Recent content from Christopher Vondracek
Stinky reception for manure rules in Minnesota farm country
Minnesota regulators are updating rules for two permits, seeking to limit pollution into groundwater
Minnesota State Fair will prohibit nursing dairy cows at Miracle of Birth over bird flu risk
The spread in cattle herds of H5N1, often called bird flu, has ramped up biosecurity measures for livestock as Minnesota's county and state fair season begins.
Feds give Minnesota $200M to decarbonize food systems. Here's what the state will invest in.
Peatland restoration, farm country EVs, and biofuels are all focus areas of major EPA grant.
Chefs convene with farmers in northeast Minneapolis to talk farm policy
The gathering, orchestrated by the Chefs for Healthy Soil movement, comes as the federal Farm Bill remains stalled in Washington, D.C.
Federal funds help launch halal goat meat slaughterhouse in central Minnesota
Clean Chickens started with a mobile poultry-processing unit. The owners of that business will next establish another facility to meet a growing need in the state: a halal meat processor.
A rural Minnesota meat locker goes up in flames, but the business isn't down for good
Cattle producers and butchers in the area say an emerging resilience after decades of decline is helping forestall greater problems in the small meat-processing world.
Minnesota sheep on the lam in Zumbrota evades police but not a cowboy's lasso
Videos from the Zumbrota Police Department document their pursuit of the furry baaaaandit.
Camelina is the crop of jet fuels and cleaner waters. But will farmers grow it?
The winter-planted cover crop has sustainable possibilities in the future, but first, farmers need to know if the muscular, intermediate oilseed can actually grow during Minnesota's notoriously cold winters and mild springs. That starts with a field outside Chatfield.
University of Minnesota ag visionary, Forever Green Initiative founder Don Wyse dies
The University of Minnesota crop scientist helped develop Kernza and pennycress, key parts of the regenerative agriculture movement.
Produce farmers lack crop insurance. This flood has exposed the inequity.
Rains washed out farmland, including many fruit and vegetable crops, in south central Minnesota last month. U.S. agriculture policy historically hasn't protected those growers the same as row-crop farmers who feed animals and power biofuels.