Deep Roots

As a farm kid, my favorite and would frequently season was fall. It was not spend weekends with us or the vibrant colors that my grandparents. The farm was a place that gave everyone a purpose. From the youngest to the oldest, everyone could be tasked with something. Whether it was keeping the combine or tractor drivers company, delivering field meals, sorting cattle, or hauling in round bales of corn stalks, if one wanted to work a task could be found. would appear on the trees as they prepared to dress down for winter; or the dropping temperatures which left little fingers and noses red; or the cozy meals that were ready to serve at a moment’s notice. Those are the things that I love about fall now. As a child, what I loved most about fall was the way harvest drew in people from near and far, all for the same goal: bringing in the DEEP ROOTS By Whitney Nesse crops. For me, every weekend in the There were usually so many kids late 1980’s through the 1990’s, our around that there wasn’t room to be farm felt like its very own bustling lonely. I can remember endless hours community. with cousins and friends rearranging My family lived one mile (as the crow flies) from my grandparents and the two farm sites were connected by a field road. I loved that field road. It was the place I learned to drive a tractor and a truck, where I learned to shoot a gun, and where I lost the keys to my grandpa’s Yamaha threewheeler. That field road is the place where our little dachshund lost her life and is home to “the big hill” which small bales of straw to build forts and equal amounts of time played in our swing set fort — using it as a pirate ship. As everyone got older, buzzing around on my grandpa’s three-wheeler and in my parents’ John Deere Gator were at the top of the list. Thankfully, there was nothing more serious than a few minor broken bones and many stern warnings from parents with those ventures. served as our halfway point. From My favorite fall memories include spring through fall, the field road was getting rides in full gravity boxes from the main highway which connected the field up to the house. Sitting on the two farms. My mom and grand- top of a golden mound of corn, digging ma, both experts in the kitchen, were my fingers and toes into the cool kercontinually feeding a crowd each nels and burying my legs all the while weekend during the fall. They were squealing with glee as the wagon not only feeding their own families, slowly swayed back and forth behind but were most often feeding cousins the tractor top the list. And the fun and friends as well. Our town-dwell- didn’t stop when the tractor parked ing cousins and friends loved the either! busy-ness of the farm during harvest Part of the fun was staying in the

North Star Ag Expo announced

Tradexpos has recently announced the first annual North Star Ag Expo will take place July 26-28, 2022. This new outdoor farm show will be held at the Ritchie Bros. Auction site, located four miles north of Owatonna, Minn. just off of I-35.

The North Star Ag Expo will offer farmers and ranchers an opportunity to meet with industry leading ag companies. As an addition to the show, the University of Minnesota will hold seminars on July 26 from 1-4 p.m. and July 27 from 10 a.m.-noon in the Ritchie Bros. Auction indoor auditorium. All seminars will be free to attend.

Parking and admission to the North Star Ag Expo is free. The gates will open daily at 9 a.m. and close at 5 p.m. on July 26, 8 p.m. on July 27, and 4 p.m. on July 28.

Tradexpos also presents the North American Farm and Power Show which is held at the Four Seasons Centre in Owatonna every March.

This article was submitted by Tradexpos, Inc. v wagon as long as I could as the corn flowed out into an auger below. My dad never let anyone stay in too long (except one time when my brother ended up flowing out the bottom of the wagon with the corn — but all’s well that ends well).

A sure mark of a well-spent fall day was finding corn, straw and dirt in obscure places. Pockets, shoes, cracks and crevices are places that seem to house foreign objects well. Even now, with my own kids, I can tell when it has been a good day by the amount of roughage that falls to the floor when they are getting ready to bathe.

Where we live, harvest time has changed a bit. Gravity boxes have been replaced with semi trucks and trailers, our field road has been plowed under, my dad no longer raises livestock, my grandparents have both passed away and my cousins are widely dispersed across the country.

But change does not always have a negative connotation.

My dad and brothers are still farming the same pieces of dirt that left a gritty film on my skin as a kid. My husband and I are raising our family and livestock on the same farm site where my grandparents raised their family and livestock. My children are learning how to drive tractors and trucks, shoot guns, ride four-wheelers, build forts, play in piles of corn, sort cattle and experience the circle of life as we birth and bury loved animals. We are fortunate to live a mile (as the crow flies) from both of my brothers and their families and we still have my parents and one of my sisters’ close by as well.

Harvest time still offers a purpose and sense of community. Anyone who wants to work can be given a task, my mom is still an expert in the kitchen and I think of myself as her protege. Each fall I make new memories with my family and friends, never replacing the memories of my childhood, just building on them.

Whitney Nesse is a sixth-generation livestock farmer who is deeply rooted in her faith and family. She writes from her central Minnesota farm. v

Sustainable agriculture grant funding available

ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Department of Agriculture anticipates awarding up to $250,000 to demonstrate and publicize the energy efficiency, environmental benefit, or profitability of sustainable agricultural techniques or systems, from production through marketing.

The Agricultural Growth, Research, and Innovation (AGRI) Program’s Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration Grant program will accept applications through 4 p.m. on Dec. 9.

Applicants may request up to $50,000 per project. The first $25,000 does not need to be matched by the applicants. For requests between $25,000 and $50,000, applicants must provide a dollar-for-dollar match on the amount above $25,000.

Funding will be awarded in 2022. Projects must last two to three years and grantees must be willing to share what they learn with others.

Projects are published annually in the MDA’s Greenbook, which provides a summary of each project along with results, management tips, locations of previous projects, and other resources.

Past grants have funded a wide range of projects, such as exploring farm diversification; cover crops and crop rotation; conservation tillage; input reduction strategies; and alternative energies such as wind, methane, and biomass.

Applicants must be Minnesota residents, and projects must take place on Minnesota farms.

For more information, visit https:// www.mda.state.mn.us/business-devloans-grants/agri-sustainable-agriculture-demonstration-grant

This article was submitted by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.v