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2019

Minnesota utility regulators give final stamp of approval to $2.6 billion Enbridge pipeline project (3/27/19) – Minnesota utility regulators Tuesday officially bowed out of the yearslong approval process for Enbridge’s controversial new oil pipeline, but not before taking a shot at the state’s Commerce Department.

Shares in Germany’s Bayer plunge on US weed killer ruling (3/21/19) – Shares in chemicals manufacturer Bayer fell sharply Wednesday after a U.S. jury found the Roundup weed killer to have been a substantial factor in a California man’s cancer.

Researchers: Biofuels mandate may cause more harm than good with plowed-up land (3/8/19) – Hundreds of thousands of acres of grasslands and wild habitat in the Upper Midwest have been plowed up to plant corn and soybeans in the past decade because of demand created by the government’s ethanol mandate, according to a trio of academic researchers who argue that federal biofuels policy is causing more harm than good.

As trade war wears on, U.S. soybean farmers start to worry that China’s demand won’t return (3/3/19) – Since the trade war put a stop to U.S. soybean sales to China last year, farmers have been optimistic that things will go back to normal eventually. But now they are getting more worried.

Record numbers of soybeans remain in storage; farmers hope for prices to rise (2/25/19) – Record levels of soybeans are still in storage in Minnesota and across the U.S. after the fall harvest, thanks to the trade war with China, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a new report that was delayed by the government shutdown.

Former Ashby grain elevator manager pleads guilty in $5.3 million swindle (2/15/19) – The former manager of a western Minnesota grain elevator pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges of mail fraud and tax evasion in a 15-year scheme to bilk his employer out of millions of dollars to pay for exotic hunting trips and other items.

Safety officials concerned by sharp increase in oil train traffic from Canada (2/14/19) – Oil imports by rail from Canada have hit a historic high, meaning more oil trains are rolling across Minnesota and raising the alert level of local emergency managers.

Walz says state will continue court appeal of Enbridge pipeline approved by PUC (2/13/19) – Gov. Tim Walz will continue pursuing a court appeal started by his predecessor that could block Enbridge from building a controversial $2.6 billion oil pipeline across northern Minnesota.

Western Minnesota grain elevator manager to plead guilty in $5.5M swindle case (2/1/19) – The manager of a small-town Minnesota grain elevator who allegedly treated himself to exotic hunting safaris with millions of dollars stolen from farmers plans to plead guilty to federal criminal charges, his lawyer said Thursday.

With farmers unable to cash checks, one agency is ordered back open (1/17/19) – Matt Anderson, who raises corn and other crops near this central Minnesota town, has a $20,000 check that he can’t cash because of the government shutdown.

With corn and soybean prices down, wheat’s on the rise in Minnesota (1/10/19) – Spring wheat is making a bit of a comeback in Minnesota.

2024

MGFA Schedules Southern MN Grain Grading School for March

The Minnesota Grain & Feed Association will be sponsoring a grain grading school next month in Morton, MN. The grain grading school will be held on Thursday, March 28 at Jackpot Junction Casino Hotel (507-697-8000). The school is conducted in a very practical manner by licensed grain inspectors. The focus at this school will be on the grading of corn and soybeans. The school will begin at 9:00 AM and conclude by 3:00 PM (lunch included). Proper use of grading equipment will be demonstrated, and each participant will receive a participation certificate.

The cost for the school is $95/person for MGFA member firms. The non-member charge is $115/person. The cost includes training materials, training personnel time, breaks and lunch.

To register, complete the registration form. Please return the form, along with payment to the Minnesota Grain & Feed Association. Cancellations will be accepted up to 48 hours prior to each school. After that date a full refund cannot be guaranteed. We encourage pre-registration so we can ensure meal counts, material availability, etc.

Email Address Permissions

It has come to our attention that some of our email blasts from MGFA have been “bouncing back” for various reasons.

Please verify with your email provider that the MGFA email addresses, mgfa@usinternet.com and info@mgfa.org have the correct permissions to send email to your inbox.

if you have any questions or concerns about this, feel free to contact our office.

117th Annual MGFA Convention Wrap-Up

Approximately 100 MGFA members and industry professionals gathered to network and learn about topics affecting the grain and feed industry at the 117th Annual MGFA Convention and Industry Tradeshow held at Arrowwood Resort & Conference Center in Alexandria, MN.

Our convention speaker sessions addressed a number of essential topics important to MGFA members, including weather and climate impacts for Minnesota agriculture, cooperative board governance practices, agribusiness property and casualty insurance issues, ag supply chain and transportation issues, and a global ag outlook. These sessions were led by several outstanding speakers, including Dennis Todey, USDA Midwest Climate Hub; Dr. Frayne Olson, Quentin Burdick Center for Cooperatives at NDSU; Randy Daniels, Triangle Insurance Co.; Mike Steenhoek, The Soy Transportation Coalition; Joe Lardy, CHS Hedging; and the very entertaining storyteller, Mr. Dick Bremer, former play-by-play announcer for the Minnesota Twins.

MGFA members also had the opportunity to visit with 22 vendors in our industry tradeshow, to see and learn about the products & services each vendor had to offer.

During the Annual Meeting, delegates also elected and re-elected members to the board for 3-year terms, including Dale Stensrud, co-op farmer director from Central Farm Service and James Hardy, General Manager at CHS-Northern Grain, St. Hilaire.

Following the annual meeting, the MGFA Board of Directors held a re-organizational meeting to elect the Executive Committee for 2024. The MGFA Executive Committee is as follows: President – James Hardy, CHS-Northern Grain; Vice President – Cheryl Simpson, AgVantage Software; Secretary – Mark Herberg, Farmers Elevator Co. of Traverse; and Treasurer – Bob Heim, Heim Milling Co.

The 2024 – 2025 Scholarship application is now available on our Scholarship page.

Applicants must be:

  1. The child of an elevator or feed mill employee whose employer is a current MGFA member, in good standing with the Association, OR
  2. An employee/intern of an elevator or feed mill whose employer is a current MGFA member, in good standing with the Association
  3. The student must be pursuing a degree in agriculture (preference will be given to those pursuing a degree in agribusiness) and have a minimum GPA of 2.75.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our office at info@mgfa.org.

Upcoming Events

Southern MN Grain Grading School – Thursday, March 28, 2024

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