Nicollet County Ledger February 2, 2023

February 2, 2023 | South Central News & Media

Public Notices Page 3

Courtland Baseball Page 6

Lafayette Lions News Page 3

Saint Peter Plans to Expand its City Borders Nearing Oshawa, Traverse member of city staff said in the staff presentation.

“Oshawa Township, Traverse Township and the City of Saint Peter.”

The majority of the six property owners located along the right-of-way platt are in support of the project, as noted in the presentation given to the council. Saint Peter Public Works has been in contact with them. They are working with the land owners on details of purchase agreements and negotiating property values. An appraisal was recently conducted by Robinson Appraisals.

By Robert Lawson Publisher 612-460-5851

The Saint Peter City Council held a public hearing on January 23 to discuss Township 361 rightof-way plat. Mayor Shanon Nowell introduced the public hearing, where there was a staff presentation but not an applicant presentation.

The public hearing was called to order at 7:05 p.m. The project is located west of the new high school on 361st Street, near Community Spirit Park. It runs from Broadway to Traverse Road.

“It is close to three governmental entities,” a

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Bird's eye view of the city of Saint Peter, Nicollet County, Minnesota 1870.

Recreational Cannabis Bill Clears 6th House Committee NicolletCountyLedger.com

By Robert Lawson Publisher 612-460-5851 The Minnesota House is advancing its bill to legalize recreational cannabis through the State of Minnesota's legislature, where it has cleared through six committees so far.

The latest committee to hear and voice approval was the House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee. According to marijuanamoment.net, the legislation from Rep. Zack Stephenson (D) was approved last week in a voice vote.

The Senate panel hearing on a companion version was also scheduled, but it’s been postponed, according to the outlet.

Stephenson commented on the proceedings.

"Minnesotans are ready for this.

Our current laws regarding

cannabis are doing more harm than good,” Stephenson said.

“Minnesotans deserve the freedom and respect to make their own decisions about cannabis use.”

Stephenson explained the new approach he and other lawmakers are taking regarding cannabis use.

“We’ll take a very comprehensive approach to cannabis legalization regulation in Minnesota, with the aim of supplanting a currently unregulated illicit marketplace with a safe legal marketplace,” he said.

The House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee hearing was livestreamed on YouTube and the recording is still available and was shared by the Marijuana Moment website this past week as well.

In the Senate, the bill has sponsorship from Lindsey Port

(D). It has passed through at least four committees as of Monday. There are a total of 18 committees for the bill to get through in the state legislature.

A hearing in the State and Local Government and Veterans Committee that was planned for today was pushed back, according to sources.

DFL lawmakers, who hold a majority in the legislature with support from Governor Tim Walz (D), are confident they can get through the committees and pass the legislation allowing for legal recreational marijuana use in the state of Minnesota.

Walz also wants to expunge many cases involving marijuana related offenses in the state and expects cannabis tax revenue plans. This was recently outlined in his biennial budget request to the legislature.

Several grassroots cannabis groups are watching closely.

Polar Plunge Event From 2015 at Hallet's Pond.

Polar Plunge Event in Saint Peter Moved to New Location at Fairgrounds

By Robert Lawson Publisher 612-460-5851 info@nicolletcountyledger.com The annual Polar Plunge event was held again in Saint Peter this year with help from the Saint Peter Police Department.

The event, which is usually held at Hallet's Pond, was moved to a new location at Johnson Hall at the Nicollet County Fairgrounds this year. A story from the Mankato Free Press was republished in Yahoo! News about the event recently as well. Construction at Hallet's Pond prevented the site from being used this year, according to the Free Press.

Former Lafayette Woman Accused of Hiding, Having Sex with Teen Runaway Nicollet

By Robert Lawson A Nicollet County woman has been convicted of charges related to misleading law enforcement about the whereabouts of a teen runaway boy.

Julianna Korinn Gutierrez, 29, formerly of Lafayette, pleaded guilty to and was convicted of one felony count of depriving parental rights by causing a child to become a runaway and a felony for willfully making a false statement while applying for

Nicollet County Ledger P.O. Box 212, Lafayette MN 56054

More than 300 people showed up to participate in the event to help sponsor the Special Olympics of Minnesota. Organizers raised nearly $65,000 of their $80,000 goal, so they were about $15,000 shy of that mark. Nicollet County Sheriff Dave Lange, who was recently re-elected running against Mark Chadderon, was also present at the event. He jumped into the freezing cold water with one of his co-workers from the Nicollet County Sheriff's Department.

According to reports, he was one of the first people to jump in for the Polar Plunge event. Find more info on the St. Peter city website.

County Sheriff's Office Hires New Deputy Jordan Volk from Saint Peter

public assistance.

The prosecution also alleges Gutierrez had a romantic sexual relationship with the teenager at the time. This, according to charging documents, resulted in her becoming pregnant by the Jordan Volk is Nicollet County’s newest See Volk's photo on page 4. deputy. Volk is from the Saint Peter area. Continued on Page 4 teen boy.

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Thursday, February 2, 2023

Nicollet County Ledger

Pastor's Corner Column Pastor Paul Meitner Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church

Going back can be a good thing I will admit it. I am a bit of an antiquarian. I love old things. I still write all my sermon studies out in the long-hand, cursive writing instilled in me by Miss Hawkins in that tiny, two-room school where I received my elementary education. I still prefer reading an actual book, to feel it in my hands, to smell the paper, then flip on the glowing, pixilated screen of a glossy Kindle or Nook e-reader.

One of my favorite pastimes is walking the woods of Fort Ridgley State Park, looking at the ruins of the fort, reading the fascinating inscriptions of some of the older grave stones in the adjoining cemetery, and letting my imagination run wild picturing the Dakota hunting their ancestral lands, the French fur traders trapping them for beaver, and the German, Norwegian, and Swedish immigrants clearing them for farms. But those days are done, right?

I mean, historical imagination is one thing, but it would be foolish to encourage modern farmers to trade their Case or John Deere combines for a team of oxen and an old-time plough. It would be foolish, indeed, damaging to all of a sudden go back to land-line, rotary phones, travel by horse and buggy, and reverting to a hunter-gatherer society. This is where my antiquarian disposition clashes most violently with that most American of American traits – the belief that the future is always brighter than the past, and we must keep pushing forward to that gleaming hope at all costs.

Family Living

We live in a time where many powerful, well-connected, and educated people sincerely believe not only we should push forward into the future, but it is our moral duty to excise from our present day every vestige of the past that might prevent that glorious hope we envision. Indeed, I see a growing chorus in our society that treats the past as unwanted wreckage that needs to be cut away or it will drag us down to a watery grave in this present storm. And this is not limited to technology, per se, but to any attitude that could possibly slow down our progress toward our future hope.

Managing a Financial Crisis

That places me in an awkward position. My whole ministry is to daily turn people toward a past event that all Christians confess changed the entire trajectory of the future. It is not a pastor’s job to make Jesus fit the times, but to make the times fit Jesus and the salvation he wrought for us. But frankly, after 21 years, I must admit that I have been doing a pretty bad job at that. After all, under my watch, I have seen church membership drop from 70% to 47% in this country, and the bottom does not appear to have dropped fully out yet.

Addressing family financial problems is complex because it is not just about dealing with dollars and cents. It is about dealing with finances, feelings, and relationships and how their interaction is played out in our use of money.

Is my congregation headed for the same fate as St. John’s Lutheran of Fort Ridgley Township, which has disappeared from the landscape but for a well-kept cemetery? In my youth, society did their best to court the church. Today, society does its best to keep the church at arm’s length, and more often than not holds up its nose in disgust at its “oppressive” teaching. Indeed, I find that the general attitude today is that Christianity is a force standing in the way of progress. It either must changes with the times, or it will be committed to the dustbin of history along with the hoopskirt, the chariot, and Phrenology.

Gail Gilman Family Life Consultant, M.Ed., C.F.C.S. and Professor Emeritus University of Minnesota What you need to remember:

Addressing financial problems means paying attention to how our values, attitudes, motivations, and expectations are played out in how we use money.

If you are putting money toward what you value, then you will usually feel a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. If that money is going toward something you do not value, then you will usually experience a sense of frustration and futility.

Family strategies to address financial problems include individual reassessments. Also, family members may compete for those resources due to conflicting goals.

What you can begin to do: People often feel several distressing emotions in the initial stages of a financial crisis. Those emotions include helplessness and hopelessness. Feeling trapped sometimes occurs because you believe there is nothing you can do to change the situation.

Acknowledge feelings and reframe the situation: How you perceive or see a problem or situation affects how you deal with it. How much stress you experience in a situation depends on the intensity of meaning you attach to it.

Reframing is the process of reinterpreting the meaning or significance of an event. It means seeing things from a different perspective. An example of changing or reframing priorities is going from “What we are losing is the most important part of our lives” to “Our family and our health is the most important part of our lives.”

$500 scholarship awards provided by the Adolph and Emily Lokensgard Scholarship Trust Fund and the Nicollet County Farm Bureau now available Applications are now available and being accepted for two, $500 scholarship awards provided by the Adolph and Emily Lokensgard Scholarship Trust Fund and the Nicollet County Farm Bureau. To receive an application, please contact the Nicollet County Farm Bureau by emailing nicolletcountyfarmbureau@gmail.com or by calling (612) 756-4421. The application deadline is April 1, 2023.

Applicants must be a high school senior or an undergraduate college student and be enrolled or planning to enroll on a full-time basis in a postsecondary school and major in or demonstrate a strong interest in the field of either Agriculture or Family and Consumer Science. Submitted applications must be complete and include a transcript of the applicant’s grades or a grade report with a cumulative GPA on the report.

The scholarship recipients will be notified in early summer. The scholarship awards will be presented at the Nicollet County Farm Bureau organization’s 2023 Annual Meeting in early September.

I stand at a crossroad. What am I to do? Well, perhaps before following the conventional wisdom, I should give Scripture one more reading: This is what the Lord says. Stand at the crossroads and look.

Ask about the ancient paths. Ask where the good road is. Walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls (Jeremiah 6:16).

The future of Christianity does not lie in its popularity. That should be clear from its central event– the crucifixion of Christ. It should also be clear in Christ’s own words to his followers: If anyone wants to follow me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. It should be finally clear from the history of Christianity. It has been the most persecuted faith in history, and even today, 80% of religious persecution in the world is against Christians.

The future of Christianity does not lie in its past achievements, such as the enshrining of the rule of law in codes of justice, the establishment of hospitals and advancement of medicine, the fight human rights, the value of the freedom of expression, the creation of the university, and the abolition of the slave trade. I believe all these things are good, but there are many kingdoms and societies that value none of these things and have gotten on quite well without them. Christians are fools if they think that the blessings produced in the past will buy them good-will in the future.

So, what is the future of Christianity? Well, is it not this – when we go back to the cross, when we go back to that singular event in human history, what is it we find? We find rest for our souls. There is no other place where a person can find their sin, their shame, their guilt, dealt with before God in a manner that results in their redemption and the satisfaction of God’s holy justice. The future of Christianity is, and will always be found when we go back to the promise given in Eden, the promise made to Abraham, the promise made to Israel, and the promise fulfilled on the cross: that God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

The future of Christianity is to get back to the past- people who gather around the forgiveness of Christ, and then, in view of that redemption, go and tell others what they have heard and seen, living out their faith regardless of what the society around them is doing or offering. Why? Because when we view the world from the standpoint of the cross, we find true hope and a future. We find not one that might be there, but one that is there – for Christ has gone into death for us and returned, to bring us through this life to the glory he has prepared, one that can never perish, spoil, or fade.

One Christian writer put it this way, “If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth "thrown in": aim at earth and you will get neither.”

So, there you have it- the future of our faith lays, and always will lay, in the past. It lay in the promise that Christ made us through his innocent suffering and death on the cross, and his glorious resurrection and ascension in heaven. The world may change its language, its politics, its philosophy with the frequency that a teenager flips through the music of its Spotify account, but it is the old, unchangeable path of salvation, planned in eternity, forged at the cross, where our future is to be found.

Thursday, February 2, 2023 Nicollet County Ledger

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Saint Peter City Council Continued from Page 1 The issue will be brought back to the council after these negotiations are complete. The City is half to three-quarters finished with the design, according to the staff presentation. The city will be requesting bids sometime by late winter. The project will begin construction sometime this summer if everything goes according to plan. The project was detailed in the council packet available at the meeting. The land is currently outside city limits but will be annexed by the city once the construction is completed with a roadway. A new city street name will also be created once it is annexed.

Trash talkin’ or talking trash, either one can be fun!

Is winter over yet? I’m thinking we gotta be half way through…?

Right?

Actually, it has been a great winter for the snowmobilers, sledding and ski enthusiast! Even the ice fishing has been good locally so we shouldn’t complain… Well, I was invited to a City Council workshop recently to trash talk and I have to say that I received a lot of trash talking back at me from the Council… haha! It must be human nature to trash talk because we had a lot of fun and positive discussion at the workshop and I was very grateful to be invited. More specifically, the City contract for solid waste and recycling is up for renewal and it was asked of me to provide a solid waste and recycling 101 of sorts to the Council. The Council was well versed in many facets of these topics, which created a very robust discussion, which probably took more time than any of us expected, but all agreed it was a beneficial trashtalking event. I would like to dive in to a few of the topics we discussed with the first one being our waste to energy commitment. In the late 1980’s our three Counties of Sibley, Le Sueur and Nicollet came together with Blue Earth, Martin & Faribault Counties to commit our cities residential trash to the waste to energy system where our garbage goes through a process and then turned into electricity.

Waste to energy is considered to be a more environmentally sound method of disposing of our waste rather than putting it in a landfill to decompose over the centuries. Our Counties waste are a smaller percentage of this process as Ramsey and Washington Counties contribute the majority of

waste tons to the waste to energy system. There are about another dozen Counties in Minnesota that participate in waste to energy systems and we consider ourselves lucky to be a part of this system as some Counties (metro fringe Counties) have tried to get their waste into this system but there is just not enough capacity to handle the extra tons of waste.

When addressing the environmental aspects of this process – I would like to point out that our local incinerator operates at a temperature of 1800 to 2200 degrees F, which ensures nearly complete destruction of organic waste.

The emissions system use electrostatic precipitators, which captures most of the fine particles that try to escape.

They also use a baghouse filter system, which also removes most of the suspended particles that result from the combustion process. Some systems are even mining the ash for more metals after the combustion process and sometimes the ash is clean enough to be used in cement products.

One of the other items we discussed (which deserves more detailed information at another time) is organics collection and composting.

Recent waste surveys conducted by consultants and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) indicates that our waste stream is comprised of 24 to 33 percent organics that could be composted. So the next questions are how to collect, how much does it cost and is there capacity to process those tons. The “how to collect” would be a Blue bag collection system where residents would put their organics into a blue

Three Lafayette Lions—and future Lion Conner Portner— presented the Lions donation to Sewing for Sight Saturday, January 15. The Lions are Scott Portner, Ruth Klossner and Trish Gieseke.

Lafayette Area Lions Had Busy Weekend for Dad's Belgian Waffle Breakfast Jan 14 Fortunately for the Lafayette Lions, the weather was great the weekend of January 14-15.

In preparation for the club’s annual Dad’s Belgian Waffle Breakfast, a number of Lions gathered Saturday to make preliminary preparations for a silent auction that would be held with the breakfast.

The breakfast was also a College Fund Benefit for a local teen whose father passed away unexpectedly and whose mother is unable to care for her due to medical issues that she’s had since the girl was only a year old.

With a large crowd expected, the breakfast was held in the Lafayette Fire Hall, which the local firemen graciously

agreed to. That meant, however, that the fire trucks had to be moved out early on the morning- of the breakfast.

They were temporarily kept in a United Farmers Co-op shed and in the city building.

With limited time for setup before the 9:00 a.m. start, the Lions asked for assistance from the community—and several locals arrived at 7:00 a.m. Sunday to help the Lions.

Tables, chairs, the silent auction, and the food preparation and serving areas were

NICOLLET COUNTY NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Board of Commissioners of Nicollet County, Minnesota (the “County”) will meet on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 at 9:30 a.m. at the County Government Center, 501 South Minnesota Avenue, St Peter, Minnesota, to hold a public hearing concerning (i) the adoption of a five-year capital improvement plan for the County prepared in compliance with Minnesota Statutes, Section 373.40. The purpose of the public hearing is

Jbag and place it in their trash cart. The blue bags would then be separated and transported to an organics processor and turned into compost. Our Cities could ask for a Blue bag organics collection bid but my sources tell me that the cost of processing, transportation and handling would not be affordable yet… The other big question is capacity. Or - is there enough capacity or organic processing locations that have enough room to process these tons into compost. These locations have to be permitted which can be very expensive and difficult and sometime acreage space is limited. The blue bag collection system is in its infancy and has more maturing to do for it to be environmentally sound and affordable but it will get there in time.

That’s all for now folks. Please do your best at embracing our wonderful winter, ha! Visit us - at www.tricountyrecycling.org or the Nicollet County waste wizard for recycling & waste information or give us a call at 507-381-9196. And remember to make every day Earth Day!

the review, discussion and approval of the proposed 2023 – 2027 Capital Improvement Plan for Nicollet County. The plan identifies estimated capital expenditures and funding sources for a five-year period. A copy of the plan is available for inspection at the County Government Center.

All interested persons may appear and be heard at the public hearing either orally or in writing, or may file written comments with the County Board Clerk before the hearing.

Mandy Landkamer County Administrator

another community event, the Sewing for Sight quilting event at the St. George Catholic Church Fellowship Hall.

There they presented a $500 Lafayette Lions donation to the Foundation for Saving Sight.

The donation—along with money raised at the sewing event—support the mission of restoring vision to those who otherwise would not have access to sight-saving improvements in and around San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala.

Trash Talkin' Continued From Left, Above

Public Notices

Nicollet County

quickly set up.

The breakfast benefit was a huge success as the entire area far beyond Lafayette turned out. A total of 770 people were served—710 paid meals and 60 free kids meals.

The support for teen Elissa Ries through the silent auction, quilt raffle, and free will donations was overwhelming.

The cash raffle raised $3,000 for Elissa’s college fund and the silent auction more than doubled that amount.

••• After Saturday morning setup, three Lions jumped in a car and headed west about 15 miles to show support for

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Crop Management 2023 Crops Management speakers for the event: Update Integrated Pest GAYLORD, Minn. (02/01/23)-Management: Managing The University of Minnesota is management resistant excited to announce the 2023 insects in 2023- Bruce Crop Management Update set Potter, Extension IPM for Friday, March 3, 2023. This Specialist event will run from 10:00 a.m.

Nutrient Management to 2:30 p.m. at Hahn’s Dining Considerations: Soil testing and Lounge, in Winthrop. and interpretation: What’s Registration will begin at 9:30 important, what’s not.- Jeff a.m. Come hear University of Vetsch, Soil Scientist Minnesota researchers and Weed Management: Extension educators discuss University of Minnesota crop management Weed ResearchTom considerations for the 2023 Hoverstad, Weed Scientist growing season. The cost for Crop Management: Hot the event is free and a Lenten Topics-Corn Tar Spot, lunch will be provided.

Palmer Amaranth, Soybean Following is a list of topics and Diseases - David Nicolai,

Extension Educator, Crops The event wouldn’t be possible without our partner and sponsor, Nicollet/Sibley County Corn and Soybean Growers. The meal for the event is brought to you by the Nicollet/Sibley County Corn and Soybean Growers and their checkoff dollars.

Pre-registration for the event is requested for a meal count by February 27, 2023.

Online registration can Continued Next Page

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Crops

Nicollet County Ledger

Thursday, February 2, 2023

Sibley County 4-H Job Interview Contest Grants Help Bring Ag Literacy

Continued

Twenty-two 4-H’ers were interviewing for jobs this past found at week when they went through a mock job interview. On z.umn.edu/CropManagement2 023 or call the Sibley County Monday, January 23 at the Extension office at 507-237- Sibley County Service Center 4100 or mnext- job applicants filled out an application or resume and sibley@umn.edu. were interviewed by age category for a job they were interested in. Jobs they could pick were from the 4-H Fair Valley Employment Opportunities.

Jobs included Admissions, Food Services, Landscaper, Mechanic/Carpenter, Performing Artists, Petting Zoo Continued from Page 1 and Public Relations. Judges

to Minnesota Classrooms

for the evening were Alison Eibs, Klea Rettmann and John Glisczinski.

All contestants did a great job.

Results are as follows: Senior Division 1st place went to Rachael Dose, AC; 2nd – Taylor Schafer, BWS and 3rd – Abby Willegal, BWS. Also participating were Nicole Anderson, WW and Mitchell Olson, BWS. Intermediate participants were: 1st – Kelly Willegal, BWS; 2nd – Nora Doehling, AC; and 3rd – Aiden Kerber, WW. Also participating were Grant Dose, AC; Alexander Kerber, WW; Russel Kerber, WW; Lydia Prahl,

RRR; and Lauren Schafer, BWS. Beginner participants were: 1st – Ashley Schafer, BWS; 2nd – Josie Wibstad, AC and 3rd – Mason Olson, BWS. Also participating were Eli Doehling, AC; Genevieve Kerber, WW; Benton Prahl, RRR; and Gavin St. John, AC. Cloverbuds participating were Lillian Prahl, RRR and Lucas St. John, AC. Congratulations to all participants!

St. Paul, MN: The Minnesota Agriculture in the Classroom (MAITC) Foundation has announced the recipients of its 2023 Agricultural Literacy Grants, which are designed to support agriculture and food systems education efforts from kindergarten to high school across the state.

A total of 17 projects received grants of up to $500 each to help educators provide students the

opportunity to experience agriculture in a cross-curricular manner. Topics that will be explored through this year’s projects include locally grown foods, agricultural careers, community gardens, and more.

MAITC is a partnership between the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the MAITC Foundation that seeks to increase agricultural literacy through K-12 education.

Focus on Ag: SCO Insurance Coverage Considerations for 2023

By Kent Thiesse As has been often said with farming, “every year is different,” and many times decisions for the current crop year are based on what happened in the previous year or two. That could be the scenario in some cases with considering Supplemental Coverage Option (SCO) insurance coverage for corn in 2023. SCO insurance coverage has been around for several years but has not been considered on a widespread basis due to the reduced potential benefits from SCO coverage. However, that scenario may be different this year due to the price spread between the potential spring price for crop insurance coverage versus the Ag Risk Coverage (ARC) benchmark prices.

Details on SCO Insurance Coverage SCO coverage is only available to producers that choose the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) farm program option for the 2023 crop year and is not available for farmers that choose ARC coverage with county yields (ARC-CO) or ARC coverage with farm yields (ARC-IC). The PLC farm program option is price only, and the 12-month average price for a crop needs to drop below pre-set reference prices in order to earn a farm program payment. The payment calculations for the ARC-CO program calculations are based on a pre-set benchmark revue (benchmark price and average county yield) and the final 2023 revenue (county average yield times the 12-month average price).

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Courtland, St. Peter and Lafayette Students' Success in Higher Education complete 12 or more letterCollege Accomplishments from graded (A-F) credits while Students from Local Area attaining a 4.0 grade point Teddy Giefer named to Fall average. named to the Semester 2022 Chancellor's List at Students Chancellor's List include Teddy UMN Crookston Giefer from Courtland, MN, CROOKSTON, Minn. (January 27, majoring in Natural Resources 2023) - The University of B S. Minnesota Crookston announces Gustavus Adolphus College students who were named to the Announces 2022 Fall Semester Fall 2022 Chancellor's List Dean's List recently released by the Office of SAINT PETER, Minn. (January the Registrar. To qualify for the 31, 2023) - The Fall Semester Dean's List at Gustavus Chancellor's List, students must

Ask A Trooper

by Sgt. Troy Christianson of the Minnesota State Patrol

Question: I was wondering if you are stopped at a stop light in the left turn lane and an emergency vehicle with lights and sirens come in behind you (either in the turn lane or the lane to your right), what is the proper procedure? Thank you!

Answer: When it comes to encountering emergency vehicles while stopped at a stop light and the only place to move is the actual intersection, it is best to stay in place and let the emergency vehicle maneuver around your vehicle. Unless otherwise directed by law enforcemement.

Otherwise, for an emergency vehicle, such as an ambulance, fire truck or police car, displaying flashing red lights and sounding a siren or bell approaches your vehicle on a two-way road, you must pull to the right and stop. If you are traveling on a one-way road, you must pull to whichever side is nearest and stop. If you are within an intersection, proceed through it before stopping. Remain stopped until all emergency vehicles have passed.

A law enforcement officer with probable cause to believe a driver has violated this law may arrest the driver within four hours of the violation. You are not required to stop if the emergency vehicle that is approaching you is separated from your lane of traffic by a physical barrier such as a fence, wall, or median strip.

You can avoid a ticket — and a crash — if you simply buckle up, drive at safe speeds, pay attention and always drive sober. Help us drive Minnesota Toward Zero Deaths.

If you have any questions concerning traffic related laws or issues in Minnesota send your questions to Sgt. Troy Christianson – Minnesota State Patrol at 2900 48th Street NW, Rochester MN 55901-5848.

(Or reach him at, Troy.Christianson@state.mn.us)

Adolphus College has been released. The list comprises students who have earned a 3.7 grade point average (based on a scale in which 4.0 = A) or higher for the semester ending in December 2022.

The following local students were named to the Dean's List at Gustavus Adolphus College: Gustavus Adolphus College is a private liberal arts college in Saint Peter, Minn. that prepares 2,200 undergraduates for lives of

leadership, service, and lifelong learning. The oldest Lutheran college in Minnesota, Gustavus was founded in 1862 by Swedish immigrants and named for Swedish King Gustav II Adolf. At Gustavus, students receive personal attention in small-sized classes and engage in collaborative research with their professors. Fully accredited and known for its strong science, writing, music, athletics, study-away, and service-learning programs, Gustavus hosts a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa and is internationally recognized for its

annual Nobel Conference.

IRVERLAND ANNOUNCES PRESIDENT'S AND DEAN'S LISTS FOR 2022 FALL SEMESTER AUSTIN, Minn. (February 3, 2023) Riverland Community College is pleased to announce the students whose academic achievement placed them on the 2022 Fall president's and dean's lists.

Riverland congratulates these individuals for their outstanding academic accomplishments.

President's List To be eligible for the president's list

students must have completed 12 credits per semester with letter grades and have earned a gradepoint average of 4.00 on a 4.00scale.

Dean'sList To be eligible for the dean's list students must have completed 12 credits per semester with letter grades and have earned a gradepoint average of 3.25 to 3.99 on a 4.00 scale. Lafayette, MN JarrettPlatz,Dean'sList

Thursday, February 2, 2023

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Nicollet County Ledger

from Grants Available to Continued Below, Left Support Minnesota MDA Grown Specialty Crops Minnesota Department of Agriculture

Specialty Crop Block Grant applications due by March 13

Canva Photo St. Paul, MN: The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) has announced that applications are now open for the 2023 Specialty Crop Block Grant Program (SCBGP).

The SCBGP funds projects that will increase the competitiveness of Minnesota grown specialty crops in domestic and foreign markets by: Leveraging efforts to market and promote specialty crops;

Assisting producers with research and development relevant to specialty crops; Expanding availability and access to specialty crops; or, Addressing local and regional challenges confronting specialty crop producers.

The MDA encourages nonprofit organizations, producer organizations, government agencies, universities, tribal

organizations, and other agricultural groups to apply for the grant. Forprofit entities, farms, and other businesses who want to develop sector-wide research and development projects are also eligible.

Applications for the 2023 grants will be accepted through March 13, 2023.

Applicants may request between $20,000 and $125,000, and the MDA anticipates awarding roughly $1.25 million in total for this round.

Recipients of the 2022 grants will be

NEW CLASSIFIED AD RATES FOR 2023 info@nicolletcountyledger.com

Starting at $15 per week info@nicolletcountyledger.com

announced at a forthcoming date.

To access the grant application and more information, including a list of eligibility requirements, visit the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program webpage. Questions may be directed to Ian Kushner at Ian.Kushner@state.mn.us or 651-2016652.

Digital Edition only $0.75 each Print $1.00

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Thursday, February 2, 2023

Focus on Ag

By KENT THIESSE Farm Management Analyst Vice President, MinnStar Bank The deadline for 2023 farm program sign-up is March 15, 2023, which is the same as the enrollment deadline for 2023 crop insurance. As a result, farm operators will need to consider SCO insurance coverage at the same time that they are finalizing their 2023 farm program choice. The federal government subsidizes 65% of the premium for SCO coverage, so farmlevel premiums are quite reasonable, which helps make SCO a viable option for producers that choose the PLC farm program option.

SCO allows producers to purchase additional county-level crop insurance coverage up to a maximum of 86% over and above the underlying crop insurance policy. SCO insurance coverage is available for both Revenue Protection (RP) or Yield Protection (YP) policies and will follow the underlying policy. This means that SCO with a YP policy will be based on yield only and a RP policy will be revenue based (price and yield). For example, a producer that purchases an 80% RP policy could purchase an additional 6% SCO coverage with revenue protection.

The most popular crop insurance coverage for Midwest corn and soybean producers is some type of RP insurance policy with either enterprise units or optional units. Enterprise units combine all acres of a crop in a given county into one crop insurance unit, while optional units allow producers to insure crops separately in each individual township section. Enterprise units typically have considerably lower premium costs compared to optional units for comparable RP policies. SCO insurance coverage is available for the same premium price with either enterprise or optional units on a given farm unit.

SCO is a county revenue-based insurance product that is somewhat similar to the area risk protection crop insurance products that are available. The calculations for SCO function very similarly to RP insurance policies since they utilize the same crop insurance base price and harvest

831 Main Ave., P.O. Box 154 Lafayette, MN 56054

Nicollet County Ledger

SCO Insurance Coverage Considerations for 2023

(FOCUS ON AG) Continued From Left price. The biggest difference between SCO and most RP insurance policies is that SCO uses county level average yields, rather than the farm-level APH yields that are used for most RP and YP policies. As a result, the SCO and RP insurance policies may achieve different results.

It is possible for a producer to collect on an individual RP policy, but not collect on a SCO policy, or vice versa. For example, a producer with an 80% RP policy may have a loss that qualifies for an insurance indemnity payment on a farm unit, while the county as a whole may not meet the threshold to qualify for a SCO payment. It could also be possible to collect a SCO payment for a county-level revenue loss, while not qualifying for a RP insurance indemnity payment at the farm-level.

SCO insurance coverage will use county yields that are very similar to the ARC-CO yield, since both programs utilize USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) yield data for calculations. The biggest difference in the calculations between ARC-CO and SCO is that ARC-CO utilizes the benchmark price, based on five-year national average price (2017-2021) and the 12-month average price (Sept. 1, 2023 to Aug. 31, 2024). SCO utilizes the 2023 crop insurance spring price, based on the average Chicago board of Trade (CBOT) prices in February of 2023 for December corn futures, November soybean futures, and September wheat futures and the 2023 crop insurance harvest price, based on the averages of the same CBOT futures months in October for corn and soybeans and August for spring wheat.

Following is brief overview of how the SCO insurance coverage option and farm program options might function for corn in 2023: The 2023 benchmark price for corn is $3.98 per bushel, compared to the 2023 PLC reference price of $3.70 per bushel. PLC payments are only made if the final MYA price is below $3.70 per bushel, while potential 2023 ARC-CO payments will be dependent on both the final 2023 MYA price and the 2023 county average yields. At a final 2023 MYA price of $3.98 per bushel, the final 2023 county yield would need to be 15% or more below the county benchmark yield to initiate a 2023 ARC-CO payment.

For example, if the county benchmark yield is 200 bu./A., the final 2023 county yield would need to be 170 bushels per acre or lower to initiate a 2023 ARC-CO payment. Another way to look at the ARC-CO decision for corn is to consider that if the final 2023 county average yield is the same as the county benchmark yield, the final 2023 MYA price would need to decline below $3.43 per bushel in order to initiate an ARC-CO payment. At a $3.43 per bushel final MYA price, there would be a $.27 per bushel PLC payment. The PLC program provides corn MYA price protection from $3.70 down to $2.20 per bushel.

One option for a producer to consider for corn in 2023, might be to enroll in the PLC program for very low-price protection, sign up for an 80% RP crop insurance coverage (either enterprise or optional units), and then sign up for SCO coverage (6%). This is especially a favorable option for a producer that is more worried about price risk than yield risk for the 2023 growing season. The SCO base price is the same as the crop insurance spring price (est. at $5.90/Bu. as of Feb. 1, 2023). Based on one estimate in a Southern Minnesota county, an 80% RP policy with enterprise units with 6% SCO coverage would cost $3.50 per acre less total premium than an 85% RP policy. If the final farm and county yield are close to the APH yields, there might be a slight advantage to the 6% SCO coverage with 80% RP coverage versus the 85% RP coverage, while still maintaining the PLC protection through the summer of 2024.

The SCO insurance option seems to be best suited in situations where a farmer: • Is more concerned with price decline than yield reductions for the 2023 growing season.

• Feels that there is greater chance for county yield reductions in 2023 than on their own farm units.

• Wants to maintain good insurance coverage (86%) at a slightly reduced premium cost.

• Already planned to sign-up for the PLC farm program option (required for SCO insurance coverage).

Farmers should contact their crop insurance agent for details and spreadsheets on crop insurance and SCO coverage. Two information sheets titled “2023 Farm Program Decision Cheat Sheet” and “2023 Crop Insurance Decisions” have been prepared. To request a free copy or either, send an email to: kent.thiesse@minnstarbank.com. Other good farm program and crop insurance resources include: • U of Illinois FarmDoc website at https://farmdoc.illinois.edu/ • Kansas State University at https://agmanager.info/ • Iowa State University at https://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/# • USDA Risk Management Agency (RMA) at https://www.rma.usda.gov/ Corn The final National Ag Statistics Service (NASS) 2022 Crop Production Report was also released on Jan. 12. The report estimated the final 2022 U.S. average corn yield at 173.3 bu./acre, which increased by one bushel per acre from the December estimate. The 2022 corn yield estimate compares to 176.7 bushels per acre in 2021 and 171.4 bushels per acre in 2020. Minnesota is estimated to have a final 2022 statewide average corn yield of 195 bushels, while Iowa is projected to have a final corn yield of 200 bushels per acre for 2022. Other estimated average corn yields for 2022 included Illinois at the record yield of 214 bushels per acre, Indiana at 190 bushels per acre, Ohio at 187 bushels per acre, Wisconsin at 180 bushels and North Dakota at 131 bushels per acre. The drought-stricken states of Nebraska and South Dakota are projected to have final 2022 corn yields of 165 and 132 bushels per acre respectively.

The latest WASDE report showed a slight decrease in the total 2022 U.S. corn production, which is now estimated at 13.73 billion bushels.

This is a decrease of 200 million bushels from the December estimate and is over 1.3 billion bushels below 2021 corn production level. The latest USDA