Peter Leschak
Two decades ago I decided to identify every wildflower that grows on our forty acres of northern Minnesota woods. It seemed unmindful, even disrespectful, to be ignorant of the names of all those fleeting beauties.
At first it was a bonanza. I spent hours bumping from one plant to the next as blossoms unfurled in spring. My ignorance was stimulating, everything was novel. Not until you actually search do you realize what you haven’t been noticing, and also how few toys you need to have fun. I now recognize a hundred flowers, all found within a quarter-mile of the cabin at some point in the snow-free season. But as years passed, it became rare to discover a new species.
Virtual Crop Management Input Seminar
The University of Minnesota Extension Service will be hosting a virtual Crop Management Input Seminar for South Central Minnesota on Thursday March 4, 2021 from 9:00 am to noon. The input seminar is specifically for the counties of Blue Earth, Le Sueur, Nicollet, Sibley, Scott, and Carver. However, I am sure the information and data will be similar if you are in a surrounding county in South Central Minnesota too!
The program topics and speakers include: Grain Marketing Tips, Ed Usset Grain Marketing economist for the Center For Farm Financial Management, Risks and Challenges with New and Old Diseases of Corn and Soybeans, Dean Malvick Extension Plant Pathologist, ESN Is it a Viable Nitrogen Source, Fabian Fernandez Nutrient Management Specialist, Weed Control 2020 Research Tom Hoverstat Scientist at the Southern Research and Outreach Center Waseca, Cover Crops for Water Management Anna Cates State Soil Health Specialist, NRCS Overview of Progr
U of M Extension 2021 Farm Resource Guide
The 2021 Farm Resource Guide includes a lot of very useful farm business management information that is published by the University of Minnesota Extension Service. The guide is available for $25 plus postage and sales tax. You could check with your local U of M Extension office or email: bauxx003@umn.edu or call 507-372-3900 extension 39900. You could even get a hard copy for $31.
Some of the information included in the Farm Resource Guide include, custom rates, what to charge or what to pay, lease forms for cash and share rent arrangements, farmland sales information for all counties in Minnesota, marketing information along with cost trends in Minnesota with charts, custom information on pasture rental rates and timber value, commodity price probabilities, corn and soybean yields by county, feedlot rule highlights and manure spreading lease examples.