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Thursday, March 28, 2024

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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

MN: Rural/Farming

The American Biogas Council says there are more than 2,300 sites producing biogas across all 50 states. Of these, 332 anaerobic digesters are on farms and process agricultural waste into forms of cleaner fuel. (Adobe Stock)
CA emission credits not well received by Midwest farm advocates

Community and conservation groups in the Midwest worry that a change in California's carbon emissions policy could hurt the quality of life in the nat…

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Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin, the founder of the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance and co-founder of Tree-Range Farms. These entities have created an
Midwest network of regenerative farmers is rethinking chicken

By Twilight Greenaway for Civil Eats.Broadcast version by Mike Moen for Minnesota News Connection reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Publi…

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According to the Clean Grid Alliance, Minnesota farmers, ranchers and landowners receive nearly $9 million annually from land lease payments related to solar projects on their property. (Adobe Stock)
MN landowners warming up to solar

Drive around rural Minnesota and you might spot a solar farm. Complexities are being sorted out for bigger projects and in the meantime, farmers are …

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In a newly filed civil lawsuit, the Minnesota Attorney General not only accuses Evergreen Acres Dairy of stealing workers' wages, but also unlawfully deducting rent from the paychecks of those living onsite. (Adobe Stock)
MN takes action against dairy company in major wage-theft case

Minnesota officials have announced what they call one of the largest wage-theft lawsuits in state history. The case involves a dairy operator …

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To date, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has made available $1.25 billion dollars in new grant funding for farmers and rural small business owners to add clean energy technology to their properties. (Adobe Stock)
Feds beef up hiring to help rural America with clean energy grants

Federal grant money is flowing in to help farmers and smaller businesses in rural communities adapt to clean energy technology. Minnesota is among …

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Beyond boosting land access, Minnesota's Route 1 organization is using a new grant to help emerging BIPOC farmers enhance their marketing operations. (Adobe Stock)
Farm innovations in MN seen as tool in ending racial hunger divide

Among Black Minnesotans, some 25% are food insecure. An emerging initiative aims to connect BIPOC communities with healthier and culturally …

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Agriculture experts have long noted that only a handful of large companies control a large percentage of meat processing in the United States. (Adobe Stock)
Quality vs. commodity in knowing where your food comes from

When was the last time you looked at a label when buying meat from the grocery store? Smaller farmers from Minnesota and elsewhere hope Congress takes…

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Using federal incentives, the USDA is calling on Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations to add anaerobic digesters that collect methane from manure to be used for electricity. But conservation groups countered it will do little to reduce harmful emissions from industrial ag operations. (Adobe Stock)
Family farm groups blast conservation incentives for industrial ag

Minnesota has been in the headlines over nitrate levels in drinking water and some conservation groups argued industrial farms are being given too man…

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Federal officials say the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides funding opportunities for smaller communities to improve their water infrastructure. (Adobe Stock)
Biden pushes rural investment message with MN visit

President Joe Biden was in southern Minnesota yesterday to highlight federal investments for rural America. Biden visited a farm near Northfield to …

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Los funcionarios federales dicen que la Ley de Infraestructura Bipartidista brinda oportunidades de financiamiento para que las comunidades más pequeñas mejoren su infraestructura hídrica. (Adobe Stock)
Biden impulsa mensaje de inversión rural durante visita a Minnesota

El presidente Joe Biden estuvo ayer (miércoles) en el sur de Minnesota para destacar las inversiones federales para las zonas rurales de Estados …

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Emerging farmers lack the economic opportunities of more established farmers, and face substantially greater barriers to success, according to the University of Minnesota. (Adobe Stock)
Scandia event addresses lack of land access for new farmers

Emerging farmers in search of land across Minnesota will be able to foster relationships with landowners at a free event in Scandia this coming Sunda…

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Agrivoltaics is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as the use of land for both agriculture and solar-energy generation. Above is an example of a Minnesota project, where farmers are growing crops at a solar site. (Photo courtesy of Connexus Energy)
Growing veggies with a side of solar cuts emissions, boosts land access

The arrival of fall has farmers transitioning to the harvest season, but what if some gathered their crops with rows of solar panels right alongside …

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