Minnesota ag needs growth, not just stability

Noah Fish / Agweek By Noah Fish Today at 5:30 AM Listen Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? MINNEAPOLIS — Minnesota’s farm and food economy has held steady through good years and bad, but panelists at a Minneapolis conference on Oct. 27 said that isn’t enough. “If ag is a massive part of our economy and it’s not growing, we’re dying,” said Blois Olson, CEO and founder of Fluence Media. ADVERTISEMENT Olson spoke on a panel called “Resilience & Volatility: The Stress Test” at Naturally Minnesota’s Food. Ag. Ideas 2026 conference, held at the Machine Shop in Minneapolis. Minnesota has closed about 10 food processing plants for every one it opened in the past 20 years, Olson said, and big Minnesota food companies have grown by buying brands started in other states, he said, not by building new ones here. “We have to just stop being so Minnesota, and we have to give ourselves credit,” Olson said. Darin Broten, executive director of Minnesota AgriGrowth, moderated the panel. He said Riverview Dairy’s milk plant near Morris is the first new dairy processing plant built from the ground up in Minnesota since 1968. The state was the No. 4 dairy state about 40 years ago and is now No. 7, he said. Texas, Idaho and South Dakota have passed it. Broten also shared results from a spring AgriGrowth survey of Minnesota voters, with 51% saying they had no connection to the state’s farm and food economy. About 24% said Minnesota is not a national leader in food and agriculture, and about a third said the sector is worse off than it was 10 years ago. ADVERTISEMENT Mike Rohlfsen, co-founder of Agris Academy, said row crop and livestock production in the state has “kind of flatlined.” Rohlfsen worked at Cargill for much of his career and later spent about 12 years in venture capital. He said ag hubs in other cities talk to each other more and pool their money better. “There’s no reason with the resources in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area that St. Louis should be just completely kicking our butt in ag tech,” Rohlfsen said. “Zero reason.” Read more The realities of robotics in farming 2h ago GLP-1 users eat less but spend more on groceries, panel says 5d ago Lightning Weeder offers an electric option in sugarbeet weed control 6d ago Population growth is slowing worldwide and export competition from South America and Eastern Europe is growing, Rohlfsen said. He expects farm states to need new uses for corn and soybeans, such as bio-based products. “Drives me crazy that NatureWorks was founded in Minnesota, but we make renewable plastics in Blair, Nebraska,” he said. ADVERTISEMENT Rohlfsen said automation and precision tools will make farming more efficient, and he said they could also let more people farm profitably on fewer acres. Jennifer Schmitt, a research professor at the University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment, said the number of emerging farmers in Minnesota rose between the 2017 and 2022 agricultural censuses. Cover crop use also grew, she said. She noted the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency received $200 million from the EPA for climate-smart food systems work. Schmitt said Minnesota soybeans have a smaller environmental footprint than soybeans from Brazil or China, and that could help sell them to buyers who want sustainability claims, she said. She did not want to pick one path. “I’m going to bet in that messy middle because I think the messy middle is actually how we build our resilience,” Schmitt said. ADVERTISEMENT Olson said the state is unlikely to put much new public money into the sector soon, and said large Minnesota companies should push their partners around the world to invest here. Broten said state tax and labor policy should make it easier to start a new food or farm business, so the state is “more of a partner than a hindrance.” According to a Minnesota Department of Agriculture fact sheet, the state ranks No. 6 in total agricultural production, No. 5 in crop production and No. 8 in livestock production. The state also is the No. 4 exporter of ag goods. The fact sheet, from 2023, noted that the state has more than 800 "agricultural and food processing companies and establishments" and a $106 billion economic impact. Minnesota is the top state for sugarbeets, raised turkeys and green peas, is second in hogs and sweet corn for processing, and is third for soybeans, sunflowers, canola, dry beans and oats. The state as of 2023 boasted five Fortune 500 companies in the ag sector: CHS, C.H. Robinson Worldwide, Land O' Lakes, General Mills and Hormel Foods. Two other ag and food companies were listed on Forbes' list of America's largest private companies: Cargill and Rosen's Diversified. The sheet also said the state has 15 of the country's 100 largest ag cooperatives. Comments Share Share this article News Reporting News Reporting Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. The Trust Project What is this? Tags Tags AGRIBUSINESS MINNESOTA POLICY AGRICULTURE By Noah Fish I am a reporter who covers all things agriculture, using multiple elements of media. I prioritize stories that amplify the power of people. I report out of northeast Rochester, Minnesota, where I live with my wife, Kara, our daughter, Rooney, and polite cat, Zena. Email me at [email protected] Twitter Listen to this article Conversation ADVERTISEMENT What To Read Next Agribusiness Pivot Bio CEO says farmers squeezed by fertilizer spike, plans rural support institute 6d ago · By Noah Fish Agribusiness The role, unknowns and concerns of emerging AI in agriculture Nov 2 · By Michael Johnson Agribusiness Bongards’ Creameries set to grow process cheese production with expansion Nov 2 · By Michael Johnson ADVERTISEMENT Get Local