MDA SESQUICENTENNIAL HIGHLIGHTS THE IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE IN THE STATE

News Date February 25, 2008

       The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is looking for 150-year-old farms to feature during the state's sesquicentennial celebration this year. On May 11, 2008, Minnesota will reach its 150th anniversary as the 32nd state in the United States of America. As part of the celebration, the MDA Sesquicentennial Committee would like to interview landowners who have had farms in their families for 150 years or more.

       Minnesota farming has an interesting and unique history--growing from subsistence-level farming in the early 1800s to a commercial leader nationally in wheat production, grain shipping, and flour milling by the end of that century. The 1900s brought dairy, livestock and poultry development and a higher standard of living for rural Minnesotans. Today, Minnesota's agriculture industry is a global leader in renewable fuels' development, livestock and grain commodity production and a major exporter of agricultural products. 

       The history of farming is an important aspect of Minnesota's growth as a state. By publicly telling the story of a parcel of land that has been kept in the same family for 150 years through trial and tribulation, the state hopes to honor those who never gave up their love of the land and their ethic for hard work.

       The celebration of 150 years of Minnesota's statehood also includes a website which has been developed to educate the pubic about the importance of agriculture to Minnesota and MDA's role in it, http://www.mda.state.mn.us/about/history.htm. The website features the "History of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture," links to the Sesquicentennial exhibit at the Minnesota Historical Society, the 150-year time line - Minnesota Historical Society, "Engineers Calculate Ag's 15 Biggest Achievements" (Vogt, Willie, Farm Progress/Marketplace Extra, August 2007), the 2007/2008 AgMag (see page 7 in the first & second issue of the Ag in the Classroom AgMag, along with a link to the Historical Context Study of Minnesota Farms 1820-1960 (MNDOT). (Contact: Michael Schommer, 651/201-6629)