Historian Jim Roe interviewed those with first-hand accounts of the farm crisis of the 1980s. Area counties were a central stage for much of the crisis.
Historian Jim Roe is developing a presentation on west central Minnesota's role in the eventful period surrounding the Farm Crisis of the 1980s for the West Central Historical Association.
Minnesota farm leader Anne Kanten dies Randy Furst, Star Tribune
Anne Kanten fought bank foreclosures, organized tractorcades to Washington, D.C., and mobilized support for state and federal policy reforms to protect small farmers both in Minnesota and around the world.
Kanten, along with her husband, Chuck, was one of the founders of the American Agriculture Movement, a grassroots organization that built a powerful following nationwide.
She was later appointed an assistant commissioner of agriculture in Minnesota, implementing programs to protect farmers that endure to this day. She was such a fierce advocate for farmers, said Thom Petersen, now the state s Commissioner of Agriculture. She invested a lot of time in me to pass that passion along.