Quarantined in my cramped college apartment in the city, my mind drifts back to my considerably more spacious roots. I grew up on my family’s grass-fed beef farm, nearly 300 acres of lush, permanent pasture and preserved prairie and woodland in the drumlin region ...Read More

When times are good, the farmer-lender relationship usually is positive or perhaps even an afterthought for most farmers.  However, when times are tough, the relationship can quickly become strained, especially when there are misunderstandings about the legal obligations owed under the terms of the ...Read More

Agricultural contracts, such as those entered into between livestock integrators and growers, are often fairly complex and may contain language which neither party has carefully considered beyond the basic terms such as those dealing with compensation and the quantity of animals involved. Sometimes parties ...Read More

With the 2018 Farm Bill signed into law nearly a year ago legalizing the cultivation of industrial hemp, farmers are looking to hemp for relief from the economic hardships posed by traditional row-crop rotation. Despite its popularity and the eagerness of farmers to buy ...Read More

While cash crop farming in Minnesota is still largely dominated by corn and soybeans, there has been a recent rise in alternative crops and alternative farming practices. Some farmers are exploring new crops such as industrial hemp, while others have adopted organic farming practices ...Read More

Constructing a new hog barn (or expanding an existing barn) in Minnesota requires pork producers to navigate a maze of requirements across several layers of government.  The facility may require a feedlot permit from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency or the county where the ...Read More