Quarry Park and Nature Preserve was the latest stop on the 2021 “Explore Minnesota Before I Run Out of Gas Tour.” I’m not sure if that name is referring to my car or my body because, at my age, I run out of gas a little quicker than I used to, but I digress. I jumped in the car early on a Saturday morning because I could no longer sleep, so what was the point in trying?
Here are some of the highlights from the Quarry Park and Nature Preserve exploration. It’s a great place to do some hiking and picture taking! (Video by Chad Smith)
I spent a couple of hours looking for some abandoned places to explore, but that idea turned out to be a dud. I found myself in Waite Park, Minnesota, up by St. Cloud, and needing a pit stop. I AM 50, after all. Coming into town, I happened to glance to the right and noticed what looked like a couple of large gravel pits. Okay, they weren’t gravel, they were granite, but it’s the only thing I had stored in my brain to compare them to.
Minnesota parks like the Quarry Park and Nature Preserve in Waite Park are a ton of fun to see. I’ll warn you that while you can swim here, the water gets really deep in a hurry! The deepest one reached 116 feet. (Photo by Chad Smith)
Quarry Park and Nature Preserve is the full name of the place and covers nearly 700 acres of Stearns County land. At one time, it was an actual granite quarry known as the “Hundred Acres Quarry.” Granite is formed by intense heat within the earth and was the “foundation” of a major industry.
The history page on the park’s website points out that the first granite quarry in Central Minnesota was opened in 1863 by two Scotsmen. In the 130 years that followed, central Minnesota granite became an international commodity gracing several buildings located as far away as Singapore.
Roughly a century ago, a type of stone known as Saint Cloud Red Granite was quarried from land which is now part of the park. The Landmark Center and the James J. Hill House in St. Paul, Minnesota, both contain Saint Cloud Red Granite in their structures.
One thing I can’t figure out is whether or not these quarries are filled with stagnant water? I know there’s fish stocked in there (saw the ripples) so they’d need fresh water circulating through there, right? (Photo by Chad Smith)
Though private ownership of the land by local quarry companies continued through 1992, quarrying operations in the present park area quit for good in the mid-1950s. Companies operating quarries on the site including Holes Brothers, Delano Granite, Melrose Granite Company, Empire Quarry Company, and C.L. Atwood.
Here is the top of what they call the “Liberty Derrick,” a machine used to lift thousands of tons of granite back when the quarry was in operation and selling granite all over the world. (Photo by Chad Smith)
Over the years, the land gradually reverted to a more natural state. What did Poison Ivy tell Batman in the Arkham Knight game? “Nature always wins.” In 1992, Stearns County bought the site from the Cold Spring Granite Company and added the land to its County Park System. The park opened up on January 1, 1998.
I spent a solid two hours exploring the place, and I might have gotten through a third of the whole thing. You can hike there, go rock climbing, swimming, and even scuba diving in a couple of locations.
You can check out everything the park has to offer here.
Here’s the bottom of the Liberty Derrick. (Photo by Chad Smith)
Rescue dogs coming into the U.S. from Asia are causing some concern for pork producers, who are worried about Foreign Animal Diseases tagging along for the ride and infecting U.S. herds, which would be disastrous. (Photo from nationalhogfarmer.com)
Rescue dogs and foreign animal diseases are not something I ever expected would combine in the same story. However, a recent assignment for the National Association of Farm Broadcasting brought the two previously unrelated issues face-to-face. The National Pork Producers Council is alarmed at the number of rescue dogs coming into the U.S. from countries currently battling a serious Foreign Animal Disease outbreak.
The potential is there for some of those FADs to ride along with the dogs, either on the coats or equipment like dog crates as the animals enter the country. Liz Wagstrom is the Chief Veterinarian for the NPPC, and she says they’re especially concerned about animals coming in from Asia.
“Rescue dogs are being brought into the U.S. from Asia after being rescued out of wet markets or the meat trade,” Wagstrom said. “They could be contaminated with blood, urine, or manure, which could carry something like African Swine Fever, Foot-and-Mouth Disease, or Classic Swine Fever.”
The dogs themselves aren’t susceptible to those diseases. However, Wagstrom says they could carry contamination on their coats, in their bedding, or even dog dishes and toys they came into the country with could get contaminated.
“Our concern is those rescue dogs could enter the United States, be adopted by someone on a farm, and be carrying a virus,” she said. “The crates they ride in, or other items like dishes and toys could be contaminated. That could lead to disaster.”
Dr. Liz Wagstrom is the Chief Veterinarian for the National Pork Producers Council. (Photo from Twitter.com)
Not only are domestic herds at risk, but if crates or other items aren’t properly disposed of and feral pigs get into or near them, that will also spread disease quickly. “We feel that if these animals are coming in, we need rules in place to do it safely,” she said.
Which government agency has jurisdiction over this is a “confusing issue.” The vast majority of dogs come into the country with their owners, and those dogs fall under the authority of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hagstrom, a long-time veterinarian, says the CDC is “basically looking to see if those dogs have a rabies vaccination.”
Dogs that come in for resale fall under the U.S. Department of Agriculture authority. However, she points out that most of that authority focuses on animal welfare. A very small number of dogs coming into the country get evaluated as a possible risk to livestock.
“That would be herding dogs from certain areas that get evaluated for tapeworms,” she says. “It might also include dogs from the new areas of the world infected by screwworms. We think the USDA definitely has the authority to expand their oversight of the dogs that come in either for sale or adoption.
“A Foreign Animal Disease outbreak in the U.S. will immediately shut down all trade,” Wagstrom said while on the phone from Arizona, “which means we’d have a lot of extra animals on hand.
“Even if it was African Swine Fever that only impacted hogs, we have trading partners that may question milk, meat, and poultry exports,” she added. “The depressed prices for pork will likely put downward pressure on the price of beef, poultry, and dairy products.”
That means a Foreign Animal Disease of any kind will be a multi-billion-dollar hit to U.S. livestock, but it might not stop there. There’s a potential hit to the soybean industry because pork is a big part of its market. “It could have a devastating impact on U.S. agriculture as a whole,” Hagstrom says.
She says NPPC has studied the Animal Protection Act, which gives USDA authority over animals, their conveyances, bedding, and animal feed if they could potentially harm the livestock industry. If the agency was concerned about just dog diseases, then USDA doesn’t have the authority.
“However, because we’re talking about the health of the livestock industry, we believe they have the authority to write rules on how to safely bring the dogs into the country,” she says. “We do understand they’re being rescued from some horrific conditions in many cases. If they’re coming in to be rescued, let’s make sure they’re coming safely.
“Let’s get them quarantined and make sure they get washed,” Hagstrom says. “We also need to make sure their crates, bedding, and anything else that came into the country are properly disposed of. That will make it a win-win for both the dogs and U.S. livestock.”
To give ourselves the best chance of keeping the livestock industry safe, NPPC says we need more agricultural inspectors at ports of entry into the U.S. Last year, the government authorized over 700 new ag inspectors and 60 K-9 teams. However, the Coronavirus put a damper on those plans.
“Those new positions were funded by user fees on international airline tickets and international cargo,” she said. “Those fees went away because of the 95 percent decrease in international travel brought on by COVID-19 in 2020. That meant we had to work through the appropriations process to keep those inspectors funded at the current level.”
NPPC and other organizations are back at the appropriations table and asking for additional funding to continue to increase the number of agricultural inspectors as travel hopefully gets back to normal levels.
As farmers prep for spring planting, don’t forget to upgrade the technology in your machinery. It’s every bit as important as a mechanical tune-up on your tractor. (Photo from blog.caseIH.com)
Technology is as important to today’s farm machinery as the nuts and bolts that held old-school equipment together back in the day. Maintaining your machines is a never-ending task when it comes to farming. When you’re lubricating moving parts, changing filters, or checking bearings, don’t forget to keep the technology that runs your machinery up to date.
Just like the typical equipment maintenance farmers all know and love (and occasionally hate), the technology the runs your machines need a regular tune-up as well. Technology advances quickly, and farmers have to be just as quick to keep up, which can sometimes be an overwhelming task.
Farming sure has changed a lot, hasn’t it? We know have to make sure the technology running those machines is as up to date as the machinery itself. (Photo from agupdate.com)
“As technology advances, you have to keep up to date with the software upgrades,” says Chris Ehman, Case/IH Aftermarket Solutions marketing manager. “That becomes even more true now as 3G is either going away or gone for good, depending on a farmer’s location. That’s why it’s even more important to get connected than before now.”
The new technology brought massive changes to the way farmers run their operations. For example, modern technology now gives farmers instant access to every machine in their fleet.
“The new technology in the CASE/IH Connection Portal frees up farmers to do their work, share data, and to manage their fleet wherever, whenever, and however they want,” he said. “It allows you to gather that data throughout the year and easily visualize what’s happening in your fields.”
The technology gives farmers a better grip on optimizing the performance of their fleet. Computerization helps Case IH owners of equipment made in 2010 or newer the chance to coordinate all of their machines and share their data to a central computer.
“Farmers can see each machine’s data as it’s running, including the location, the machine’s status, engine hours, idle time, acres per hour, and fuel levels,” he said, “so it helps them better track of what the operators are doing with the machines.
“Another way the technology helps farmers is with the security of their machines,” Ehman added. “It can set up geofences and curfews. With geo-fencing technology, you can set up pre-defined working areas for your machines and get alerts if they leave that specific area. And the curfew setting will alert you if the machine is working outside of a pre-defined timeframe. It gives you a lot of peace of mind at the end of every day.”
And if you’re one of those who don’t consider yourself “technologically efficient,” the software will help you know when it’s time to update. You’ll notice error codes and alerts that will get sent via the tech portal.
“That alert will help you understand what’s happening with your equipment out in the field,” Ehman said. “It will help you decide if it’s a simple setting that needs to be adjusted and can get fixed over the phone, or if a tech will instead need to make a trip to the field. If a tech support worker doesn’t need to come out and fix the issue, taking care of it over the phone can be a real time and money-saver.
“And if a tech is needed, they’ll have a much better understanding of what the issue is and what’s needed to fix it,” he added. “That makes the repair move at a quicker pace and gets the machinery back into operation and making money for the farmer. Quicker repairs, less money, and more uptime is always a good thing.”
At the end of the day, Ehman said farming is one of the most challenging occupations in the country. There’s a lot at stake and many difficult decisions to make. The agricultural economy has struggled in recent years, and farmers need success this year without question.
“A profitable operation is possible, and these new technologies help make that happen,” he said. “You don’t have to wait to benefit from the advantages of the new technologies. The equipment you already own can be capable of so much more than you may realize.”
Data protection is a big deal for farmers, and Ehman says companies like Case IH are taking good care of that vital information. The company is upfront in saying that farmer’s data belongs to each individual farmer and that farmer alone.
“For our dealers and our partners to access that data, they have to get permission from the farmers,” Ehman said. “That is a move in the right direction for Case IH as a company and a brand.
“The technology we use to analyze that data has come a long way as well,” he adds. “We’ve gotten much better at collecting and aggregating the data from multiple machines on the operation, and then overlaying that with yield data and field maps to allow farmers to see all the conditions that may be affecting their yield. It’s moving past the machinery data and into more of the farming and agronomic data.”
Any farmer can then use that data to help improve their yields and return on investment. A 4G update will get farmers into the Case IH Connect Portal with an AFS Connect subscription. That will let farmers take advantage of the new 4G technology and the benefits that come with it.
Mike Zuzolo is president of Global Commodity Analytics in Atchison, Kansas. He spent some time looking over the numbers in the USDA’s Prospective Planting and Grain Stocks Reports. (Photo from globalcommresearch.com)
Planting crops and grain stocks were a topic of conversation in the markets this week. The USDA issued its Prospective Planting and Stocks Reports, with the biggest surprise coming from the planting numbers. Corn planting is estimated at 91.1 million acres, up less than one percent from a year ago. Mike Zuzolo is the President of Global Commodity Analytics in Atchison, Kansas. He says the trade was expecting more corn acres in the report.
“I think that’s right. Look at the news wire estimates. The lowest number we saw was down around 91 million acres. I don’t publish to the newswires anymore because the algo-traders use them to position themselves before the numbers come out. I send stuff out to the producers and investors that I work with. So, I was below 92 and having a really tough time going above 91.5.”
He says one reason farmers may be shying away from more corn acres is the quickly rising cost of inputs. However, corn wasn’t the only surprise in the planting report.
“What was surprising to me is how did the soybeans come in at 87.6 million planted, when the trade, including myself, were closer to 89 and 90 million. What happened was most of the other producers in other parts of the country, including the cotton producer, the sorghum producer, and the rice producer all ‘stayed in their lane’ this year and they kept planting what they normally produce. I think this brings with it a little more questioning, especially with that Deep South looking wetter than normal from the Tennessee River Valley down to Louisiana, so we’re going to have to keep an eye on that because soybean acres could grow, similar to the way corn acres could grow because the of the way the weather is shaping up.”
He says the Deep South weather picture looks wet, while the main corn and soybean areas, especially in the Plains States, are leaning toward a drier pattern.
Zuzolo was disappointed in USDA’s prediction of 46.4 million all-wheat acres, the fourth-lowest planted area since records began in 1919.
“I think the big thing we saw in the planting that I’ll wrap up with, and this is where we have a leader to the downside, and that is the wheat market. We wanted it to be the leader to the upside with the drought in the High Plains and Central Plains and in the hard red wheat belt specifically, driving prices higher and make corn that much more expensive, not allowing wheat to get into a feed category. But unfortunately, we are seeing the wheat-corn spread dip into the 50-60-cent per bushel range. Soft red wheat minus corn, that is feed category for wheat, that is the lowest since late 2017.”
Corn planting totaled 91.1 million acres, up less than one percent from a year ago. Soybeans are estimated at 87.6 million acres, up five percent. All wheat acres are 46.4 million, up five percent. The all-cotton planting projection for 2021 is 12 million acres, one percent lower than last year.
The Stocks Report showed corn stocks down three percent from last year, soybean stocks down 31 percent, and all wheat stocks were seven percent lower than 2020.
“I was glad that the soybeans came in a little bit higher and would rather have it that way, and the wheat a little bit higher than the corn. The corn came in at 67 million bushels, 37 million bushels light, versus the average trade guess. And so, that keeps your old crop corn well bid.”
Corn in all positions totaled 7.7 billion bushels, down three percent from last year. Soybeans stored in all positions were 1.56 billion bushels, 31 percent lower than last March. All wheat stored in positions totaled 1.31 billion bushels, seven percent lower than last year. Durum wheat stocks in all positions were 42.7 billion bushels, 17 percent lower than last year.
Again, that’s Mike Zuzolo of Global Commodity Analytics in Kansas.
Weather forecasting is always an interesting, sometimes confusing, and occasionally a hotly debated topic. No one is more confused than I am. How do you go from an all but snowless winter to 6-8 inches on the ground a couple days before Christmas? I would have been more than happy with a brown Christmas.
Ryan Martin of Warsaw, Indiana, wears a lot of hats. Grain trader, farmer origination specialist, farmer, and ag meteorologist. He’s the Chief Meteorologist for Hoosier Ag Today. (Photo from hoosieragtoday.com)
But I digress. The dry weather isn’t a good thing for farm country. For the most part, it seems awfully dry from coast to coast across the U.S. So, when I’ve got questions about the weather, I give Ryan Martin a call over in Indiana. I worked for him over a couple of years, helping him to get his weather forecasting ready to be sent to clients. He’s one of the best forecasters I’ve ever come across and I’ve known several of them.
It’s been a dry winter for the most part in U.S. farm country. A pre-Christmas snowfall turned things white in many areas but did little to alleviate the dry conditions. Ryan Martin is an ag meteorologist who lives in Warsaw, Indiana, and says December was well-below average in terms of moisture.
“All things considered, the precipitation that happened in mid-to-late-December didn’t even get the month of December up to near normal over most of the Upper Midwest, Eastern Corn Belt, Great Lakes, and I’ll even throw parts of the Central Corn Belt in there. Overall, we are still well below normal, and the blanket of snow is uninspiring to me at this point.”
He does some weather forecasting for the Upper Midwest and Eastern Corn Belt.
“Temperatures continue to be well-above-normal. By the time we get to January 15-16, we’ll have put enough days in far enough above normal that it’s going to be difficult to see any kind of cold snap bring the entire month back to below-normal levels. Cold air is pooling in Canada, and weather forecasting says it’s going to come down. I don’t think the second half of January will look anything like the first but is it enough to say January is going to flip to cold all over for the entire month? No way, it’s not going to happen.”
There will likely be some cold air incursions into early February, but he doesn’t see any extended cold snaps after that. The Central and Southern Plains will continue to see above-normal temperatures more often than not.
“We’re spending many more days above normal than we are below. Our concern in the Plains is this continued dry stretch. The overall conditions are not lending themselves to seeing any kind rain come through, or even snow for that matter. We did see a nice blanket of snow in parts of Kansas and Oklahoma out of a winter event a couple of weeks back, but the effects of that are gone now. The wheat greened up a little bit, but I see nothing that says we’re looking at a huge surge of moisture at all over the next 2-3 months.”
Things will likely stay dry and warm in the Delta and the Southeastern States.
“We do have a documented La Nina situation going on. We can see that first of all, from the data coming from the Pacific, but you can see the effects happening down in South America. So, I think as you look into the Gulf Coast states like the lower Delta, we’re already trying to talk about planting or at least getting ready for it here in the next six weeks. I think we’re going to be trending a little bit wet and active, but I guess I’m not concerned about any early hurricane events or anything that will cause a long-term issue in the Deep South. If anything, we’re going to be trending slightly drier there as well.”
The western U.S. will stay dry too.
“Over the Western U.S., generally speaking, we continue to see below-normal precipitation there, and at this point, I don’t see anything that changes that. The high elevations are not seeing any kind of influx of moisture, so I don’t think that fuels anything. I do believe the West Coast is going to stay dry, and La Nina usually helps to fuel that. I’m not going to put this all on a La Nina forecast, but to me, I don’t see anything that says we’re looking at exceptionally-good conditions over the West.”
Again, Ryan Martin is an ag meteorologist from Indiana.
The Rose bowl just doesn’t look the same anymore. I freely admit the house that Jerry built looks like a great place to watch a game but it’s not the same as playing in Pasadena. Oh well. Welcome to a COVID-19 world.
Devonta Smith is a men among boys. Let’s just get that out of the way right now. 5 catches for 101 yards and a couple touchdowns is a great game for most wideouts. He has another half to play against a defense that can’t seem to stop him.
He’s making some fast people in white jerseys look really slow. They aren’t slow. I haven’t seen many Alabama games, but if the kid has played this well all year, Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence might have some competition for the Heisman Trophy.
I was hoping for better things from Notre Dame. Lots of questions after the Irish were announced as one of the four national semi finalists and they’ve done almost nothing to alleviate those doubts.
To coin a basketball phrase, the Irish’s best chance coming in was likely to “take the air out of the ball.” Get an early lead and run the heck out of the ball.. They needed to keep that Bama offense off the field because the Notre Dame D can’t do much to disrupt the Tide’s offense.
That’s out the window. What now Irish fans? Can they keep it close into the fourth quarter, let alone pull off a late Christmas miracle? Or is it time to pull a beverage out of the fridge and call it good?
No-Till November? Is that like No Shave November? Yes and no. The Natural Resources Conservation Service is asking farmers to keep your stubble – out in the fields, that is. NRCS is encouraging South Dakota farmers to “keep the stubble” on their harvested crop fields and improve soil health during No-Till November.
The three-year-old “No-Till November” Campaign kicks off soon, encouraging farmers to “keep the stubble” in their fields. (Photo from cropwatch.unl.edu)
First launched in 2017, the NRCS project is, of course, mirrored after the national cancer awareness No Shave November campaign that encourages people not to shave during the entire month. The NRCS campaign encourages farmers to keep tillage equipment in their machine sheds this fall and keep the crop stubble on their fields.
The campaign has reached more than 1.5 million people through Twitter and local media since 2017.
“No-till farming is a cornerstone soil health conservation practice, which also promotes water quality while saving farmers time and money,” said South Dakota NRCS State Conservationist Jeff Zimprich. “One of the first soil health principles is ‘do not disturb’. This campaign is a fun way to remind farmers about the important relationship between tillage and soil health. Utilizing cover crops and leaving residues on the soil surface improve soil health while increasing soil biological activity, providing erosion control and adding beneficial nutrients.”
Terry Ness has been farming in central South Dakota for 42 years. He describes the changes he and his wife Mary have made to improve their soil health helped to give their soils more resilience. After utilizing tillage for the first 14 years of his career, he switched completely to a no-till system and noticed that many challenges became easier to overcome.
To see Terry and Mary’s full Profile in Soil Health video feature, visit: bit.ly/TerryNess.“With all these good things I’m doing, you can see it in the insect population, the bird population – healthy soil makes healthy animals, makes healthy food – all this ties together.” – Terry Ness
More InformationTo learn more about soil health and no-till in South Dakota, visit your nearest NRCS service center, visit bit.ly/contactnrcssd, or ask questions from a local soil health mentor! E-mail Rachel.Giles@usda.gov to receive a digital copy of the “Building Connections” SD soil health mentor network directory, or have one mailed to you at no cost.
Minecraft. The chances are good that you know what it is if you have kids. Would it surprise you if I said the dairy industry was thinking outside the box and turning to a video game such as Minecraft to help promote its products? Dairy Management Incorporated held a press conference recently to announce a partnership with four of the most influential gamers in the world to promote itself to people in “Gen Z (early teens to early 20s).”
The idea started growing late in 2019 when the dairy industry found out that per-capita dairy consumption hit its highest level in 60 years. America hasn’t consumed this level of dairy products since 1960, so the question is how to keep this trend going into the future? Dairy Management Incorporated CEO Tom Gallagher says you reach out to younger people on platforms where they already engage with each other.
The U.S. dairy industry is partnering with four of the most popular Minecraft gamers in the world to promote their products to the next generation of consumers. (Photo from theverge.com)
Dairy industry sustainability is another key driver in the new idea. “The businesses of dairy, such as the co-ops, the processors, and the manufacturers, have collectively set the goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050,” Gallagher said.
“Dairy Management’s role in that is to support the environmental science, communications, and other relationships in achieving that goal,” he added. “While sustainability is important, it also has to be profitable for the industry. We are working on several different test cases on various farms to prove that profitability is possible, or what might need to change to make sustainability profitable.”
Gallagher said there is no sustainability without profitability. Without improving sustainability, farmers and the entire industry will likely be subject to very pejorative regulations in the future. It’s a chance for the industry to be proactive and avoid excessive regulations.
So how does Minecraft fit into the discussion? DMI had five college interns over the past summer who were in their low 20s and MBA students. DMI gave them the challenge to figure out how they would promote dairy sustainability to Gen Z if they had 10 million dollars to do the job. The students came up with the idea of promoting dairy through the video games that Gen Z plays.
Dairy Management Incorporated is thinking “outside the box” in coming up with new methods to promote dairy to the next generation of consumers, one of which is using the popular video game Minecraft. (photo from lakenormanpublications.com)
Joanna Hunter is the Executive Vice President of Communications with DMI, who says the dairy industry will work with four of the most well-known Minecraft gamers in the world. It’s a chance to reach the Gen Z audience through a platform they’re already engaging in.
“We are going to work directly with four gamers who combine for more than 120 million followers,” she said. “Each of the influencers will take part in a virtual visit to dairy farms of different sizes and locations across the country, and every farm will have its own sustainability practices.
“After that virtual visit, the gamers will take what they learned and build a dairy farm in Minecraft,” Hunter added. “They may challenge each other, or they may challenge their followers to build the best dairy farm.”
The overall goal is for the gamers to engage others in that sustainability story and how dairy farmers are working hard to bring a nutritious and sustainable product to their audience. The gamers will be putting out dairy-related content through November. Hunter says it’s a great time to use the platform for a unique two-way engagement with the intended audience.
This kind of work doesn’t get off the ground without direct support from dairy farmers. Aric DeJager owns and operates Icon Holsteins in Kersey, Colorado. His role will be to provide on-site dairy farm education for the four gamers through FaceTime. Like a lot of folks older than Gen Z, he’s learning about Minecraft from younger relatives.
“I’m learning a lot about the scale of this from my nieces and nephews,” he said. “I’m just figuring out exactly how popular this stuff is. These gamers will have 40 million young and impressionable people watching them build their dairy farms on Minecraft. I’m really excited to see how this goes forward from here.
“I think this is a great step in the right direction,” Jager added.
Gallagher says things are changing, and the industry has to change with the times. The days of three cable TV channels are over, and it’s a new generation of marketing.
“Things like traditional television and cable news just don’t present the same marketing opportunities they once did,” Gallagher said. “We have to go where the people are. Over the next year, we’re going to test some new things, including Minecraft.
“Through GenYouth and Fuel Up to Play 60, we’ll be doing some things with NFL Madden,” he added. “Retailers are starting to create their own media cloud as the more traditional forms of advertising have declined in their reach a bit. Companies like Quaker have gone to 70 percent digital advertising, with more and more retailers following suit.
“As retailers continue to test their own channels, we’ll be doing more and more testing with them,” Gallagher added.
Dairy industry sustainability is another key driver in the new idea. “The businesses of dairy, such as the co-ops, the processors, and the manufacturers, have collectively set the goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050,” Gallagher said.
“Dairy Management’s role in that is to support the environmental science, communications, and other relationships in achieving that goal,” he added. “While sustainability is important, it also has to be profitable for the industry. We are working on several different test cases on various farms to prove that profitability is possible, or what might need to change to make sustainability profitable.”
Gallagher said there is no sustainability without profitability. Without improving sustainability, farmers and the entire industry will likely be subject to very pejorative regulations in the future. It’s a chance for the industry to be proactive and avoid excessive regulations.
So how does Minecraft fit into the discussion? DMI had five college interns over the past summer who were in their low 20s and MBA students. DMI gave them the challenge to figure out how they would promote dairy sustainability to Gen Z if they had 10 million dollars to do the job. The students came up with the idea of promoting dairy through the video games that Gen Z plays.
Joanna Hunter is the Executive Vice President of Communications with DMI, who says the dairy industry will work with four of the most well-known Minecraft gamers in the world. It’s a chance to reach the Gen Z audience through a platform they’re already engaging in.
“We are going to work directly with four gamers who combine for more than 120 million followers,” she said. “Each of the influencers will take part in a virtual visit to dairy farms of different sizes and locations across the country, and every farm will have its own sustainability practices.
“After that virtual visit, the gamers will take what they learned and build a dairy farm in Minecraft,” Hunter added. “They may challenge each other, or they may challenge their followers to build the best dairy farm.”
The overall goal is for the gamers to engage others in that sustainability story and how dairy farmers are working hard to bring a nutritious and sustainable product to their audience. The gamers will be putting out dairy-related content through November. Hunter says it’s a great time to use the platform for a unique two-way engagement with the intended audience.
This kind of work doesn’t get off the ground without direct support from dairy farmers. Aric DeJager owns and operates Icon Holsteins in Kersey, Colorado. His role will be to provide on-site dairy farm education for the four gamers through FaceTime. Like a lot of folks older than Gen Z, he’s learning about Minecraft from younger relatives.
“I’m learning a lot about the scale of this from my nieces and nephews,” he said. “I’m just figuring out exactly how popular this stuff is. These gamers will have 40 million young and impressionable people watching them build their dairy farms on Minecraft. I’m really excited to see how this goes forward from here.
“I think this is a great step in the right direction,” Jager added.
Gallagher says things are changing, and the industry has to change with the times. The days of three cable TV channels are over, and it’s a new generation of marketing.
“Things like traditional television and cable news just don’t present the same marketing opportunities they once did,” Gallagher said. “We have to go where the people are. Over the next year, we’re going to test some new things, including Minecraft.
“Through GenYouth and Fuel Up to Play 60, we’ll be doing some things with NFL Madden,” he added. “Retailers are starting to create their own media cloud as the more traditional forms of advertising have declined in their reach a bit. Companies like Quaker have gone to 70 percent digital advertising, with more and more retailers following suit.
“As retailers continue to test their own channels, we’ll be doing more and more testing with them,” Gallagher added.
Organic farming in the U.S. is a blossoming business opportunity for farmers across the country. Overall industry sales totaled $1 billion in 1990 when the nation’s organic laws passed, and then reached a recent high of $55 billion. Unfortunately, there are some unintended loopholes in the regulations that allow non-organic products to be labeled as organic. The industry is concerned about the effect on the credibility of their label.
The U.S. organic industry is concerned about the credibility of the label and are looking to strengthen enforcement rules governing the industry. (photo from geneticliteracyproject.org)
The Organic Trade Association is one of several groups working on closing the loopholes and making enforcement of the regulations more uniform. They’ve been working on it since 2017 when the Washington Post reported on 36 million pounds of fraudulently labeled soybeans that entered the United States.
“We started our legislative work in 2018 when the new farm bill went into effect,” said Gwendolyn Wyard, the Vice President of Regulatory and Technical Affairs. “That gave the National Organic Program the support, funding, and the authorization to do its work.”
The USDA released a proposed rule last July designed to detect and deter the kind of fraud the industry is fighting. The National Farmers Union points out that millions of dollars of non-organic products have been intentionally mislabeled and sold in the U.S. The scale of the problem is large and requires equally large solutions.
Wyard says this is the largest single piece of rule-making since the USDA organic regulations first went into effect in 2002. She calls it a complete overhaul of the rules that will strengthen the oversight and enforcement of rules governing the production and sale of products. “It will close gaps in the supply chain and strengthen regulations to prevent fraud,” Wyard added.
“We must do this, and we do it right,” she said. “Shoppers need to know that organic standards are strong. Fraud takes the value out of the supply chain and hurts producers wherever they farm. We rely entirely on consumer trust.”
Crookston Lumber Company wasn’t actually located in Crookston, Minnesota, but in Bemidji. It was a big company that processed a lot of lumber during the boom in Minnesota during the 1900s. Crookston Sawmill #1 opened up in 1903.
Lumber barons back in the second half of the 1800s poured millions of dollars into lumber claims in northern Minnesota. Can you imagine being able to pour millions of dollars into ANYTHING back during the 1800s?
There isn’t much left of the Crookston Lumber Company in Bemidji, Minnesota. However, what’s left and the operation’s history are very interesting. (Photo by Chad Smith)
Thomas Shevlin and Frank Hixon purchased several claims and a sawmill from lumber baron Thomas Barlow Walker, calling the operation the Crookston Lumber Company. They opened up 13 logging camps, with each housing as many as 100 lumberjacks.
The year 1903 was when the first sawmill took off. They opened up the lumber mill in a beautiful spot on the south shore of Lake Bemidji. The owners hired 450 mill workers and ran an around the clock operation that is said to have processed 40 million board feet of prime lumber during its first year in existence. Kind of impressive, isn’t it?
I was a little taken aback by how green Lake Bemidji was. Not sure what caused it? (Photo by Chad Smith)
Some competition came along in 1905 for the CLC in the form of the Bemidji Lumber Mill. The location sprang up on the southeast side of Lake Bemidji, so we’re taking very close to the CLC. It didn’t take long for CLC to annex the competition, buying the Bemidji Lumber Mill and naming it Crookston Sawmill #2. Went out on a creative limb, didn’t they?
The height of the operation peaked around 1910 as the Crookston Sawmill drew honors as the second-largest sawmill in the nation. However, the good times weren’t going to last much longer.
This is the remains of Mill #1, which burned down and was rebuilt in the early 1900s. Mill #2 burned down a few years later and wasn’t rebuilt. (Photo by Chad Smith)
As the calendar turned to 1914, fortune took away her smile as Sawmill #1 burned right to the ground. The owners would go on to rebuild the structure soon after the incident. A few short years later, Sawmill #2 also burned to the ground, but the owners would choose not to rebuild the facility.
The end was in sight just a decade later when another fire destroyed about 24 million board feet of prime lumber on November 9, 1924. The retail value on the destroyed white pine was $750,000, an insane amount of money in the early 1900s. The truly-unfortunate piece to the story is 2,000 employees immediately found themselves with no jobs.
The end came in October of 1928 when the Crookston Lumber Mill shut down for good. As it turns out, most of the prime lumber in Minnesota had been harvested, so investors moved their operations out to the Pacific Coast.
This small site is all that remains of what once was the second-largest lumber mill in the United States. (Photo by Chad Smith)
The city of Bemidji sure made a nice little park out of the remains of a once-grand structure. I only wish we didn’t have people who felt the need to tag a building like that. While I usually admire good street art in the Twin Cities, it just doesn’t belong at a place like this. Plus, the fast-food wrappers and empty cigarette boxes don’t add much to the ambiance.
Nevertheless, I still recommend you go see the place.
Anyone familiar with my exploring knows I like taking colorful pictures of street art. This is not the same. We really didn’t need to tag a small sandstone building like this, did we? (Photo by Chad Smith)I’ve seen vegetation grow in the strangest places, including up through a sandstone structure. (Photo by Chad Smith) The Crookston Lumber Company site sits on the southern Shore of Lake Bemidji. (Photo by Chad Smith)
