Hmong farmers adapt to cold climate, unwelcoming people...yet thrive

Programs | MPR News Feature | Special Collections | Immigration & Diversity | Hmong life in Minnesota | Types | Reports | Interviews | Grants | Legacy Amendment Digitization (2016-2017) | Topics | Immigration | Agriculture | Legacy Project Work (2022-2023) | Farming: Minnesota's agricultural landscape |
April 29, 1983
Jim Ragsdale - Reporter, Brian Schlottman - Interviewee, Unknown - Interviewee, Dang Yang - Interviewee
Listen: Hmong training to farm in Homer
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MPR’s Jim Ragsdale reports on ten Hmong men selected for a farm training project with the hope that they would settle with their families on a plot of farmland near Homer, MN.

When Hmong refugees first arrived in Minnesota, they had a lot to learn about adapting their farming techniques to regional agricultural practices. The fields in Homer are a lot different from the mountainous farming regions in Laos. Farmers in Laos enjoy a 10-month growing season, with few frosts, and when the ground was ready all the farmers needed to get started was seeds and a sharpened planting stick.

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In 2008, Minnesota's voters passed the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment to the Minnesota Constitution: to protect drinking water sources; to protect, enhance, and restore wetlands, prairies, forests, and fish, game, and wildlife habitat; to preserve arts and cultural heritage; to support parks and trails; and to protect, enhance, and restore lakes, rivers, streams, and groundwater.

Efforts to digitize this initial assortment of thousands of historical audio material was made possible through the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund. A wide range of Minnesota subject matter is represented within this collection.

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