June 24, 1996 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger reports on ‘fiber farming’ in Minnesota. Northern Minnesota farmers are trying to grow and harvest hybrid poplar trees as a new source of pulp for the paper industry and even a possible savior of Minnesota forestlands.
August 14, 1996 - MPR’s Laura McCallum reports from Stearns County, the state's biggest dairy county and home to more feedlots than any other county. Stearns is now considering a county feedlot permitting process. It's a move the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency supports because of the high number of Stearns County feedlots without state permits and pollution concerns.
August 22, 1996 - MPR’s Laura McCallum reports on the changing dynamics of the Minnesota State Fair, with more metro-centric visitors. The State Fair dates back to 1855, before Minnesota was a state, when organizers wanted to promote agriculture to entice people to settle in the area. Fair officials insist the focus on agriculture hasn't changed, although the presentation has.
October 21, 1996 - Less than a century ago, millions of acres of North America were covered with prairie, vast grasslands that were home to bison, wolves, and prairie chickens. Today, less than one tenth of one per cent of that prairie remains. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working on the Tallgrass Prairie Project, a plan to buy and protect some of what little prairie is left.
August 24, 1997 - MPR’s Dan Olson visits Minnesota State Fair bee exhibit superintendent Winnie Johnson in the horticulture building to discuss bees in our state. Johnson raises bees in Anoka County.
March 5, 1998 - Carl Vogt, an Extension Forester with the University of Minnesota, discusses how the maple sap is flowing and the prospects for the syrup harvest.
April 21, 1998 - Mainstreet Radio's Dan Gunderson reports that while farmers across the region are getting their machinery lined up for an early start on spring planting, in northwestern Minnesota and eastern North Dakota, hundreds of farmers are lining equipment up to be sold at auction. Some are angry…but many are relieved.
May 14, 1998 - MPR’s Perry Finelli looks at Minnesota cropland. While not an endangered commodity, some contend it's being lost too quickly in places where farming has been a way of life. The United States Agriculture Department says even though urban areas are growing, Minnesota's cropland has not been reduced. That's because the urban landscape is still only a tiny fraction of the state's total amount of land.
May 19, 1998 - A Mainstreet Radio special broadcast from the small community of Comfrey, Minnesota. Mark Steil takes a closer look at new laws governing the regulation of feedlots in Minnesota…laws which give more control over feedlots to local governments. Steil talks with State Legislators Steve Dille and Gary Kubly, as well as local officials.
June 1, 1998 - Mainstreet Radio’s Leif Enger reports on Aitkin County farmers experimentation in establishing cranberry bogs for harvesting. Cranberries take deep pockets and sturdy patience; but now, after three years and hundreds of thousands of dollars, the Aitkin County bogs are ready to produce.