Business open house in Crow River Township is next Monday

Click here to see what I'm referring to: https://shorturl.at/2Y9m3.

I noticed the latest Minnesota football media state rankings show our B-B-E Jaguars football team sitting at No. 15 with 13 votes. Cool! On paper, they are not the underdogs going into Friday's game at Swanville.

Wednesday night: due to the politically driven assassination of Charlie Kirk, a man who I held deep respect for and spent countless hours listening and watching across the past 5+ years, blogging will be on hold until Thursday. Today is a very, deeply dark day.

Curd Fest is on the horizon at Redhead Creamery, and more news

The annual Redhead Creamery Curd Fest is coming soon! It's less than a week away. You can get all the details by clicking here to the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website: https://shorturl.at/b6Zbx. This was also advertised in the June 5 issue of the newspaper.

To order Curd Fest tickets, click on the following link: https://shorturl.at/QNjBZ.

In other news...
Related to Bonanza Valley Days...the BVD Men's 3-on-3 tournament at the elementary school in Brooten is coming on Friday, July 11. Organizer Chris Anderson highly recommends that teams get their registration mailed in ahead of that week so the games can begin at 6 p.m. sharp that night. If registering on site, he asked that teams arrive by 5 p.m. Registration is $40 for teams pre-registered by July 3 and $50 after that. He can be contacted by email: canderson@bbejaguars.org, and further information on registration will be posted in the coming week.

Coming on Tuesday this week to the Belgrade library! This is exciting stuff! "Sustainable Safari" - Tuesday, June 10 from 10:00 to 10:45 a.m. Learn about safari wildlife with this live-animal show! See the animals up close and learn about natural history, sustainability practices, and team building. For all ages. This program was made possible with Arts & Cultural Heritage Funds from Minnesota’s Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment.

A new business in Willmar is graciously advertising in the June 12, June 19 and June 26 issues of the Bonanza Valley Voice. The business is called Serene Willow Psychiatry, and you can find their website at https://www.serenewillowpsychiatry.org. Thank you, to Steffanie Smith, APRN, CNP, PMHNP-BC, for reaching out to the newspaper and asking us to help promote your valuable services.

Irrigation Clinic...and the playoff opener! (RADIO, UPDATES, VIDEO!)

First, here's a link to the Bonanza Valley Voice website for any farmer interested in attending an upcoming irrigators clinic in Spicer: https://shorturl.at/WzdmY.

In girls' basketball action tonight in Marshall...
Late in the first half of the Section 3AA girls' basketball championship, Minnewaska Area has pulled in front 23-22 against Fairmont. This represents the first lead of the game for the Lakers.

Incredible: Minnewaska Area fell behind by as many as 12 points at two different times in the first half. At halftime: Minnewaska Area 23, Fairmont 22.

Update: from about the 10 minute mark to the 5-minute mark, the score in Marshall was Minnewaska 37, Fairmont 34...but the Lakers punched Fairmont right in the gut with a rapid-quick 11-0 run that blew the game open. The Lakers won 51-36 (I think?) to advance to the state tournament for the first time since 1999. Good for them! Bravo!

More to come...and in boys' basketball news...
The B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team tips off at 7 p.m. tonight in Brandon. We have radio coverage! Tonight's game will be aired on 106.5 FM The Train of Norway Lake-Sunburg. Bill Dean, Belgrade High School Class of 1972, has his broadcast streamed online: https://www.willmarradio.com/the_train.

In the opening half...the Chargers took a 4-0 lead with 13:40 left on a paint shot. Both teams struggled mightily offensively across the first 6 minutes. With 11:43 to go, Luke Illies stole the ball and drove it in for a slam dunk, which gave the Jaguars a 5-4 lead.

Here's a video from the first half tonight...starting with just over 8 minutes to go:


Halftime: B-B-E 21, Brandon-Evansville 15. The Chargers got a wild three-point shot to go down right at the buzzer from the deep right corner.

To see the final score, reload the blog to view the new blog post.

Breakfast on the Farm this morning (VIDEOS added)

They are serving free breakfast until 11 a.m. today in rural Kensington/Hoffman at the Dan and Kay Persons farm. This free Breakfast on the Farm event is hosted by Pope and Grant County Farm Bureau and many other businesses and organizations from the area. This event has been heavily advertised in the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper dating back to at least the August 10 issue. All the details are in the newspaper!

Also today: the Sunburg Trolls Car Club classic car show at Willie Reigstad baseball field and their town's community center is today. The event concludes at 2 p.m. with the awards ceremony. Breakfast is being served there (for a small price) at Hope Lutheran Church through 9:30 a.m. This event was advertised in the last three newspaper issues.

Here's video of yesterday's lesson, Gospel and sermon at West Lake Johanna Lutheran church:


Sam Sanders, Brooten Class of 1968, was the reader of the lessons. His daughter, Michelle, is the only B-B-E fastpitch player to pitch a win in a sub-section championship game. She graduated in 2012 and is now a doctor! How cool is that!

The heat wave continues...my spare time is bottled up by keeping our family garden alive. It pinches any time I have for sports reporting. We topped out at 98 degrees in Brooten yesterday. I did get a video posted to the newspaper website from Bagley, click on this link to see that: http://tinyurl.com/yuxan7c7.

**Here's a video from this morning at Rafter P Ranch...it was a great event!


Time to get back to watering the garden. For the record! We topped out again at 98 degrees today in the Bonanza Valley.

Curd Fest at Redhead Creamery (VIDEO)

The Redhead Creamery's annual Curd Fest celebration is in the rear view mirror, but we should continue patronizing their business and looking forward to an exciting expansion! They are opening a restaurant in the future, with seating up to 99, that is going to be a destination location for travels near and far.

At Curd Fest on June 17, the Sjostrom family included numerous live bands performing under a large tent. Below is video from the final band. Altogether they had a turnout of over 1,500! That is terrific!

Here's the Josh Cleveland Band performing at Curd Fest:


Right after the four-minute mark in that video, you can see Josh Reed helping oversee his Goat Ridge Brewing booth located by the dairy barn. Josh is a 1991 B-B-E graduate and was on the very first boys' basketball team led by Hall of Fame Coach Dave Montbriand. Goat Ridge Brewing of New London is another local business we need to support around the year!

Agritourism is not a new phenomenon in America, but the Redhead Creamery is unique to our area. They are excited to look forward to a 10-year anniversary to celebrate when they opened for business in August 2014. Their retail website can be found by clicking here: https://redhead-creamery.myshopify.com.


THURSDAY update...the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper website has been updated with new (brief) web articles. You can click over at this link: https://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com. Thursday has been a very busy day, and it culminated with a terrific concert in the park at Belgrade. Also, the B-B-E Jaguars fastpitch 17-U team earned a Summer Recreation series split with Upsala. I didn't write down the score of game one, but in game two, the Jaguars won 9-4. Great job!

The farmer he must feed them all

From the Land O' Lakes YouTube page, dated 2017.


The poem was written over 100 years ago. Its words ring as true as ever in 2020.

Here's some additional commentary that I found noteworthy (short link): https://bit.ly/2v7GAmC.

Answer Plot day in Belgrade

An Answer Plot by Winfield Forage and Corn Silage Knowledge Event will be held on Wednesday, August 7 in Belgrade on South Highway 71.

Registration is at 9:45 a.m., and welcome and introductions will follow at 10 a.m.

Topics for this year’s forage and corn silage event include: Forage Genetics International staff insight on alfalfa yield and quality improvement with breeding; forage options on prevent plant acres; management for higher yield and quality in alfalfa.

In addition, forage information will be provided on sorghums (how, where, when, why) and harvest management and storage to feed more high quality forages.

A catered lunch will be provided at noon, and the event concludes at 1 p.m. All hay and forage growers are welcome!

Breakfast on the Farm event on June 2

This is exciting! Check it out...an event in rural Padua/Elrosa on Saturday, June 2:
http://www.bonanzavalleyvoice.com/story/2018/05/10/regional/stearns-county-breakfast-on-the-farm/628.html.

For the Elrosa Saints amateur baseball team, they take to the road for two Stearns County League North division battles. On Saturday, May 19 they are at New Munich. On Sunday they head to Meire Grove. Both games start at 1:30 p.m.

(Video) Farm machinery auction in Sunburg

Actually it was a consignment auction held in Sunburg...on Saturday, April 1. Here's a little video from that day. The sun was shining! Where did it go?

The spring and summer auction season is underway across the Bonanza Valley area.

While I've got your attention, I wanted to give a little shout out to Goat Ridge Brewing Co. in New London and tell you about their upcoming two-year anniversary celebration this Saturday, April 15. You can see more details in last week's and this week's Bonanza Valley Voice. (Page 10 last week)

Job openings at Lakeside Foods in Brooten

And these are good, middle-class jobs with a great work environment. The field supervisor gets a fair amount of day-time traveling to boot!

##jobsjobsjobs

A few days ago I reported that our B-B-E Jaguars boys' basketball team is 7-5 overall this century against New London-Spicer. I completely forgot about NL-S's dominating 85-60 win over the Jaguars in the 2009 Sub-Section 6AA-East championship game. So the win on Monday over NL-S lifted them to 7-6 overall against NL-S since the 2000-2001 season.

Farm Bill technician position

Click on the graphic for best viewing.

The Pope Soil and Water Conservation District has an immediate opening for a fulltime Farmbill Technician position starting at $16-$18.00 per hour.  This position promotes and implements conservation provisions of the Federal Farm Bill, the Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM), and other related wildlife and clean water conservation programs.  Activities will include program promotion, contract coordination, conservation planning, conservation plan modification, site assessment, inspections, and reporting.  Provide technical assistance for wildlife habitat enhancement techniques to private landowners and public organizations.  Position will work with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), Farm Service Agency (FSA), and the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) to promote and implement the conservation programs.  A general qualification guideline for this position is a Bachelor of Science degree in Natural Resources/Environmental Studies/Agricultural Business or a related field. Please send a cover letter, completed application form, and resume with 3 references to the address or email below by 4:00 p.m. on August 7, 2015.  Application, job description, and position announcement can be found online at www.popeswcd.org.

And here's a home for sale...price reduced!
Beautiful 4 BR, 4 BA newer home with attached 2+ garage and detached garage on 3.14 acres located outside of Belgrade. PRICE REDUCED $209,000. Red Oak Realty 320-250-9363.

A unique book fair coming to local farm

Check this out...details of the event appeared in an advertisement on page two of last week's Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper:
http://redheadcreamery.com/not-your-average-book-fair

I'm excited to attend this event on Tuesday afternoon. You can see some of what I saw and learned when you read this week's Bonanza Valley Voice.

House GOP spotlight on rural MN has faded

My opinion: this is all true. And the way the Republicans in St. Paul are short-changing rural Minnesota is especially bad. Then add the fact that they campaigned on "helping rural Minnesota" in 2014 only to see them trample the interests of rural Minnesota makes them hypocrites of the WORST nature.

House GOP spotlight on rural MN has faded

By Nancy Larson, Congressional District Seven DFL Party Chair

Republicans swept into the majority last year by picking up 10 House seats in Greater Minnesota, convincing voters that they would shine the spotlight on rural areas of the state that they claimed had been ignored by the Democrats. That spotlight shone brightly on rural Minnesota at the start of this legislative session, but it faded quickly once the House Republican majority started passing their major bills last week.

Where once there had been talk of a major investment in workforce housing for rural cities, there is now no money to be seen despite the fact that the lack of affordable housing is hampering job growth for many rural industries and hindering business and community expansion plans.

The funding needed to bring high speed Internet up-to-par in rural areas declined from the $20 million invested in the program by Democrats in 2014 to just $8 million in the House bill. That means 40 percent of the people living in rural areas will continue to be denied Internet speeds that match the state’s goals, while in the metro, only 6.7 percent of the populace lack adequate broadband access.

Last year, rural homeowners received substantial reductions in property taxes from the Democrats, but this year they were overlooked entirely in the House GOP bill. Small rural businesses also received significant tax cuts last year thanks to the DFL, but this year it looks like bigger is better.  The biggest tax cut proposed by the GOP does away with the state-wide commercial/industrial property tax, and while small businesses would see their taxes go down if this provision were passed, the metro area will be the big winner under this proposal. That is quite the opposite of the promises made by Republicans who accused the DFL of catering to the metro area.  

In all, the House bill cuts taxes by $2 billion, gobbling up the state’s current budget surplus plus more. The “more” will be paid for in large part by cuts in Health and Human Services, and that will hurt – instead of help – rural Minnesota. A big part of the proposed Republican HHS cuts would be obtained by taking MinnesotaCare away from working-poor Minnesotans.  You read that right—the Republican House wants to eliminate the health insurance subsidy for lower income workers, many of whom live and work in rural areas. But that thinking is wrong for all of Minnesota. And the facts are: the 25 counties with the highest number of people enrolled in the program are all located in Greater Minnesota.

We are fortunate to have the DFL Senate to protect Greater Minnesota by forging final compromise bills that will offer more positives and fewer negatives for those of us living, working and running businesses in rural Minnesota. That does not mean you should forget these earlier bills passed by the GOP majority in the House. Ask your legislators now how they voted on the above issues. Ask them what happened to the Republican promises to rural Minnesota.  Those promises are fading as fast as the light from a fading flashlight.

Found this interesting: agriculture careers

This was a great read in the Dairy Herd magazine...check it out!
http://www.dairyherd.com/news/8-reasons-why-ag-careers-are-needed-more-ever-1

##agriculture

(Video) FarmFest agriculture forum

Here's 10 minutes or so from the U.S. Senator candidate debate at FarmFest on Wednesday this week. It's part of what has been an extremely busy week for me.

http://saukherald.com/content/us-senator-debate-farmfest

Use extra caution on the roads this weekend

Tillage taking place north of Elrosa this afternoon.

Area farmers are forging ahead in fast and furious fashion in order to get the fall harvest completed along with the necessary tillage that goes with it.

Travel safely this weekend and be extra careful on country roads that could have a large piece of farm equipment on it as you navigate hills and turns in our rural areas.

Draft Horse Field Days moved to Sunday

Hilary Brunner with his horse-drawn corn cutter.

Due to the steady morning rain, the 34th annual Northern Minnesota Draft Horse field days will be Sunday instead of today. It will be held at the Hilary Brunner farm, located about a mile north/northeast of Bayer Built as the crow flies.

Don't miss the feature article on the field days and the Hilary Brunner family in this week's Sauk Centre Herald. Brunner raised 10 children, all Belgrade high school graduates. His grandchildren include Travis, Brittany and Mackenzie Winter - all former and current stand out athletes at B-B-E.

*Youth Tackle football announcement:

Grades 5 and 6 tackle football scheduled at Paynesville is canceled today due to the wet weather and poor field conditions. No football. Please help spread the word.

Agriculture: the backbone of our community

Here's a video clip from the Wiener dairy/goat farm in rural Elrosa. A story on their farm was printed in the February issue of Country Acres, a publication spearheaded by the Sauk Centre Herald.


Never a dull moment on a farm!

Another issue near and dear to my heart...ethanol

Well, folks, it appears that President Obama has been re-elected. I'm going to share a commentary given on the Agri News Facebook news feed regarding ethanol.

Statement from Bob Dinneen, President and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA):

“U.S. ethanol producers across this nation congratulate President Obama. Despite the many differences between the candidates and their political supporters, both candidates agreed energy independence was an important national goal. We are pleased that both candidates publicly supported the Renewable Fuel Standard based on its proven success. Ethanol has already helped reduce U.S. imports from Persian Gulf oil by 25% since 2000. We are very proud of the 400,000 American jobs we support across the economy. This is just the beginning of what biofuels can accomplish and we stand ready and eager to work with President Obama to expand the market for biofuels and bring the next generation online.“

I wouldn't be surprised if I learned that many of the fine people who click across this sports blog are both opposed to ethanol. I'll be very clear, I've got farming in my blood, I was raised on a farm, I have been a farmer, and I support farmers the whole way. I support the fine work of John Mages, Elrosa-area farmer, who is president of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association and has spent countless hours in the last year or more promoting the ethanol industry.

An open house is this Saturday for a new dairy barn in rural Brooten

In a story I wrote about 2006 B-B-E graduate Shaina Kirckof's new dairy barn, I mistakenly said the open house is "Friday, July 7" when in fact it's "Saturday, July 7". Above is a poster I spotted at Jim's Grocery in Brooten to help promote the open house. Kirckof's youngest sibling, Daniel Kirckof, was a 3-sport Jaguar athlete and a 2011 graduate of B-B-E and is hoping to return home after college to help operate the family's dairy operation.