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Central Minnesota news and notes Tuesday, August 16, 2005
Baseball-sized hail hits Otter Tail County
UNDERWOOD, Minn. -- Baseball-sized hail pounded parts of Otter Tail County in western Minnesota early on Aug. 9, damaging buildings and vehicles.
Downed trees lined streets in Underwood.
Richard Suchy said streets were green with leaves, and the hood of his pickup was covered in dents. The storm knocked out windows in the cars of two of his neighbors, he said.
Marie Jacobson, co-owner of the nursery Outdoor Renovations, reported losing thousands of dollars in plants and equipment.
The hail, which she said was softball-sized at times, punched holes through the tops of her greenhouses and shattered her clay birdbaths. It also knocked out windshields in her fleet of seven trucks.
Angus Production Sale set in Grand Rapids
GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. -- The University of Minnesota's 2nd annual Angus Production Sale is scheduled Oct. 29 at noon in Grand Rapids.
More than 50 lots of bred cows and heifers, open heifers, heifer and bull calves and service-age bulls will be sold. Also featured will be females from established UM Blanche, Edella and Evelin families.
Reference catalogs can be obtained by calling sales manager Laree Walker in Deer River at (218) 328-6414 or Cliff Lamb at (218) 327-4490.
Children's Barnyard to mark 50th year at fair
FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. -- The Minnesota FFA Association will celebrate the 50th year of the Children's Barnyard at the state fair Sept. 3-4.
The first fair FFA Children's Barnyard was opened in 1956, with Mountain Lake FFA advisor James Crawford as adult foreman.
Programs at 12:30 p.m. in the Miracle of Birth Center will honor the anniversary. The barnyard's first student foreman, Arnold Harder of Mountain Lake, will be on hand. A parade will be held at 2 p.m. Sept. 3-4.
"It has been a successful first 50 years and we look forward to cooperating with the Minnesota State Fair and the Minnesota Veterinarians Association and the College of Veterinary Medicine for the next 50 years,'' said Steve Kozioled, with the Minnesota FFA Foundation.
Organic Farm Field Day is Aug. 25
JORDAN, Minn. -- An Organic Farm Field Day is planned Aug. 25 on the Riesgraf Farm near Jordan.
The field day will feature workshops on organic cropping systems, pasture management, herd health and organic certification.
Sessions will run hourly from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Visitors are welcome to drop in for any or all of the day's events. Lunch will be provided from noon to 1 p.m. and door prizes will be offered.
"The field day will help Minnesota producers learn the basics of transitioning to certified organic production and the available marketplace for organics, a growing opportunity,'' said field day host Jeff Riesgraf, who raises 60 cows on 300 acres and has had an organic farm since 1994.
Commerce Department prmotes wind energy
ST. PAUL -- The Minnesota Department of Commerce will award $400,000 to two community wind energy projects in the state to increase renewable energy development.
The Department of Commerce is requesting proposals for new grid-connected community wind energy projects of 900 kilowatts or more to be installed and operating with a Minnesota electric utility by June 2007.
Applications are being accepted now through Oct. 6 with the grant recipients announced later that month.
Community projects include educational institutions, non-profit organizations, tribal governments and units of Minnesota government.
The projects can be located anywhere in the state except in Lincoln, Lyon, Martin, Nobles, Pipestone and Rock counties, where significant amounts of wind energy is now generated and transmission is constrained.
Specialty Grains Conference is set Aug. 23-25
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. -- Traceability software for grain elevators and port facilities will be highlighted at the Midwest Speciality Grains Conference Aug. 23-25 in the Ramada Inn Airport/Thunderbird Convention Center, Bloomington.
David Trueman, DB Information Systems of Liverpool, England, will introduce CommTrac, a software system that provides operators of grain handling facilities with a total operations management solution.
Breakout sessions include Midwest quality advantage; global outlook for speciality grains; economics of growing and handling speciality grains; connecting buyers with sellers; protection/contracts; transportation and logistics; traceability and food safety; and more.
Restored wetlands may be option for some
ST. CLOUD, Minn. -- Landowners who suffered losses due to crop flooding may want to consider turning those acres into restored wetlands, says Vince Manderfeld, with the Stearns County Soil and Water Conservation District.
Flooded or wet cropland areas may be eligible for the Continuous Conservation Reserve Program, which has a practice for these areas.
Farmed wetlands enrolled in the Farmable Wetlands Program must be restored by improving the land's hydrology and vegetation. In return, landowners receive annual cash rental payments on the acres enrolled.
Landowners can enroll in FWP for 10 years or 15 years and will receive annual rental payments, incentive payments and up to 90 percent cost-share for installing necessary practices.
Toilet gardener facing tresspassing charge
GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. -- A Grand Rapids man who created a flower garden out of 40 toilets is now accused of trespassing, after officials discovered the unique pots are on city property.
Lee Jackson has refused to remove the toilets. He pleaded not guilty last week to a misdemeanor trespassing charge in Itasca County Court.
"I was just trying to beautify a blighted neighborhood and do something nice for the city of Grand Rapids," said Jackson, 59.
The petunia-filled toilets and a sign advertising Jackson's septic business mark the entrance to his property, which is just west of the city compost pile. He told the Grand Rapids Herald-Review that the toilets have been in the same place for six years.
In June, Jackson received a blight notice and was told to remove the toilet bowl planters by the end of July, after the city received complaints from nearby property owners. Upon further investigation, the city learned that the toilets were actually on city property and officials pressed charges.
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