Minnesota | Field 2 Field

May 21, 2020May 21, 2020

Farmer Angel Network giving farmers a safe place to talk

“Farmer Angel Network.” It just seems like something weird to say because you don’t typically use the words “farmer” and “angel” in the same sentence. However, the old saying that “necessity is the mother of invention” is a true one. More than half a decade of struggle in the agricultural industry has taken a big toll on farmers, so the Farmer Angel Network began in Wisconsin to give producers a safe place to talk about what they’re going through.

Randy Roeker is a Loganville, Wisconsin-based farmer who started the Farmer Angel Network after going through struggles of his own early in his farming career, a career that began shortly before the recession began in the late 2000s. It hit him hard.

A Growing Dairy Farm

“I started out milking 50 cows here,” he recalled. “Around 20 years ago, we decided to expand the operation. We kept growing and eventually we were milking around 190 cows in a 50-stanchion barn. At that time, we decided to build a new operation, so we built a new milking parlor.

“Then, of course we’d just finished building the new place when the recession hit in 2008,” Roeker said. “The anxiety got so bad for me and I got a bad case of depression. I thought I’d be the last person to come down with depression, and when I did, my thought was ‘I never want this to happen to anybody’ after I got through it.”

At one point, Roeker says they were milking close to 300 cows and losing roughly $30,000 a month. He had heard figures of other farmers losing $60-$100 a cow.

Farmer Angel Network Begins

Ten years later, Roeker decided to put together a meeting in his local church in Loganville. Little did he know how much his meetings would get noticed. At the first meeting, they were interviewed by someone from the Wisconsin State Journal. That report was released on the Associated Press Network and the story wound up all over the country.

“We next had Soledad O’Brien of the weekly syndicated talk show Matter of Fact send a correspondent up here and they interviewed everyone at our meeting,” Roeker said. “Right after that, NBC News with Lester Holt was out here at my farm, so we made NBC News talking about the work we are doing.

“What we’re doing is designed to help farmers overcome the mental challenges associated with farming,” he said. “We talk about different topics to help see these guys through the tough times. Those tough times, unfortunately, affected one of my neighbors so badly that he took his own life.”

Mental Health Struggles and Farmer Suicide

Roeker said the suicide hit him hard. The farmer who took his own life was a member of Roeker’s church. That unfortunate event took the Loganville farmer back to where he’d been ten years earlier. “I remembered feeling so alone, I didn’t have anyone to turn to, and my family had no idea what to do with depression,” he recalled. “I happened to see my therapist the very next day after the suicide and told her it’s now my calling to help other farmers.”

Farmers are self-reliant and independent people who don’t typically want to talk to others about the tough stuff they go through. However, Roeker says he gave them a safe environment to talk in and they’re taking advantage of the meetings. “One of the things we stress is it’s okay to talk about stuff like this,” Roeker said. “We need to shed the stigma of depression in farm country.”

That’s tough to do when dairy farmers are having to dump their milk and hog farmers are unfortunately having to euthanize hogs because there’s nowhere to send them to be processed. “Luckily, we’re not having to dump our milk here, but I do have several friends across the country that are and it’s just a shame,” he said.

“That’s why it’s so important to talk about anxiety and depression because all producers, no matter what crops they grow or livestock they raise, are going through the stress,” Roeker said, “and they just don’t know which way to turn.”

People can find out more about the Farmer Angel Network on their Facebook page. You can also find Randy Roeker on Facebook. “I’ve been talking one-on-one to people from all over the country who see my name in the media and reach out,” Roeker says, “I welcome that because I’ve been through it and I don’t want anyone else to feel so alone that they can’t reach out and talk.”

Overcoming Farmer Reluctance to Talk About Depression

Little by little, Roeker thinks people in his area are getting over the stigma of talking about depression and struggles. Still, it’s a work in progress. He says farmers have driven to his meetings from several hours away, likely because at least some of them don’t want their neighbors to know about their struggles. One thing Roeker would like to see is the Farmer Angel Network spread to other communities and even other states.

“I’ve talked to at least five people about starting these meetings in their own communities,” he added. “Everyone needs to talk out their problems and when we get together like this, it’s a safe setting with like-minded people.”

May 18, 2020May 18, 2020

Minnesota FFA Convention will look a little different

Minnesota FFA will be recognizing 91 years of success in school-based agricultural education as the organization will hold its annual Minnesota FFA convention virtually May 19-21. Organization leaders will use a virtual format to conduct a portion of the activities which normally take place during the State FFA Convention held in late April at the University of Minnesota.

“We are proud to provide an experience that can be accessed in real time, along with an opportunity for all students to take part in interactive workshops and panels, while recognizing student involvement and leadership,” said Juleah Tolosky, Minnesota FFA executive director.

The FFA Career and Leadership Development events which are an important part of a typical Minnesota FFA State Convention will not be held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the virtual format will include award ceremonies honoring individual success in Supervised Agricultural Experiences (i.e. Work-based Learning) within Agriscience projects, as well as Proficiency Awards, State FFA Degrees and State FFA Stars.

The FFA will also celebrate excellence in community service, agricultural literacy efforts and overall FFA chapter program excellence. Significant contributions of supporters will be honored through the Minnesota FFA Alumni Hall of Fame and Minnesota FFA Foundation recognition programs.

The convention, with Illuminate as its theme, will feature keynote speeches from FFA state and national officers, as well as the announcement of the 2020-2021 Minnesota FFA officer team. Convention content will be available on the Minnesota FFA YouTube Channel and will be shared on the organization’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
“Changing the format of the event allows us to recognize students before the end of the school year and to eliminate financial or regulatory barriers that may have prevented students or entire programs from being able to participate,” said Tolosky.

Here’s a little throwback to last year’s opening session of the State FFA Convention.

“The current pandemic and its associated challenges also provided an opportunity for the current student officers on FFA chapter, region and state levels to take part in executive-level decision-making and practice servant leadership,” said Tolosky.

The FFA State Convention begins at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, May 19. The Minnesota FFA Convention app, which supplies links to convention events, will be available beginning Friday, May 15 and can be downloaded at https://crowd.cc/mnffa2020 or https://crowd.cc/s/3M8i0. Additional details and the convention schedule can also be found at mnffa.org.

About Minnesota FFAFFA is a national organization developing students’ potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education with more than 700,000 members in all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Minnesota FFA Association represents nearly 11,000 members and nearly 200 high school chapters across the state. Agricultural education engages students through hands-on learning in the classroom, work-based learning opportunities known as Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) projects and FFA activities. You can learn more about the experiences of FFA members and supporters by visitingwww.mnffa.org and www.ffa.org.

May 18, 2020May 18, 2020

Farm stress management via the HERD

Farm stress. There’s far too much of it going on these days. What a way to make a living as the farming economy has been in the dumper for over half a decade and it’s getting worse, just as we were beginning to see a tiny light at the end of a still very dark, very long tunnel. This COVID-19 outbreak and its effects on the economy are only making things more difficult.

The assignment from the National Association of Farm Broadcasting (I work there as Assistant News Service Editor) was to find an expert who could give farmers tips on how to handle the enormous stress they were carrying after the trade war with China, numerous weather disasters, as well as commodity prices so low that farmers could no longer cover their cost of production.

Thanks to a Google search, I found out that Dr. Josie Rudolphi of the University of Illinois was just the expert to help farmers deal with everything that’s happening. She’s an Assistant Professor in the Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department at the campus in Champaign, Illinois. Rudolphi has developed the HERD Stress Management Strategy and spends a lot of time speaking about it throughout rural America.

“Producers are experiencing more farm stress than we’ve seen over the previous five years, which no one thought was possible,” she said. “We’re getting further into spring, which is already a stressful period, and now we’re compounding that with COVID-19, which is a double-edged sword.

“Not only does it create health concerns,” Rudolphi added, “it also creates big concerns about what we see happening in the markets right now. Traditional markets aren’t available for a lot of their products right now, so people have to find a non-traditional way to move some of their products, or they have to dispose of them entirely. That’s an enormous stressor, so it’s a really challenging spring.”

Here’s some highlights of a breakout session that Dr. Rudolphi gave on stress management at the 2019 National Farm and Ranch Conference.

HERD Stress Management

HERD is an acronym that describes what she calls “positive ways of coping with stress.” She tried to keep it as general as possible just because people experience and handle stress in different ways. The goal of the strategy is to keep people as healthy as possible through a stressful period.

HERD stands for Hobbies, Exercise, Relaxation, and Diversion. Rudolphi calls them “evidence-based ways of positively coping with stress,” with positively being the key word in the sentence.

Hobbies – “There’s a lot of scientific evidence that doing something purely for pleasure, even two hours a week, can have a tremendous impact on mental health,” she said. “What separates a hobby from a job is it’s a creative outlet. We’re talking about things like art, gardening, and woodworking.

“We do know woodworking is a big one on a lot of farms across America,” Dr. Rudolphi said. “So is working with metal, as well as restoring old farm equipment. Hobbies are something different from our jobs and something we want to do for ourselves. It’s a great way to shift yourself out of a stressful mindset, so find something to do that you truly enjoy.”

Exercise – “We all know exercise is good for us,” Rudolphi said. “Exercise has huge physical benefits, but it also has tremendous mental benefits as well. And you only need to do a minimum of 20 minutes a day, it doesn’t have to be arduous or intense. It just means getting your heart rate above resting. A brisk walk is certainly a way to start reaping some of the physical and mental benefits.

Relaxation – “It might be a no-brainer to some, but this is all about finding ways to decompress,” she said. “You know how life on the farm can be. It’s challenging and there’s always something to do and be worrying about.

“it could be something as simple as a nap,” Rudolphi said. “It’s often hard to find the time or even the justification for a quick nap. Getting the rest and relaxation that we need is a vital piece of maintaining our physical and mental health.”

Diversion – “It’s always fun to talk about diversions,” she said with a smile I could almost see over the phone. “It’s a way of distracting your brain and stopping something like negative self-talk or possibly a thought spiral.

“For example, if you find yourself getting really overwhelmed thinking about things like farm finances, farm succession planning, I always recommend you take 20 minutes and do something else. Change the task in front of you by maybe taking a drive to another farm for a visit. It could be a 20-minute YouTube video about something purely for entertainment or a laugh. It’s trying to divert our attention away from something bringing a tremendous amount of stress.”

Signs of serious farm stress

There are signs of extreme stress (what she calls “distress” that friends and family should be watching out for. You want to watch for physical, behavioral, and emotional changes in your friend or family member out on a farm.

“Watching out for signs is very important because we often have trouble admitting to ourselves that we’ve changed, especially if it’s not a positive change,” she said. “It’s easier to observe changes in others and bring it up to them if that should become necessary.”

Physical – “Are they sleeping a lot more,” Rudolphi said, “or have they gone the other way and don’t sleep much at all? Are they eating a lot more or a lot less? Are they experiencing some kind of chronic pain, such as a backache or headache? Is their heart racing or are they experiencing nausea?

Behavioral – “These are changes in our day-to-day patterns,” she said. “The changes could be in how much we eat, drink, or sleep. Changes could show up in what we’re interested in. They could also include work changes, especially if someone starts neglecting the things they’re supposed to do. Distressed people also could manifest changes how they care for themselves.”

Emotional – “These are the easiest changes to spot,” Rudolphi said. “Depression shows up as people not interested in the things they used to enjoy. They could also become easily agitated, irritable, or angry. A blowup at a family member is an obvious sign that there’s too much stress.”

Stress Management Resources

She says there are several national and regional stress lines that farmers can call to talk to someone about what’s happening on their farm. Iowa has the Iowa Concerned Hotline. Minnesota has several farm hotlines that producers can access. But, there’s nothing wrong with looking for professional help if you feel it’s gone that far.

“A really good place to start toward achieving that objective is to talk to your primary care provider,” she says. “They’ll be able to help you triage the situation and help you navigate the resources available in your insurance system.”

Farmers are known as independent folks who prefer to handle things themselves. Rudolphi says it’s vital to remember that asking for help does not make you weak or mean something is seriously wrong with you.

“No,” she said emphatically. “Absolutely not. If you have livestock and something is wrong with them, you wouldn’t hesitate to ask for help. Give yourself that same level of care, for both your sake and for the people around you.”

May 17, 2020May 17, 2020

Hobbies broadening my horizons in middle-age

Hobbies. I’ve never really had much time for them through the course of my life and I’m honestly not sure why as I sit here and write. Too busy trying to make ends meet? Too lazy? The truth, as it is with most everything in life, is probably somewhere in the middle.

I’ve never really been the adventurous type. Always seemed to want to play it safe and never do anything other people might find unexpected. Then, I moved to the Twin Cities and discovered urban exploring. It’s been a rather eye-opening experience since adding it to my still-growing list of hobbies.

I saw people going to places very few others went to. That spoke to me and I honestly wasn’t sure why at first. Then, as I got a little further into the hobby, it started to dawn on me through the feedback I got mostly through Facebook. “I really enjoy following your explorations,” is something I heard on a regular basis.

This old girl was far and away my favorite old vehicle that I discovered during a Saturday
afternoon exploration. (Photo by Chad Smith)

Plus, I got feedback from people I didn’t expect. The City Administrator at Rushford, Minnesota, Tony Chladek, is a busy fella (and does a great job) but he mentioned during a phone call how much he enjoys my urban exploring photography. He said the same thing I get in a lot of feedback; “I really enjoy following you into places not a lot of people go.”

The current Secretary of Agriculture in Minnesota, Thom Peterson, is a long-time Facebook friend who also mentioned he likes following my explorations. It was funny how he mentioned it after we’d finished an interview for a newspaper article I was writing.

While going through abandoned places, I find it a lot of fun to try and picture what life must have been like back in the day, all those years ago. How different things must have been three decades ago? And, how similar some things might have been as well.

That’s what hooked me into it. Going places that other people don’t typically get to go. But it’s even more than that. It’s the history behind some of these places that also fascinates me too. Spent an afternoon a while back exploring the Pokegama Sanatorium near Pine City, Minnesota. One of the most interesting things I found there was documentation and medical papers that went back as far as 30 years.

Got a tip from a Facebook friend and fellow urbex (slang for urban exploring) enthusiast about a bunch of abandoned vehicles tucked away in a shelter-belt near the Mazomani Trail that I had recent explored. I sure found a number of vehicles that had been stashed away a long time ago.

Far and away the BIGGEST piece of machinery I found abandoned in the tree line. Thought
for a crazy moment I’d found the remains of Optimus Prime. (Photo by Chad Smith)

Man, did walking through a shelter-belt bring back memories of life on the Gerhold Farm. My brother, Travis, and I spent all kinds of time exploring the tree lines around the entire farm. If I remember right, Grandpa John had his own vehicles stashed away among the trees as well.

Talk about some serious nostalgia that made this soon-to-be 50-year-old smile like he was all of fourteen again. Of course, my wife will occasionally say that me and my grown sons can collectively be 14 years old as well. Not sure that’s a compliment?

Hobbies. We all need one or two. If you don’t have one, get one, okay? Hobbies make life more interesting.

Nature always wins in the end, doesn’t she? (Photo by Chad Smith)

May 7, 2020May 7, 2020

Frost in the Friday night forecast in farm country

Here is the audio podcast with Ryan Martin that you can download to your computer. You can also play it on your mobile device. Just his the play arrow on the left.

Frost in the forecast is rarely a good thing in farm country during any season outside of winter. In an ideal world, the only exception is a killing frost after corn states hit black layer. Of course, we don’t always live in an ideal world, do we? Ryan Martin of Warsaw, Indiana, is a long-time agricultural meteorologist who says the threat of some frost damage will begin this weekend.

“The days most in question are Friday night, May 8, into Saturday morning,” he said. “The axis of the coldest air will come across eastern Minnesota, Wisconsin, east-to-northeast Iowa, northern Illinois, most of Indiana, as well as all of Michigan and Ohio. This is the zone where we’ll see temperatures at 30 degrees or colder.”

He said the coldest air looks to hit Michigan and Ohio this weekend, where we could see some big impact on soft red winter wheat, especially in Ohio. The frost timing is not good as wheat has woken up out of winter dormancy and is moving forward through its growth stages.

“The wheat is at the jointing stage and anytime the crop gets further into its growth, that means the wheat is a little more susceptible to cold temperatures,” Martin said, “depending on how much the temps fall and how long they’re under a certain threshold.

“If wheat is just breaking dormancy and you get a cold snap, you have to be under 28 degrees anywhere between three and five hours,” he added. “When we get into the jointing stage and further along, wheat can barely handle 30 degrees for an hour or two. That’s where the issue lies on wheat this weekend.”

Frost — Ryan Martin, Hoosier Ag Today meteorologist, says the fast pace of planting in 2020 is
going to slow down for a few days due to cooler than normal temps in farm country. (Photo
YouTube.com)

Corn and soybeans will hopefully be a different story. Based on the crop planting progress and emergence reports, Martin, Chief Meteorologist for the Hoosier Ag Today Radio Network, is much more optimistic about those crops being able to survive the freezing temps.

“Illinois leads the way with nine percent of its corn crop emerged,” he said. “In most areas, the growing point of the crop is still going to be below ground, so I don’t think it will mean anything for corn and soybeans on mortality. What it does do is slow down that incredibly fast-paced planting season we’ve seen in many states.”

A couple of other examples include Iowa, which was on a record planting pace during the last planting update, while Minnesota just to the north is no slouch either on planting progress. The Purdue University meteorology graduate says all of the “good stuff” that comes with early-planted corn gets slowed down and “stunted” because of the frost/freeze over the weekend and the extended run of below-normal temps that won’t end till the middle of next week.

“Cold air moved out of Canada and focused on the Great Lakes, Upper Midwest, and the northeastern United States,” Martin said. “However, there’s an interesting twist ahead in the forecast for the next seven-to-ten days. We’ll start to see temperatures in the below-normal areas start to moderate on May 13 through 15.

“Things will take a drastic switch after that,” he added. “We’ll see above-normal temps in the Eastern Corn Belt, while the Plains may drop down below normal through the last part of May. There’s a lot of air currents, different movements here, different patterns trying to emerge, and it all has to do with where polar air is shifting to this time of year.”

It’s been a bit of an unusual spring so far for many reasons, but I’m just talking about the weather. What we’ve seen so far in terms of temps and precipitation has been very different from recent years. There’s no question, a lot of states have seen temperatures consistently lower than what they normally expect.

“Big swings in spring temps aren’t unusual,” says Martin. “We’ve certainly seen them before. I think the reason it’s coming home to roost a little bit more and has people scratching their heads is the degree of change from the last several years.

“We’ve had pretty dog-gone decent springs over the past handful of years,” he recalled. “We’ve come out of winter early and been able to hit the ground running based on the temps. Last year, precipitation was a big problem, but the temperatures were still decent. This year is the first out of the past five or so that’s really showed us the kind of variability we can see in the spring.”

Ryan will do custom forecasts for your radio and TV stations. Check out his work at www.weatherstud.com.

May 6, 2020May 6, 2020

Bison ranching industry struggling through COVID-19

Bison ranching. The first thing that may come to mind is hundreds of Bison thundering down the prairie a long time ago. Did you know we raise bison on farms across the country? In fact, the U.S. has bison production in every state in the union. While it’s been a growing industry for many years, the impact of COVID-19 on raising Bison has been anything but positive.

“We’re a small segment of agriculture,” says Dave Carter, the Executive Director of the National Bison Association. “However, we’ve been growing for the last 15 years and turning into a strong and steady business. Most producers have been pretty profitable over that stretch.”

Here’s an interesting conversation about raising bison in the United States. It’s from a YouTube channel called Off-Farm Income

Bison is marketed in two locations, similar to the other major protein segments in U.S. agriculture. Those markets include the restaurant/foodservice sector and the retail sector. Carter said because bison processors tend to be smaller than their counterparts that process beef and pork, they often specialize in one market or the other.

“When COVID-19 hit and restaurants shut down, those processors serving the foodservice customers really took a hit,” he said. “Some have had to lay off up to 60 percent of their employees almost overnight. Those folks who saw restaurants shut down were suddenly scrambling and trying to adapt as retail demand went up.

Bison ranching — Dave Carter is the Executive Director of the National Bison Association. (Photo from the Business Journals)

“Herein lies the problem,” Carter added. “Most of the higher-end cuts like steaks go into the restaurant and foodservice sector. On the retail side, customers are going into stores to buy ground bison. When the higher-end cuts like tenderloins at $24 a pound aren’t selling while people are buying ground bison at $9 a pound, it has a significant financial impact.”

The prices that processors have paid to ranchers over the past month have dropped around 40 cents a pound, a significant price cut for a large animal like bison. Prices have been around $3.70 a pound. He admits while other livestock sectors would love to see that price, it’s still a significant drop for bison producers in just one month’s time.

The ranchers in the finishing segment of the bison industry are the ones being hit hardest because they’ve got animals that are ready to go and are having to hold onto them longer. Processors aren’t working as quickly as they normally would due to layoffs and illness. Animals that stay longer on the farm tend to gain more weight than is optimum and it adds more expense to the bottom line.

One of the biggest challenges the industry faces is getting enough feed because of what’s going on in the ethanol industry. “Distiller’s grains have been a big part of our feeding formula in bison ranching,” Carter said. “Because of the crisis in the ethanol industry, the price of distiller’s grains is going up significantly and the availability is going down.

“That means we now have ranchers who will get less for their animals when they deliver them to their processor,” he added, “but their feed costs are going up at the same time.”

He is thankful that none of the bison processing plants in the country have had to shut down entirely because of the outbreak. Unfortunately, a high number of workers have tested positive for COVID-19 and that’s made other employees hesitant to come to work. But Carter says those bison processors are doing a “great job” of caring for their workers through social distancing, through testing, and by providing Personal Protective Equipment,

Livestock producers in the pork sector have had to make the horrible decision to euthanize some of their animals as they don’t have anywhere to send their hogs for processing. Carter says the bison industry isn’t at the point yet.

“We still have enough supply chain capacity that our ranchers haven’t had to make that decision,” he said. “One reason for that is, unlike our friends in the cattle industry, we don’t have fall calving. Most of our calves are born between April and June, which meant they were weaned and already sent to other ranchers for finishing between November and February of last year.

“That means producers were already done selling their previous calf crop before COVID-19 showed up,” Carter added. “A lot of the ranchers that are feeding bison will probably turn some of their animals back out to pasture and let them graze on grass, so they don’t have the extra feed expense. We can hold them longer than a lot of other livestock, so we aren’t in danger of having to euthanize them in the near future.”

May 4, 2020May 4, 2020

Victory at the Jabs Farm – Finally Found It

Victory at last. After an unsuccessful first expedition , I came in from the south and found the Jabs Farm Site located between Jordan and Carver, Minnesota. It’s a long hike through the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, but it was totally worth it to see the building remnants that date all the way back to the late 1880s.

Here’s a short video I put together of the site.

One thing about the internet, they’ll sure tell you if you’re wrong. Came in from the north on the first trip and ran into a whole lot of water (flooding). Didn’t know there was another way in. But if you ask for assistance, the internet will also offer that too. And by the internet, I’m talking about the people on social media. Thanks to Brendon Maness, my newest Facebook exploring buddy. Took the time to put together directions so detailed, even I couldn’t get lost.

It took a while but I made it to the Jabs Farm on what I’m calling
the “Chad Smith victory hike.” (Photo by Chad Smith)

If you know anything about me personally, you know I have the direction sense of a wounded bumblebee. Ever seen a bumblebee fly? Nuff said.

You won’t get to park anywhere close to the site itself. I hiked two miles from where I parked to the site. Since my gym shut down over a month ago, it was a much harder hike than it would have been normally. I’m not a man that was naturally gifted with patience when I wanna get somewhere. The walk to victory was much more brisk than the hike back to the car.

The longest structure at the Jabs Farm. I’m just completely guessing but it’s either a storage area for equipment or animals. Again, just a guess. (Photo by Chad Smith)

The Riedel family originally put the farmstead together sometime between 1860 and 1880. Among the ruins of their old barn, one limestone chunk was engraved with “1880.” They worked the land till the Jabs family assumed control in 1905. They would control the land up to 1979, when the land was turned into the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge.

Just think for a minute about the Riedel family putting that operation together through the late 1800s. They didn’t have the state-of-the-art tools that we have today. That had to be some serious back-breaking labor in order to get those buildings up and going.

There was some restoration work done by Minnesota Fish and Wildlife. If you’re like me, your first though was “what?” However, the agency does maintain and protect a lot of abandoned buildings on their lands throughout the state.

The land the Jabs Farm sits on is now part of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. (photo by Chad Smith)

It’s a great place to go if you want to be “socially distant” from other folks. I didn’t see much more than a half-dozen folks going in and coming out. Like I said, it’s a trek. Mostly flat with some occasional ups and downs. Victory for this old guy felt pretty good!

Absolutely love the limestone they used to build the farmstead. (Photo by Chad Smith)

Here’s the link to my complete photo album on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chad.smith.75685/media_set?set=a.3079533055440443&type=3&uploaded=50

May 3, 2020May 3, 2020

History and hiking at the Indian Mounds Loop Trail

History and hiking is one of my favorite combinations. In this day and age of staying at home as much as possible, it’s become an even bigger favorite. You never know what you’ll find around the next corner in any of the dozens of trails around the Twin Cities metro area. The sights to see and the history behind the location are a remarkable combination.

Indian Mounds Regional Park and the Loop Trail that runs through it was my destination of choice. The park gets its name from the six Native American burial mounds that sits on top of bluffs that overlook St. Paul and the Twin Cities in Minnesota. The views up on those bluffs were spectacular.

At least 16 burial mounds were up there on top of those bluffs at one time. Nineteen more mounds were located further down the bluffs near a place called Carvers Cave. The mounds remain scared to the Dakota Tribe to this day. It’s believed by experts that the burial mounds were created between 1,500 and 2,000 years ago.

Back in the mid-1800s, several scientists with an interest in Minnesota history examined the contents of the mounds that were still left. Experts found different types of burials under the mounds.

Here are just two of the Native American burial mounds you’ll see at the Indian Mounds Park while hiking on the Loop Trail. (Photo by Chad Smith)

The most common types were simple burials. According to the historical information I found, people were buried with mussel shells and an occasional projectile point. Smaller bundle burials were found in the upper parts of many mounds, which meant they were buried by later peoples than the original population. Even more interesting, there were a few tombs made out of logs found at the base of at least three tombs.

A couple of the burial mounds had stone cists which were seven inches high and made up of thin limestone slabs which were set upright. Human bones were found in each cist and were accompanied by grave offerings like shells, perforated bear teeth, copper ornaments, a piece of hammered sheet copper, as well as numerous projectile points.

The hike isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s rated as a medium difficulty, which means there are hills. Of course, if you’re going for a workout, it’ll be right up your alley.

Plus, if you like trains, there’s a bunch of trains going by down at the bottom of the bluffs. And I like trains, so it made a fun day that much better.

You’ll find a remarkable view of St Paul and the Twin Cities while hiking down the Indian
Mounds Loop Trail. (Photo by Chad Smith)

April 27, 2020April 27, 2020

Farmer optimism hits an all-time low

Farmer optimism is in the dumper and there is no nice way to say it. COVID-19 and its economic impact, low commodity prices, trade wars, and weather have made life even more challenging. DTN found out that farmer optimism is at a record low. They’ve been doing a tri-annual survey of farmers for several years and this spring’s Agricultural Confidence Index hit an all-time low mark.

The baseline for their survey is 100. Everything below 100 is pessimistic, and any number above 100 is considered optimistic.

“We do our survey in the spring, just before planting,” said DTN Editor-In-Chief Greg Horstmeier. “We also do one at harvest, and then our final survey is in December, which is basically farm tax time. The drop in the index from the last time we did this in December is not a surprise, given everything that’s going on.

“It was a record-sized drop down to an index reading of 67,” he added. “That’s a 97-point drop, which is even more remarkable because we’re hearing that agriculture is moving on as normal. Everyone is either getting ready to or heading out into the field, so that big of a damper on the survey results is surprising.”

Horstmeier said spring is typically the most optimistic time of the year for farmers. New crops are going into the ground, which automatically means a fresh start, especially if the year before was as tough as 2019. Low optimism in the spring isn’t unusual. What’s unusual about this survey is how pessimistic farmers are about the future outlook.

The future outlook is typically very optimistic during the spring survey. “This year, that index reading was 73, which means it dove hard into negative territory,” Horstmeier said. “That was the big takeaway for me. Not only does the current situation have farmers in a pessimistic state of mind, but they don’t have a lot of promise for the foreseeable future.”

Another thing that really stood out was just how prevalent the pessimism is in different sectors of agriculture. It didn’t matter what farmers grew or how big their operations were, either. Even in down years, there’s typically difference worth noting.

“We typically see at least some differences between, for example, livestock and crop producers,” Horstmeier said. “We’ve also seen regional differences, such as the Midwest may be less optimistic than farmers in the Southeast. The pessimism was across the board, regardless of location, income level, the crops they grew, and what kind of enterprises they had.”

Speaking of Midwest farmers, in this year’s survey they showed the most pessimism currently, yet they also had the most optimism for the future. Southeastern farmers were more optimistic about their current conditions (89) but felt less optimism for their future (56).

DTN also conducts a similar survey of agribusinesses. The index level came in at a just-above-neutral 104. Agribusinesses rated their current conditions at a slightly pessimistic 85. However, they were above neutral when looking at the future, coming in at 118.

Here’s the link to the DTN survey article.

April 27, 2020April 27, 2020

Prevented planting and cover crops: 2019 Lessons Learned

Prevented planting, cover crops, and a wet fall taught farmers across the Midwest a lot of lessons going into 2020. The South Dakota NRCS has put together a short film

Watch this 3 1/2-minute video which is part of a new mini series for #agriculture.

In this discussion, farmers and specialists go over some of the lessons learned in 2020.

Wet August 2019 conditions prevented some cover crops from being planted; farmers were left weighing up terminating covers in the fall or leaving them to overwinter and provide spring growth; the perspective of experienced cover croppers on their attitudes to reseeding of covers (e.g., buckwheat) and how they deal with them.

prevented planting — Cover crops and prevent plant acres in 2019; the South Dakota NRCS documented some lessons learned from last year and how they apply to the 2020 crop year. (Photo from NPR.org(

“Growing Resilience” is intended to help farmers and ranchers gain insights into 2020 crop year thinking from eight farmers and several technical specialists from the South Dakota NRCS and SDSU. Filmed in late-February 2020 in Mitchell and Crooks, SD, these recorded conversations offer candid comments on issues they faced on 2019 Prevented Planting acres, and how their soil improvement journey makes their fields more resilient.

These short video stories provide farmers and ranchers with ideas and options to consider now and for future growing seasons. Additional resources, including technical guidelines, are available on our website at www.sd.nrcs.usda.gov > Soils > Growing Resilience with Soil Health.Specialists with the USDA NRCS are respecting social distancing and are available by phone or email for answering questions. Please visit farmers.gov/service-center-locator to find the latest COVID19 operational status and a directory with your local office and employee contact information.

Please feel free to “like and share” on your favorite social media!

Initiated by the USDA NRCS with a Partnership Work Group.
Produced by the University of South Carolina in collaboration
with the USDA NRCS serving South Dakota.

The views and opinions of the farmer participants expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.