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Promoting the Strength of Minnesota's Agricultural Economy
Welcome to the MDA Marketing Minute,
the marketing e-newsletter from the Minnesota Dept. of Agriculture |
State employees ramp up use of E85
The amount of E85 purchased by Minnesota state government agencies has increased nearly 10-fold in five years, according to a new report by the Department of Administration. In the first nine months of 2010, agencies have purchased nearly 725,000 gallons of E85, compared to about 73,000 gallons over the same period in 2005.
In 2009, state agencies bought almost 817,000 gallons of E85, compared to 97,000 gallons in 2005. Gasoline purchases have declined nearly 10 percent over that period.
Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Gene Hugoson says the report underscores the state's long-term commitment to renewable energy.
"Using E85 helps reduce our dependence on foreign oil and boosts economic activity for greater Minnesota," said Hugoson. "It's great to see state employees and other Minnesotans choosing homegrown, renewable fuels."
Nearly one of every five gallons of fuel that state agencies buy from retailers today is E85. Commissioner of Administration Sheila Reger is encouraging state agencies to meet the one million gallon challenge by the end of this year.
State agencies currently operate about 2,500 flex-fuel cars, pickup trucks and vans.
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Minnesota wineries offer sipping,
stomping, sight-seeing
Fall is a great time of year to visit a Minnesota winery. During harvest season, many wineries offer fine foods, gift-shopping and entertainment, in addition to wine sampling. By taking a day trip along a designated wine trail, visitors can take in the fall colors or an art crawl along with visiting a few wineries in the same region -- discovering that no two wineries or wines are the same.
Wine rookies and connoisseurs alike will enjoy popular, fun activities such as grape stomping, wine making lessons, and even helping with the grape harvest.
"We call it sharing the grape," says Don Crofut of Crofut Family Winery near Prior Lake. "And it's a great activity for getting new visitors to come out and sample our wines."
One of the longest wine trails is the Great River Road Wine Trail, which includes ten wineries along the Mississippi River in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. Not to be outdone by the "mighty Mississipp," wineries along the Minnesota River offer the "Sips of History" tour. Visitors on this tour are encouraged to explore several southern Minnesota communities that have been inspired by the ancient Minnesota River and its adventurous pioneers. Another option is the Heartland Wine Trail featuring seven wineries from Waconia to Clara City. This tour includes a diverse group of wineries that offer the chance to taste different styles of wine made from the same grape varieties. Minnesota's first wine trail, the Three Rivers Trail, features five of the state's oldest wineries all located within the Saint Croix, Mississippi and Cannon River Valleys.
Families can see how wine is made, discover the beautiful vineyard scenery and learn more about Minnesota's award-winning wines. They can also learn more about grape varieties, including those developed by the University of Minnesota which boasts one of the top wine grape programs in the United States.
The Minnesota Grown Directory lists 20 Minnesota wineries at www.minnesotagrown.com. For more information about the four Minnesota wine trails, visit http://www.grapes.umn.edu/trails.html.
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October is National Pork Month
October may bring thoughts of pumpkins, but it's also a great time to enjoy the world's most widely consumed meat - pork! Minnesota's pork producers are commited to producing safe, wholesome food for our families and their industry is a major economic generator in our state. The pork producers pumped $6 billion into the Minnesota economy last year and, in addition to those farmers and their families, swine production created 22,500 additional jobs. |
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Upcoming Events
Oct. 21-24 State Fair Grounds
Nov. 4 Mpls Convention Center
Nov. 18-21 Northland Inn, Brooklyn Park
Nov. 20-21 Ramada Plaza, Mpls
Nov. 30-Dec.1 St. Cloud Civic Center |
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AG STATS
Minnesota pork producers marketed 14.6 million hogs in 2009.
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Minnesota Grown website sees record traffic
There's been an explosion of user traffic to the Minnesota Grown website. With just under 37,000 unique visitors (36,888), September was the busiest month in the website's history - and -breaks the previous record of 26,389 unique visitors set just last June.
Even better news - there have been more unique visitors to the website through the first nine months of 2010 (173,334) than in all of 2009 (150,932)!
Minnesotagrown.com saw 20,000 unique visitors in the first ten days of October . That's nearly double what September had and is the result of consumers searching the online Minnesota Grown Directory looking for pumpkin patches, orchards, corn mazes and other fun fall fare. |
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Dairy Research & Promotion Council Seeks Candidates
The Minnesota Dairy Research and Promotion Council is seeking candidates to run for board positions in 11 districts.
Candidates should be active dairy farmers who are well informed members of their community and interested in check-off promotion programs. Interested candidates should contact their local nominating chairs by November 1, 2010.
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