News

Pig farmers manage and operate finely-tuned farms that produce pigs consistently and efficiently. These farms are part of a coordinated industry which works smoothly until disaster strikes, then farmers and their supporting industries must “adjust on the fly” to maintain food production.  The disaster could be torrential rains and flooding, a blizzard with heavy snows, a tornado, a fire, a pandemic that closes packing plants or an outbreak of a Foreign Animal Disease (FAD). 

All across the state, MNat volunteers are engaged in helping to make Minnesota a better place through volunteer service.  The program allows volunteers to choose their own service projects in one of four areas: Stewardship, program support, education/interpretation, and citizen science. 

Recently, one of these volunteers was recognized for his 19 years of service by Point of Light Foundation. Read more to learn about Bruce Gravelle's experience as a Minnesota Master Naturalist.

In late October, the West Central Research and Outreach Center (WCROC) weather data collection modernized thanks to a new weather station provided by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA). The WCROC joined several other ROCs in partnering with the MDA to join and collect data for the Minnesota Ag Weather Network (MAWN). This project upgrades the ROCs’ current weather stations with technology that is standardized across the MDA’s network and provides current weather updates every 15 minutes.

U of M professor Neil Anderson’s team studies the triple-hitter crop, which provides food resources to pollinators throughout the growing season and creates sustainable oilseed and fiber products as a cash crop for Minnesota farmers.

Why should you donate to the WCROC during this year's Give to the Max Day?

For Yuzhi Li, her life’s work has been dedicated to understanding and improving the management methods of swine. Why did she go into this field? She loves pork.

Veluchamy Chitraichamy, a new faculty member with the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, plans to establish an Integrated Waste Bioprocessing Research Center at the West Central Research and Outreach Center. Once established, this Center will demonstrate a circular bioeconomy, utilizing agricultural waste products to generate heat and electricity, as well as other useful byproducts like fertilizer.

Recently, WCROC has been featured in different news outlets regarding the new 500kw agrivoltaic installation completed in partnership with the University of Minnesota - Morris. Agweek reporter, Michael Johnson, published a fantastic article talking about the collaborative project.

Feedback from our annual flower trials is instrumental for plant breeding companies, providing them with insights to refine their cultivars. The evaluation results are shared with the participating companies, who may then improve their plants and re-enter them into future trials. Additionally, our annual flower report is distributed to commercial nursery producers, floriculture professionals, grower associations, U of MN Extension, and U of MN Master Gardeners, offering valuable cultivar recommendations for Minnesota's gardening community.

Preliminary yield results from the 2024 variety trials are now available at varietytrials.umn.edu for the following crops: spring wheat, winter wheat, winter rye, winter triticale, barley, and oats. The annual report including all crops and finalized data will be published later this year.