Food and Manufacturing Reporter | Food and Manufacturing

Brooks Johnson is a business reporter covering Minnesota’s food industry, 3M and manufacturing trends.

Raised in Fargo and educated at the University of Montana, Johnson worked at newspapers in Idaho, Washington and Duluth before joining the Star Tribune at its relaunched Duluth bureau in 2019. He lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and their young son and is looking for new streams to fly-fish.


Flexible schedules for manufacturing employees are paying off for Land O'Lakes

More manufacturers are chopping up and rotating shifts to attract and retain workers.


East Grand Forks sugar beet factory fined $350K for air quality violations

The American Crystal Sugar plant emitted high levels of particulate matter and hydrogen sulfide over several years.


Longtime downtown Fargo staple Zandbroz Variety closing in June

The iconic bookstore and gift shop helped rejuvenate the main shopping and entertainment district when it opened in 1991.


Minnesota marijuana sales could be delayed or in short supply if planting doesn't start soon

Growers need time to get cannabis planted, harvested, tested and processed — preferably before retailers open.


Hormel settles pork price-fixing suits for $11 million

The company will pay less than other major pork producers have to date to settle the antitrust cases.


Minnesota's struggling plastic film recycler facing eviction for $1.3 million in unpaid rent, bills

Myplas USA owes nearly $400,000 in back rent and faces an $895,000 lien for unpaid electrical work on the facility that was the first of its kind in the state.


Millennials: Is your financial reality not living up to expectations? Get in touch.

We're exploring income disparity and how it affects people's lives.


Where do MLB baseballs come from? Cargill cattle, of course

The Minnesota-based company supplies most of the Holstein hides that become the millions of prized pearls produced every year.


CHS earnings dinged by warm winter

The Minnesota-based ag co-op saw much-improved results in grain and oilseeds.


There may be something worse than pee in your Cheerios, say lawsuits alleging pesticide contamination

Lawsuits in New York and California allege the Minnesota company's flagship cereal contains high levels of chlormequat.