Best wishes to DFL state senator Melisa Franzen and state auditor Julie Blaha for a speedy recovery from the injuries they received in a car crash leaving Farmfest.
At the dawn of the 20th century half of Minnesotans lived on farms and kept a vast “Machinery Hill” at the state fair busy as dozens of implement and seed suppliers vied for their business. By the 1970s White had consolidated 4 tractor makers into 0 and there were a dozen odd seed sellers instead of hundreds, and an even more drastic reduction in the number of farmers who’d survive Butz’s “get big or get out” farm policy. What was left of Machinery Hill’s corporate “citizens” migrated to the cheaper rent of the prairie 100+ miles west in Redwood County and they called it Farmfest.
Big Ag had a good run with Farmfest there for 4 decades, but ultimately there preferred consolidation into as close to monopolies as the antitrust laws allowed doomed Farmfest- When a dozen odd seed or tractor suppliers consolidate down to four or so they need only rent four Farmfest lots instead of a dozen. Same with the farms, as the 160 acre homesteaded farm consolidated to section sized and now township sized corporate farms with such huge buying power that they didn’t even shop the local suppliers. Throw in several years of low commodity prices and now a drought and even the surviving farmers have little reason to come and shop for equipment they couldn’t afford anyway. Farmfest was faltering before COVID, didn’t happen last year, and even the usually SRO crowds at the forums were reduced to more empty seats than occupied and maybe 20 odd policy wonks watching online.
Farmfest was a child of big ag, and ultimately through consolidation big ag has eaten it’s own.
Since the rule of President Bush the Bad southwest MN dems have gathered at Ted Suss and Janet Marti’s farm after Farmfest for an evening of sweet corn, salads. delicious deserts, speeches, and more deserts. IIRC this year’s 200+ democrats easily beats the all time attendance record.
And in this double digit R+ congressional district we already had in attendance not one, not two, but three declared candidates 15 months before the election. Plus a DFL Attorney General who brings corporate criminals and murdering cops to justice…
And top o’ the ballot, Governor Tim Walz!
And finally thanks to Ted Suss who’s organized this great get-together all these years!
Sassy Democrat 