May 1, 1986 - Poet, author and farmer Wendell Berry speaks at the College of Saint Benedict in Saint Joseph. The speech is entitled, "In Defense of the Family Farm."
May 31, 1986 - MPR’s Mark Steil presents "Chanarambie Township: Sections 17, 18, 19, and 20," a documentary that explores how farmers in a four-square mile area of Murray County view the farm crisis...where land prices dropped, interest rates went up, and farmers were caught in the middle.
August 8, 1986 - MPR’s Mark Steil reports on massive hailstorm that pounded farmland in Lincoln County. Steil interviews famers about the damage from softball-sized hail.
August 22, 1986 - MPR’s Euan Kerr reports from the poultry barn of the Minnesota State Fair. Kerr interviews breeders about their chickens and hopes for a prized animal.
December 10, 1986 - On this Midday call-in program, a discussion of life on the farm in Minnesota, featuring a live satellite feed from the Curt & Shirley Pietz hog/grain farm near Lakefield, and from a cafe in town. Program also includes a farm report from MPR’s Mark Steil.
July 3, 1987 - MPR host Loren Omoto invites fellow staff Jim Bickal and Mike Mulcahy to partake from a can of Spam for the first time. It is an underwhelming experience.
August 21, 1987 - MPR's Perry Finelli interviews a U.S. Department of Interior Department wild horse specialist and burro purchaser at St. Cloud’s Sales Barn, where wild horses and burros have a chance at finding a new home.
September 28, 1987 - MPR Journal presents the documentary “A Visit to Atwater.” The farm crisis of the early 1980s has taken a toll on small towns. MPR reporters Dan Olson and Stephen Smith spent some time in the West Central Minnesota farm town of Atwater to see how one small community is faring, and what the future may hold.
October 1, 1987 - MPR’s John Biewen produced the very first report of Mainstreet Radio. Biewen visits the southern Minnesota town of Good Thunder, where artist Ta-coumba Aiken was commissioned to create a massive mural along the grain elevator in town. The hope is it will help in keeping Good Thunder on the map.
October 19, 1987 - Mainstreet Radio-Brainerd’s John Biewen presents the October Pumpkinland events at Kopischke farm, in Vernon Center. Biewen interviews farm owner Gordie and Dorothy Kopischke.