Mikkel Pates
Grand Forks Herald
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Past articles by Mikkel:
Volitant Technologies of Nebraska sells drones to spray and seed ‘full-field’
Commercial farmers in Nebraska, the Dakotas, and Minnesota start using drones for spraying, seeding. → Read More
$30,000 an acre: Eye-popping farmland prices in northwest Iowa have an impact across the Midwest
A recent $30,000 per acre land sale in Sioux County, Iowa, sends signals into the land market in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and even as far away as Indiana. → Read More
Green Plains looks at the future of adding value to corn through more than ethanol
Green Plains Inc., of Omaha, Nebraska, is a company that markets corn ethanol coproducts and is investing hundreds of millions of dollars into equipment bolt-ons at their own ethanol plants. → Read More
Green Plains' Innovation Centers make the most of each corn kernel
Green Plains Inc., of Omaha, Nebraska, uses three Innovation Centers to develop fish food and other “ultra-high” protein and yeast products from corn. → Read More
A young couple's South Dakota custom hog finishing barn is part of a livestock 'uptick' in Clark County
Samantha and Taylon LaMont of Carpenter, South Dakota, are pork producers in a boom for confined animal feeding operation permits in Clark County. Samantha, 31, manages the barn and cares for 2,400 → Read More
Scheibes are giants in the small world of ag toys
Cathy Scheibe, at 82, of LaMoure, North Dakota, continues with Toy Farmer Magazine, more than 22 years after her husband and co-founder, Claire, died. She talks about how the company is changing and preparing for transitions, about how markets for toy tractors and construction equipment have been unusually strong due to the pandemic and supply chain issues for new toy commemorative projects. → Read More
Cattle across the region come to shelter as pastures dry up
Cow-calf producers had plenty of time to bring cattle from summer pastures, to shelter around farmsteads and to fenced corn stubble fields for late grazing prior to winter. Northeast South Dakota farmer Wally Knock said he has plenty of feed despite a dry late summer. → Read More
Supporters break ground for Casselton farm innovation center
On Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022, political and business luminaries helped break ground on Grand Farm’s Innovation Facility. The new facility is being developed on 140 acres west of Casselton and will support research and development projects to advance the next generation of precision agriculture, including autonomous technologies. → Read More
ADM rewards North Dakota couple's regenerative practices with premium contract for 'Knwble Grwn' flax
Archer Daniels Midland is paying Paul and Diane Overby, regenerative farmers from Wolford, North Dakota, to produce flaxseed to be sold in specialty food production markets. → Read More
ADM to launch 'Knwble Grwn' food brand at Natural Products Expo
Flax has been central to Archer Daniels Midland’s Red Wing, Minnesota, plant that is the biggest of its type in North America, and was one of ADM’s first locations when it took ownership in 1971. The plant has always produced flax seed oil for industrial purposes and has been certified for human food in a specialty market under the Knwble Grwn (“noble grown”) brand. → Read More
USDA grant pays for stress counseling for ND farmers
Becky Kopp Dunham, co-owner of Together Counseling and its “Farm to Farm Services,” talks about pressures from uncertainties coming to bear on North Dakota farm and ranch families. Sean Brotherson, a North Dakota State University Extension family specialist, describes the multi-state grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that can help farmers under stress. → Read More
American Crystal Sugar employees have accepted contract offer, union official says
John Riskey, president of Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers, and Grain Millers union Local 167G, confirmed on Wednesday, Sept. 14, that employees had approved a tentative agreement reached last week between union representatives and American Crystal. → Read More
South Dakota farmers don't see Summit carbon dioxide pipeline as a public utility worthy of eminent domain
A group of farmers near Leola, South Dakota, and Aberdeen, South Dakota, say they are ethanol supporters but that the proposed Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline will cause them far more than what the company is paying for easements. They also say the lurking threat of eminent domain is inappropriate… → Read More
Conservation Stewardship Program is a popular program for making ag more environmentally friendly
The Conservation Stewardship Program, delivered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service, is highly popular with farmland owners in North Dakota as a way to increase environmentally-friendly practices. Todd C. Hagel, assistant state conservation, describes the basics in the rules. → Read More
Swany White Flour Mills grinds ahead
Swany White Flour Mills, Ltd., in downtown Freeport, Minnesota, is one of the longest-running family-owned flour mills in Minnesota, and shares a common family tree with Famo Feeds Inc., a much larger livestock feed mill along Interstate 94, west of town. → Read More
Union rejects American Crystal 4-year contract deal
American Crystal Sugar Co. union employees on July 26, 2022, voted to reject a four-year labor pact that offered 17% in pay increases over four years, to replace a five-year deal that expires Aug. 1, 2022. → Read More
Giant American flag painted on South Dakota elevator celebrates 'We the People' of Andover
For the fifth year, Agweek reporter Mikkel Pates reprises his Flags On Farms feature for Independence Day, featuring flags of the United States on farms and agribusinesses in the region. This year, our featured vignette is from a former grain elevator at Andover, South Dakota, with a 30-by-60 foot U.S. flag painted on it. → Read More
Looking for help to deal with the 'long tail' of severe weather like blizzard Haley
A series of April blizzards created a “long tail” of cattle illnesses, including pneumonia and scours. Losses range from zero to hundreds of calves, on top of record-setting drought and low feed and forage supplies. The numbers hide some of the effects — the loss in value when either a calf or a cow is lost, leaving orphans. → Read More
‘Nose Knows Scouting’ uses trained dogs to sniff out Potato Virus Y
A North Dakota potato breeder brings in a speaker from Wyoming who has trained a dog to detect potato virus diseases using their nose. → Read More
High equipment prices push farmer to be the fourth and ‘last generation’ to run the Bjork farm
Brian Bjork, 62, (pronounced “Byork”) a farmer from Forman, North Dakota, is selling his machinery piecemeal after making the decision in December 2021 to retire from farming. His reasoning: used equipment values are “hot” and unlikely to improve. He’ll enjoy retirement near family and will work for a young neighbor who will rent his land. → Read More