“(Solar, wind and geothermal) are the only real renewables out there, and as petroleum energy sources continue to ratchet upwards, these three energy sources are generating a whole new audience of interest.”

Despite the price of corn, the nay-sayers rumblings about using corn for fuel, the headlines about world food price concerns, even rumors of shut downs of ethanol plants, despite all the chatter the renewable fuels industry continues to grow across America.

Travois
Through July 6
Jeffers Petroglyphs Historic Site, Comfrey
Info: Learn how people survived on the prairie for thousands of years using buffalo; $6/adult, $5/senior or college student, $4/child 6-17, free for children under 6 and Minnesota Historical Society members; call (507) 628-5591

Minnesota Farmers Union Summer Leadership Camp
July 7-11
Lake Sarah Park, Erskine
Info: For junior high age youth; will focus on everything from agriculture to the arts; $85/camper, contact Jim Tunheim, (651) 288-4066 or education.director@mfu.org

A research project conducted at Iowa State University in Ames and the University of Hawaii at Manoa could be the breakthrough to put ethanol back into the spotlight as a major energy winner.

"I believe we should be investing in the farmers and workers of the Midwest, not the oil fields of the Mideast. Renewable fuels can provide a cleaner, cheaper alternative to gasoline, and the dollars spent on them stay in our economy, while reducing our dependence on foreign oil."

"At the end of the day, the farm bill we passed preserves and improves the farm safety net, expands conservation spending, funds new programs for fruit and vegetable producers, encourages renewable energy production and improves nutrition programs. No one got everything they wanted, but there is something in this farm bill for everyone to support. "

The Land Crossword: Renewable Energy issue

Kids' Corner: June 27-July 4, 2008

When Glenn Brix wanted to make his woodworking hobby into a part-time commercial enterprise he took it in a surprising direction. “I’ve built and sold 250 coffins,” he said.

My mother fondly remembers the smell of burning leaves on the streets of her Chicago neighborhood growing up. There was something so American at the time about being able to burn your waste and not have to worry about the pollutants and other hazards that now concern us.

With the summer’s big holiday just ahead and the midpoint of the year just behind, it’s time to empty the office bucket of spleen, venom, anger and an occasional kiss readers vented, hurled, sent and tossed my way.

Is the yet-young ethanol industry so much stronger than the ages-old livestock industry that it will continue to crank out fuel even as America’s food production drops and food prices soar? The USDA thinks so; I think that’s an enormous leap of faith.

American Energy for the 21st century has the potential to benefit the rural communities of the Upper Minnesota River Watershed and, in contrast to the coal imported from Wyoming and burned in South Dakota, it can be clean, renewable, sustainable, distributed, and to every extent possible, owned and to the benefit of the people who live here in Minnesota.

More rain for saturated areas, a lower U.S. dollar (possible interest rate increase in Europe and U.S. levels left unchanged), rising energy markets, and the upcoming crop report lit a fire under prices this week as November beans soared to a new contract high of $15.77 as of this writing.

The flooding and speculation over how many acres have been lost were the catalysts for the surge higher as the week began. Later in the week, it felt like traders had had enough of trading high water and began to entertain ideas about how many bean acres may get planted or replanted.

Cattle prices have firmed over the past few weeks mainly led by the futures market where heavy speculation has been the dominate feature.

The questions that producers have are increasing as the market moves higher and decisions need to be made about 2009 inputs with no good way to price next year’s production. We continue to be at that crossroads with extremely high commodity prices and no certainty of higher profitability.

The “Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008,” which is more commonly known as the new farm bill, is now law. Here are some some common questions about it.

It's going to be my first mother-of-the-bride wedding, I’m not sure what “ready” feels like, but I’m quite confident I haven’t experienced it to date.

The glory of buying a church cookbook is that you get the cooking wisdom of the ages alongside the exciting new stuff. And you get tons of each so you can browse ingredient lists and prep times to suit your fancy.

The best way to keep birds out of the raspberries is a light-weight nylon cover. Always pick raspberries, just like strawberries, when they are ripe. An over-ripe raspberry or strawberry will attract more birds and the little speckled fruit bugs.

Natalie will always remember the summer of 1966 and the young man who walked up the road to the farmhouse. She was just 15, and in the new novel “After River” by Donna Milner, life was never the same again.

Remember those days when the cost of gas was just an incidental thing, one of the myriad minor expenses? The cost of stuff may be relative, but all relativity aside, the cost of petrol nowadays undoubtedly has changed the way some of us plan our angling trips.