Legislative session nears halfway point, study will look at farming's impact on Pineland Sands
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Scattered snow showers will persist Monday with some additional light accumulations. Tuesday will be dry and mild. A bigger storm could potentially bring significant snowfall later this week. Get the latest on Updraft.
🎧 Understanding the history of racism in the United States can help us better understand challenges in the present. Coming up at 9 a.m., listen to a recorded conversation on race, justice and the economy with MPR News host Angela Davis, former Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page and Minneapolis Federal Reserve president and CEO Neel Kashkari. | |
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| | | Legislative session nears halfway point with much done and much left to do |
After two months working at an unhesitating clip, DFLers said they’re pleased with what they’ve done so far at the Minnesota Capitol. And they feel confident that other top priorities such as a two-year budget, a paid family and medical leave program, and additional financial relief for families are still in reach.
“What we accomplished is what (the voters) sent us to accomplish,” Gov. Tim Walz said Friday, after ticking off a series of policies that the DFL trifecta at the Capitol has passed so far. “The problem we've got is we're comparing it to the gridlock and the inaction we've seen for a decade. This is the way it should be.”
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| | U of M, tribal study will look at farming's impact on water in Pineland Sands |
A research study is taking a closer look at how intensive farming and irrigation in the Pineland Sands region of north-central Minnesota is affecting natural resources in tribal treaty territories.
The Pineland Sands region covers parts of Becker, Cass, Hubbard and Wadena counties. In the past few decades, the region has seen widespread land use changes, including the clear cutting of forests for potato farms.
The region’s sandy soils cause water to drain quickly, so growing potatoes or other crops requires a lot of irrigation. That’s raised concerns about the impact of over-pumping on the groundwater supply, as well as nitrate contamination from fertilizer.
“There's concerns about the effect of heavy water use as well as the chemistry that is affected by agricultural operations, and the changing of the landscape from a forest and grassland to do row crops,” said John Nieber, a University of Minnesota professor who is helping lead the study. | |
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— Matt Mikus, MPR News | |
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