minnesota department of agriculture

The 12th annual Organic Conference is expected to bring more than 500 organic farmers and processors to the Rivers Edge Convention Center today (Friday).

If you can't wait for spring, there's a couple workshops that will help you get in the mood. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is hosting the event tomorrow (Thursday) at the River's Edge Convention Center.

The state Agriculture Department is telling Minnesotans not to let pests into their homes this holiday season -- and they're not talking about relatives.

Minnesota farmers are nearly finished with the corn and sunflower harvests, thanks to continued dry weather. According to the weekly U.S. Department of Agriculture crop-weather report for Minnesota, corn was 93 percent harvested as of Sunday. That compares with 86 percent last year and a five-year average of 60 percent.

Warm, dry weather has helped Minnesota farmers make rapid progress on the soybean harvest. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's weekly crop weather report for Minnesota, the soybean harvest jumped 32 percentage points to 35 percent complete as of Sunday.

The destructive emerald ash borer has been discovered in trees near St. Paul's historic Summit Avenue. The pests were discovered earlier this month. The area is three miles away from a previously infested spot in the St. Anthony neighborhood.

Researchers will be hanging thousands of purple traps across Minnesota this summer in search of the emerald ash borer. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture plans to place 4,500 traps starting this week.

Minnesota Department of Agriculture regulators are investigating a Freeport area farmer for allegedly selling raw milk and other food products illegally. According to a search warrant affidavit, Alvin Schlangen is believed to be selling raw milk from a south Minneapolis natural food warehouse and at a drop-off point in St. Paul. By law, raw milk can only be sold directly from farms.

The 30th anniversary edition of the Minnesota Grown Directory comes out in April. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture says it began publishing the statewide directory in the early 1980s, long before the "buy local" trend became fashionable.

Minnesota is seeking more volunteers to help keep an eye out for new infestations of emerald ash borer and other invasive pests. Dozens of citizens already have joined the effort.