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Shared values, shared fields: Potatoes at the heart of humane and climate-smart farming

An exploration of how potato growers, Mercy For Animals’ Transfarmation project and other ethical farming initiatives are quietly aligning around a common set of values – reducing suffering, protecting the climate and defending the dignity of rural communities.

There is a growing chorus in agriculture that speaks the language of ethics as much as economics. We hear phrases like humane treatment, climate responsibility, regenerative systems, just transitions, rural dignity. Often, these conversations are framed around livestock, carbon, biodiversity, or corporate supply chains.

Less often do they start with potatoes.

And yet, if you walk a potato farm, sit in a storage office in January, or listen closely to growers under pressure, you quickly realise something: the values that drive many of today’s ethical farming movements are already present, in their own grounded, practical form, in the potato world. They are not always named. They seldom appear in mission statements or glossy campaigns. But they are there – embedded in daily choices, quiet instincts, and the stubborn desire to do right by people and land, even when nobody is watching.

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Dr. Fei Yang Discusses Corn Rootworm, European Corn Borer, and Pest Monitoring

Video: Dr. Fei Yang Discusses Corn Rootworm, European Corn Borer, and Pest Monitoring

What insect threats are Minnesota corn growers facing, and what research is helping farmers stay ahead of them?

At the 2026 MN Ag Expo, University of Minnesota entomologist Fei Yang shared updates on three Minnesota Corn-supported research projects focused on insect monitoring, seed treatments, and pest resistance.

Current work includes statewide monitoring programs that use pheromone, light, and sticky traps to track key pests such as black cutworm, true armyworm, corn earworm, European corn borer, and corn rootworm. Researchers are also evaluating whether high-rate seed treatments provide effective corn rootworm control and studying the development of resistance in European corn borer populations to Bt corn traits.

These projects help researchers better understand pest pressures across Minnesota and provide farmers with practical information to support informed management decisions.