History and Tourism the Topic at Murray County Historical Society Annual Meeting
On Sunday November 3rd at 2 PM the Murray County Historical Society Annual Meeting will host Colleen Illg Tollefson at Painted Prairie Winery near Dovray, MN. The public is invited. Cost is $5.00 or free for Historical Society members. Memberships purchased the day of the event will waive the event fee.
Tollefson grew up in Currie and is one of the original 4-H members who helped develop End O Line Park in Currie. She went on to work seasonally for several Minnesota State Parks, did a four- and one-half-year stint at the Minnesota Restaurant, Hotel and Resort Association and spent decades working at Explore Minnesota. After her retirement from Explore Minnesota, Colleen was inspired to found Jobs & Journeys, LLC. Colleen connects adventurous folks with seasonal full-and part time hospitality jobs in great Minnesota area destinations. Tollefson says her talk, “Linking History and Tourism” will explain how history and tourism go hand in hand. They both involve destinations or locations and people’s stories and experiences. They’re developed by people with a spark or passion and shared with others. Murray County is rich in history, passion, authenticity, quality and memorable experiences.”
She will talk about the adventure of starting End O Line Park along with her friend Roxanne Probst and under the direction of Louise Gervais. Her love of the area shines through when she talks about how lucky this region is to have interesting history and passionate people to share it.
The Murray County Museum will have a local exhibit on display at the winery about Dovray’s music man, Walt Benton. Benton served as the telegraph operator at the Dovray depot for decades, starting in the 1920’s, and also ran Westbrook’s Rainbow Pavilion dance hall into the 1950’s. His group, the Rainbow Valley Hillbilly Band, is featured in the exhibit.
The Murray County Historical Society annual meeting will begin at 2 PM at Painted Prairie Vineyard and Winery. Snacks, coffee, and water will be served. Wine and beer can be purchased on site. The winery is located at 1575 250th Ave. Currie, MN.
For more information contact the museum at 507-836-6533 or email museum@co.murray.mn.us
White Ribbon Against Pornography News Release 2019
The Catholic Daughters of America, Queen of Peace of St. Ann’s, St. Mary’s & St. Columba, will be joining the nationwide observance of White Ribbon Against Pornography (WRAP) from October 27th to November 2nd. The members of these churches will be wearing a white ribbon to show their support on how pornography harms people.
The nation has seen a rise in teen promiscuity, sexually transmitted diseases, abortions, babies born to single mothers, divorce, sexual abuse of children, human trafficking, lack of respect for women, increase of violence and sexual harassment in the workplace and the list goes on and on. We believe it is all due to the increase use of pornography.
The average age a child is exposed to pornography is age 11. It is usually not sought but unintentional via internet or phones, or they seek it out of curiosity. Learning about sex through pornography gives misinformation about sexuality which leaves the child damaged and changed.
Pornography shows violence to women does not lead to a healthy relationship. That is why we see so many violent sexual murders with sex and divorce.
90% of the youth 12-18 use the Internet. It has now become the leading sex educator rather then parents, schools or churches. Because of that they engage in sexual acts at a much younger age and can lead to sexual trafficking, unwanted pregnancy and emotional consequences.
Won’t you please join us in this effort to curb this sickness in our society. For further information see the organizations working to stop pornography.
What is a fair farmland rental agreement?
SLAYTON, Minn. (10/16/2019) — Landlords, farmers, and agri-business professionals should make plans to attend one of the informative farmland rental rate meetings being held in southwestern Minnesota. These free meetings are being provided by the University of Minnesota Extension. Farmland rental rates are the largest input cost the farmer has. Determining a fair farm rent agreement is a challenge in today’s economy with current low corn and soybeans prices in 2019.
Negotiating a fair rental agreement that satisfies the landowner and the farmer is challenging. David Bau, Extension Educator in Agricultural Business Management, will provide several ways to help with rental rate discussions with examples, factsheets and worksheets to determine a fair farmland rental rate for both parties.
Topics covered at the meetings will include local historic and projected farmland rental rate trends, current farmland values and sales, and a worksheet that will help determine a fair and profitable rental agreement. Input costs for 2019 will be presented along with current 2019 corn and soybean prices. Worksheets will examine 2020 costs and what is affordable rent for a farmer in 2020, the rate of return to the landowner at current market values, and flexible rental agreements.
Meetings are scheduled throughout the state, with two in our area. Details for the Slayton & Pipestone meetings:
•Slayton – November 20, 2019 at 1:30 pm
Murray County Fairgrounds 4-H Building
3048 S. Broadway Ave, Slayton MN 56172
•Pipestone – December 12, 2019 at 9:30 am
Emergency Management Building,
811 5th St., SE, Pipestone, MN 56164
Source: Melissa Runck, U of M Extension, (507) 836-1143, mkrunck@umn.edu
USDA Opens 2020 Enrollment for Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage Programs
Safety Net Program Payments for 2018 Have Started
Agricultural producers now can enroll in the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) programs – two U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) safety net programs – for the 2020 crop year. Meanwhile, producers who enrolled farms for the 2018 crop year have started receiving more than $1.5 billion for covered commodities for which payments were triggered under such programs.
“These two programs provide income support to help producers manage the ups and downs in revenues and prices,” said Richard Fordyce, Administrator of USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). “USDA is here to support the economic stability of American agricultural producers by helping them maintain their competitive edge in times of economic stress. We encourage producers to consider enrolling in one of these programs.”
ARC provides income support payments on historical base acres when actual crop revenue declines below a specified guaranteed level. PLC provides income support payments on historical base acres when the effective price for a covered commodity falls below its reference price. The 2018 Farm Bill reauthorized and updated both programs.
Signup for the 2020 crop year closes June 30, 2020, while signup for the 2019 crop year closes March 15, 2020. Producers who have not yet enrolled for 2019 can enroll for both 2019 and 2020 during the same visit to an FSA county office.
ARC and PLC have options for the farm operator who is actively farming the land as well as the owner of the land. Farm owners also have a one-time opportunity to update PLC payment yields beginning with crop year 2020. If the farm owner and producer visit the FSA county office together, FSA can also update yield information during that visit.
Covered commodities include barley, canola, large and small chickpeas, corn, crambe, flaxseed, grain sorghum, lentils, mustard seed, oats, peanuts, dry peas, rapeseed, long grain rice, medium and short grain rice, safflower seed, seed cotton, sesame, soybeans, sunflower seed and wheat.
2018 Crop Year ARC and PLC Payments
FSA began processing payments last week for 2018 ARC-County (ARC-CO) and PLC on covered commodities that met payment triggers on enrolled farms in the 2018 crop year. In addition to the $1.5 billion now in process, FSA anticipates it will issue another $1 billion in November once USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service publishes additional commodity prices for the 2018 crop.
Producers who had 2018 covered commodities enrolled in ARC-CO can visit www.fsa.usda.gov/arc-plc for payment rates applicable to their county and each covered commodity. For farms and covered commodities enrolled in 2018 PLC, the following crops met payment triggers: barley, canola, corn, dry peas, grain sorghum, lentils, peanuts, and wheat.
Oats and soybeans did not meet 2018 PLC payment triggers.
2018 PLC payment rates for the following covered commodities have not been determined: crambe, flaxseed, large and small chickpeas, long and medium grain rice, mustard seed, rapeseed, safflower, seed cotton, sesame seed, sunflower seed and temperate Japonica rice.
More Information
On December 20, 2018, President Trump signed into law the 2018 Farm Bill, which provides income support, certainty and stability to our nation’s farmers, ranchers and land stewards by enhancing farm support programs, improving crop insurance, maintaining disaster programs and promoting and supporting voluntary conservation.
For more information on ARC and PLC including two online decision tools that assist producers in making enrollment and election decisions specific to their operations, visit the ARC and PLC webpage.
For additional questions and assistance, contact your local USDA service center. To locate your local FSA office, visit farmers.gov/service-locator.
Good News
By: John Stenen
Years ago I had witnessed to a man off and on for several months concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ. I did not know that his marriage was about to be destroyed because of his heavy drinking and drug use, but life at home was becoming unbearable for his young wife. He did a pretty good job of resisting the ‘Good News’ but I persisted whenever the opportunity presented itself. One day, the truth of the gospel penetrated his hard heart thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit, and he surrendered his life to Christ and became a child of God. “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, to those who believe in His name.” (John 1:12).
A few months after this I received a call from his wife, (I did not know her). “Is this John Stenen who works with my Curt?” “Yes, I am he and I work with a Curt” I replied.
“John, I just want to thank you for telling my Curt about Jesus; I got me a new husband. He is a good daddy to his boy now, and he don’t drink or do drugs no more, and he brings his paycheck home now and he treats me so nice…. Thank you John.” All I could say was, “You’re welcome, but please, give all the praise to Jesus, He’s the one who changed your husband.”
What a wonderful result of sharing the Good News of Jesus. It reminds me of the man who once said, “I have never seen Jesus change water into wine, but I have seen him change beer into groceries.” What a Great God we serve. If you haven’t surrendered your life to Christ yet, today would be a great day to do so. He will give you true purpose and meaning to life as you travel the straight and narrow path that leads to everlasting life.
Now, that’s ‘good news’!
