's tax code doesn't consider cut flowers as an agricultural product along the lines of soybeans, poultry or even tree seedlings. This means Lent and Kuppenbender pay property taxes on their farmland at the much-higher residential rate, and the process of erecting even basic farm buildings is more permit-burdened and costly than it would be for a turkey farmer who needs a new pole shed. The mere fact that a Republican and a DFLer have united in an effort to update the tax code is strong proof that this change is needed. Bipartisanship in St. Paul is only slightly more common than an orchid blooming outdoors at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in January, so Drazkowski and Putnam deserve full credit for reaching across the partisan divide in an effort to help flower farmers. We urge other legislators in our region to join this effort. Would this classification change have a profound, immediate impact on Minnesota's economy? Probably not. Fewer than 300 floriculture farms operate in Minnesota right now, including 10 in Olmsted County, seven in Goodhue County and 19 in Wabasha County. About 80 percent of the cut flowers sold in the U.S. are imported from other nations, and those imports include the relatively few flower varieties that are easily grown, ship well and have a comparatively long shelf life. But just as the "know your food" movement has gained steam, so too has the market for locally produced flowers. More acres in the U.S. are converted to flower production every year, and local growers can offer more delicate, seasonal, region-specific flowers. They can create bouquets and centerpieces that simply can't be found at a supermarket or a major floral chain. Such flowers might be more expensive than blooms harvested in Mexico (tariffs could change that), but the ever-increasing popularity of farmers markets is ample proof that plenty of people are willing to pay a premium for locally-produced agricultural products. We see this trend as an opportunity for young Minnesotans who want to get their hands dirty. Between 2017 and 2022, Minnesota lost 3,300 farm operations. The land involved didn't vanish, of course — it came under new ownership and/or operators. In that same time, the number of farm operations that worked at least 2,000 acres grew by 21 percent. When agricultural acres change hands, newcomers to farming are largely shut out of the market by the high price of land and equipment. Even renting farmland is difficult, because large operations can pay rates that aspiring newcomers can't match. So, if a young couple doesn't inherit 500 acres and a tractor, they face a difficult path to become conventional crop-and-livestock farmers. But there is another path, and that's the one being followed at Bleeding Heart Farm. Lent and Kuppender are living proof that small operations, even less than 10 acres, can survive and potentially thrive by growing labor-intensive, high-value products that they market and sell locally. Young people who want to create careers in farming will have a tough time buying 500 acres — but five acres is doable. Minnesota should do everything possible to encourage such farms. That's not to say we oppose what's happening on Minnesota's vast agricultural landscape. Large farm operations are very adept and efficient producers of meat, livestock feed and the ethanol that fuels our vehicles. Although we look back with some nostalgia at the days when a 160-acre crop-and-livestock farm could support a family of four, those days are gone — and our state's farmland has never been as productive as it is today. But we like the idea that many of the parcels now considered "hobby farms" or "rural acreages" could soon become viable micro-farms that produce organic vegetables, specialty meats and Minnesota-grown flowers that will make beautiful centerpieces for Easter feasts. And if kids like Otto and Aurora grow up on the farm and decide to follow in Mom's and Dad's footsteps, so much the better.
