Smentek and Amanda Bilek, senior public policy director with the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, spoke Jan. 12 during the 2021 Virtual Small Grains Update Meeting. The event, sponsored by the University of Minnesota Extension, Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers, Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council, Minnesota Soybean and Minnesota Corn Growers Association, was open to the news media.
The Minnesota Senate is under Republican control, albeit by a slim 34-33 majority, while the Democratic-Farmers-Labor Party controls the House with a 70-64 majority, down from a 75-59 margin. It s the only state nationally with a divided legislature, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. House members are elected every two years, Senate members to four-year terms.
Southcentral Winter Dairy Series
The University of Minnesota Extension Service and Minnesota Dairy Initiative will be sponsoring the Southcentral Winter Dairy Series on a variety of timely topics. The discussions are free and you must be registered by noon on the day of the presentation. If you cannot watch live all the sessions will be recorded and emailed to those that registered for the program so it can be watched when you have time. You can register at: https://z.umn.edu/WDSSouthCentral. If you have questions check with your local University of Minnesota Extension office.
The topic coming up Friday January 22, 2021 will be Am I Ready for Robotic Milkers? You can learn from dairy farmers Ashley Swenson and Jim Dieball about why they installed robotic milkers and the keys to making them successful. Then on Friday February 12, 2021 the title will be Bessy s Bottom Line: How much is that cow actually making you? Joleen Hadrich will talk about feed costs per cow plus the opportun
North Dakota State University Extension and the University of Minnesota Extension have partnered to offer a series of one-hour farm safety webinars this winter. The webinars will be held at 11 a.m. Thursdays between Jan. 21 and March 18.
Wine Conferences East of the Rockies Go Virtual in 2021
With the Covid-19 crisis still limiting or preventing in-person gatherings, many wine conferences and educational programs have changed to virtual schedules for enology, viticultural, and wine marketing/business meetings. While online sessions are obviously not the same as seeing and talking with speakers and other attendees in person, there are some advantages to “attending” virtual programs. Conference organizers have the option to include presenters based on their knowledge on topic under discussion, not how much it would cost to bring them to a specific location. And there certainly are a wide variety of virtual programs that anyone in the wine industry can attend, often at no cost.