Minnesota

Since 2009, USDA Rural Development has helped 512 rural small businesses and farmers install renewable energy systems or make energy efficiency improvements through the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). On Tuesday, April 10, about 40 of those farmers and small business owners gathered in...

The Minnesota Farm Service Agency (FSA) wants to overcome the obstacles faced in reaching minority farmers and ranchers. So they have collaborated with area businesses and non-profit organizations to help meet their goal. “We realize that this will not be a fast process but we are hoping to make...

John Miller got the call at 12:45 a.m. on Sept. 7, 2007. Freeborn Lumber Company – the business John’s grandfather bought in 1946 and John purchased from his father in 1986 – was burning to the ground. Less than 30 minutes later, the nearly 100-year-old building was destroyed. Lightning struck a...

Dr. Steven Mulder can’t enter Harmony River Living Center in rural Minnesota without smiling. The CEO and president of Hutchinson Area Health Care wore an especially large smile during a dedication ceremony for the new senior living facility in late February. “When we broke ground, we imagined what...

On a farm in small-town Pierz, Minnesota, Tom and Jenni Smude are breaking new ground in the cooking oil business. Tom and Jenni started Smude’s Natural Sunflower Oil in February of 2010 and have enjoyed the ride ever since. What began as an idea to grow a drought-tolerant crop transformed into a...

If you’re looking to shatter any preconceived notions you might have about rural Minnesota, take a trip to Elgin and spend some time with Dr. Julee Kingsley and Dr. Colleen Urbain.

Pat Longmire has owned a grocery store in Spring Grove, Minn., for 22 years. He knows customers want fresh produce, quality meats and weekly deals that save a buck here and there. But he wasn’t sure how customers would react after he put glass doors on the coolers in the store. Longmire didn’t have...

While most people associate farmers markets with fresh fruits and vegetables, farmers and ranchers actually bring a much more diverse range of products to the table every week. This year’s portfolio of grant recipients under the Farmers Market Promotion Program, administered by USDA’s Agricultural...

Some of USDA’s international employees were in the United States last month, exchanging information with their stateside counterparts and learning firsthand how U.S. agricultural systems and processes work.

When the final wall was raised on Jessi Mattila’s new home, it symbolized another step toward homeownership for the mother of three in Mountain Iron, Minn. It also symbolized the strength of a new partnership between USDA Rural Development and the Habitat for Humanity. Rural Development is financing...