The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is touring the west-central part of the state to showcase business owners expansion achievements made possible by help from state grants.

The Agricultural Growth, Research and Innovation Program encourages businesses to thrive in a clean and sustainable manner by providing partial project funding.

Projects highlighted on this tour include funding from the Livestock Investment arm of AGRI and the Value Added grant program. The recipients have used the grants for a variety of improvement and expansion projects and members of the media are invited to any of the stops on the tour to view the progress of these projects.

Agriculture Commissioner Plans Business Expansion Tours In West Central Minnesota

Tour stops include Mankato, Nicollet, Lamberton, Worthington, Marshall and Cottonwood.

Monday, July 28
9:30 a.m. Alemar Cheese Company, 622 N. Riverfront Drive, Mankato. Keith Adams is installing new processing equipment and storage to increase sales by $200,000 and add a full-time employee.

10:45 a.m. Forest Lawn Holsteins, 45672 380th St, Nicollet. Ashley Swenson is a vet student looking to return to the farm and applied for the grant to finish installing a robotic milking machine and also improve farm environmental impact on the Rush River watershed.

1:00 p.m. Lamberton Meats, 212 Main St, Lamberton. Brett Baumann plans to upgrade and reopen a custom meat processing business on Main Street and wants to eventually hire one to two part-time employees.

Tuesday, July 29
9:00 a.m. Aaron Nystrom Farm, 30679 Quine Ave, Worthington. Aaron Nystrom is a beginning farmer who returned to the farm in 2012 and is working to increase his beef herd by expanding the barn and working with locals to source his calves.

11:15 a.m. Klein Foods Inc., 1501 East Lyon St, Marshall. Steven Klein wants to increase sales by 200% in four years at his gourmet foods business and plans to use the grant to locally source ingredients and add six employees.

12:45 p.m. Jance Vandelanott Farm, 3017 County Rd 22, Cottonwood. Jance Vandelanott is investing close to a quarter of a million dollars into his hog barn and equipment needed to efficiently raise 1,400 finishing pigs.