Kent Thiesse is a former University of Minnesota Extension educator and now is Vice President of MinnStar Bank, Lake Crystal, MN. You can contact him at 507-726-2137 or via e-mail at kent.thiesse@minnstarbank.com.

Knee-High by July 4th 

By Kent Thiesse

For generations, the standard measure for corn growth was “knee-high by July 4th”, which meant that the corn plant should be able to produce a crop for that year. Of course, most farmers a couple of generations ago had much lower yield goals for their corn than the farmers of today...

Caution Flag for Ag Economy 

By Kent Thiesse

For many Midwest farm operators, 2009 is turning into one of the most stressful years in farming during the past couple of decades. Obviously, crop producers in Illinois, Indiana, northern Minnesota and other areas are facing potential crop losses in 2009 ...

Agriculture And Environment 

By Kent Thiesse

One of President Obama’s goals as he entered the U.S. presidency a few months ago was to address “global warming” and concerns over world climate change....

Rainfall, Ethanol Growth Are Welcome 

By Kent Thiesse

After one of the driest May’s in recent memory in many portions of southern and western Minnesota, some welcome rainfall was received across much of the region from June 6 to 8...

Satisfactory Crop Conditions 

By Kent Thiesse

Nearly all corn and soybeans across southern Minnesota were planted by June 1, with a large majority of the corn and soybeans emerged...

Understanding Carbon Credits 

By Kent Thiesse

There has been considerable discussion in the U.S. and throughout the world over global warming and how to address it for the future...

Cool Temperatures Persist 

By Kent Thiesse

Cooler-than-normal temperatures have persisted throughout most of the first half of May. This has slowed the early crop development, and has delayed the emergence of soybeans planted in the past couple of weeks...

Spring Planting Stalled 

By Kent Thiesse

Widespread rainfall across the upper Midwest from May 7 to 9 temporarily delayed the rapid pace of corn and soybean planting in southern Minnesota and northern Iowa...

H1N1 Virus Impacts The Pork Industry 

By Kent Thiesse

The resulted impact of the H1N1 outbreak in Mexico, the U.S. and other parts of the world has been devastating to the U.S. pork industry...

Corn Planting Progresses 

By Kent Thiesse

The corn crop in southern Minnesota was planted in near-record fashion during a 10-day period from April 15 to 24. Nearly ideal planting weather during most of that period resulted in 75-80% of the corn being planted as of April 24 in many portions of south-central Minnesota. ...