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When Janesville resident Gina Peterson started planning her wedding just more than six years ago, she kept running into a problem. Peterson says, “I just couldn’t find what I was looking for with my wedding invitations. Everything seemed very traditional or not in line with my style.”
As Steve Kibble looks back over the last 27 years, he’s still not sure just exactly what happened. When he graduated with a business marketing and management degree from MSU Mankato he had no intention of getting involved in the family business, Mankato Implement. His dad had owned the local John Deere dealership since 1973, so Steve grew up watching his father navigate the highs and lows of the business.
There is a new farming tool buzzing around the skies of southern Minnesota. A tool that gives farmers a whole new perspective on the growing season. A tool that can help farmers protect crops on the ground from up above.
In this era of technological and scientific advancements in farming practices, we’ve found one farm nestled in the rolling hills near Elysian, that is thriving by simply getting back to the basics.
There are nearly 4,000 agriculture-related job postings in Minnesota alone, and not nearly enough talent out there to fill them. In fact, a recent study shows nationwide 39% of agriculture positions go unfilled.
Agriculture is the largest business segment in the area referred to as the GreenSeam, the southern Minnesota and northern Iowa agricultural region. The region has an economic link between production, processing, professional services, education, technology, research, manufacturing, transportation and more.
The week this publication hits your desk, marks the week seven years ago that I moved back to Mankato. Back after a 16-year adventure that took me to California, then to Washington D.C., then all the way back across the country again to Hawaii. But seven years ago, I came home.
Agriculture plays a vital role in our lives every day. And I’m not just talking about the food we eat. The economy in this region is very ag-centric. Agriculture is the base for which other businesses are able to start, grow and thrive here.
A family gathering at a cabin up north led to the creation of one of Mankato’s newest tourist attractions, Old Town Escape.
