Area farmers have been patient this spring as cool temperatures keep planters in the shed instead of in the fields.
Nathan Braun of Garretson was applying anhydrous ammonia to a field east of Luverne on April 26 and said he hopes to be planting in the same field this week.
“The calendar was saying it was time to go, but Mother Nature says it’s not ready,” Braun said.
On Monday soil temperatures at the 2-inch depth still registered in the 40s, about 20 degrees cooler than what’s ideal for young seeds to thrive.
“Last year some farmers realized they started planting too early and it cost them,” Braun said.
Some seed failed to thrive and either was replanted or yield was compromised at harvest.
Two weeks ago, with air temperatures climbing into the 80s and 90s, soil temperatures were reaching into the 50s-degree levels.
“The soil temperature was warming up nicely,” Braun said. “And then the next week it was cool again.”
He is hopeful this week will improve soil conditions and the recent windy conditions will dry fields to ideal levels.
“A few guys have worked up the ground and it’s dry on top but it is wet underneath — it’s not working up perfectly yet.”
According to Monday’s crop condition report, planting had just barely started.
Corn planting was 5 percent complete last week, up from 1 percent the previous week.
There was no planting report for soybeans.
The five-year planting average for this time of year is 23 percent for corn, with no report for soybean progress average.
Kent Thiesse, farm management analyst, urges continued patience.
“Most university and private agronomists are encouraging producers to be patient with initiating field work, and to wait until soil conditions are fit for good corn planting and germination,” he wrote in his latest Focus on Ag column.
“Given the high cost per acre of seed corn … most growers do not want to take the risk of planting in poor soil conditions. … Normally, in early May, the soil temperatures warm up quite rapidly.”
Farmers have until May 10, if soil conditions are favorable, for corn to achieve optimal yields.

Hardwick is one of six communities in southwest Minnesota selected for a $10,000 age-friendly community project grant.
The grants from Minnesota River Area Agency on Aging (MNRAAA) help to meet needs identified by the local leadership teams within each community.
Hardwick’s leadership team chose the city’s Milford Remme Memorial Park, which was an ideal grant recipient, according to Kris Hohensee, the region’s MNRAAA program developer.
“What I see in Hardwick is a close-knit community trying to stay here as their own community,” she said.
“They are not trying to blend in as a community to nearby towns. They are trying to maintain their identity and are pushing themselves forward to stay vibrant.”
Several park improvement efforts were already underway:
•American Legion members purchased supplies to construct a pickle ball court. They also purchased park benches.
•City officials already purchased materials to improve the existing picnic shelter.
•Received a $2,600 Prairie Rose Community Fund grant for playground improvements.
“I thought it was great that Hardwick was already moving forward with all these projects,” Hohensee said. “What we can do is come in and give a little boost to these.”
The age-friendly community grant will:
•finish enclosing the existing open-sided picnic shelter
•move the existing basketball hoops to make room for the pickle ball court.
•construct a sidewalk allowing more accessibility for strollers, walkers and wheelchairs.
•upgrade the existing bathrooms with improved flooring and fixtures.
•install more accessible playground equipment for all ages.
Hohensee said Hardwick stood out as an ideal age-friendly community candidate to the selection committee.
It was among five communities selected for the grant program. Also selected were Vesta, Lynd, Winsted, Bird Island and Maynard.
Other communities who have received age-friendly community grants include Adrian, which hired an intergenerational coordinator, and Pipestone to purchase benches for the downtown area.
MNRAAA partnered with the Southwest Initiative Foundation in 2017 to work with rural communities with populations under 2,000 in a shortened version of the AARP age-friendly designation community process. The process takes less than a year.
The process through AARP (Association of Retired Persons) focuses on eight common denominators which allow all ages of citizens to participate in community life.
The areas include transportation and mobility options, housing, inclusion, digital connections, community resilience, civic engagement and creation vibrant public places.
Shortly after Hardwick was selected and a local leadership team was formed, a community survey narrowed the group’s focus to the city park.
 
Project unveiling slated for June 24-26
All projects are expected to be complete in time for the Hardwick Jubilee Days scheduled for June 24-26.
Several activities are planned at the city park, with a special party planned to celebration Hardwick’s steps toward being an age-friendly community.
“When we look at age-friendly communities and how to make things more appealing to older adults, we don’t forget about other community members,” Hohensee said.
“The tagline for AARP says it best: ‘What’s good for an 8-year-old is good for an 80-year-old.’”

A Minnesota Department of Transportation official notified Luverne Public Schools in writing that landscaping near the tennis courts is in the right of way.
Board members were informed at their Thursday night, April 27, meeting that a portion of the flower and shrub garden needs to be removed.
Business manager Tyler Reisch said discussions about meeting MnDOT’s demand may include more than what’s required.
“Once we take out what is necessary, we may have to take everything out because it will look odd,” Reisch said.
The school district has 60 days to comply to the removal order, according to the letter received April 24 from MnDOT permitting manager Emily Eichner.
“The State is preparing a road construction project on Trunk Highway 75 through Luverne,” she wrote. “During MnDOT’s work on this project, it has come to our attention that the landscaping near the southeast corner of the tennis courts is encroaching into the Truck Highway 75 right of way.
“Please remove the landscaping encroachment within 60 days.”
MnDOT plans to resurface Highway 75 in front of the Luverne school campus in 2025.
The flower and shrub landscape project was part of the 2008 grassroots fundraiser, “Campaign for Courts” to expand and resurface the tennis courts.
The successful $429,000 campaign was completed for the 2008-09 school year.
Eichner stated MnDOT doesn’t actively search out encroachments but will address the issue with property owners once the encroachment is discovered.
“(We) understand this may seem like a minor issue and an unneeded expense to correct for you as a property owner,” Eichner wrote.
She states MnDOT personnel will mark the right of way if request.
Eichner also noted the district may need a miscellaneous work permit from her MnDOT office in order to complete the work.
 
In other business, board members:
•hired Jon Schomacker as 2023 summer recreation director for $9,600, a $200 increase from last year; Jake Haugen as mathematics teacher beginning with the 2023-24 school year for a salary of $43,727; and Kathy Hawes as special education teacher beginning with the 2023-24 school year for a salary of $52,624.
•accepted the resignation of Tara Sudenga as high school mathematics teacher effective May 26; Austin Maxwell, special education teacher, effective at the end of the current school year; and Joel Evans, elementary physical education teacher and middle school football coach, effective at the end of the school year.
•approved a medical leave of absence for Jen Bose, Community Education paraprofessional, beginning April 3 for the remainder of the school year; and approved Ben Nath as a volunteer golf coach.

The third time was the charm for Luverne High School freshman Zander Carbonneau, as he claimed a fifth-place medal in extemporaneous speaking at Saturday’s Class A state speech tournament in Apple Valley.
“It was pretty nice. It was kind of a surprise to make it to the finals, but it was a good one (surprise) at that,” he said.
The top eight speakers in each of the 13 competition categories moved on to the finals.
Also competing at the state meet were senior Parker Carbonneau, junior Roselynn Hartshorn and sophomore Bri Kinsinger.
Kinsinger finished 24th in creative expression and Hartshorn 21st in original oratory.
Parker Carbonneau, a three-time state tournament qualifier, placed ninth in extemporaneous speaking, one place out of moving on to the final medal round.
A low score in Round 1 prevented the senior from advancing.
“Every judge has their own preferences and things they look for, and the political nature of extemporaneous speaking can also introduce subconscious bias,” said coach Gavin Folkestad.
“Parker was absolutely deserving to compete in finals. It is disappointing that it only took one judge who held a drastically different viewpoint from the other to significantly alter the outcome.”

LHS senior Parker Carbonneau is among the 105 speech competitors selected for the Minnesota Speech Coaches Association (MSCA) 2023 All-State Speech team.
Carbonneau served as captain of this year’s LHS team.
“Parker has been a perfect role model for the activity and our school,” said coach Gavin Folkestad. “He is responsible and hardworking — as evidenced by his consistent high placings and multiple trips to state. He is always polite and has been a great leader for us over the years. He will certainly be missed next year.”
Carbonneau, who became a member of Luverne’s competitive speech team as a seventh-grader, was selected to the all-state team based on a series of milestones established by the MSCA. Qualifications include being a high school senior, documented excellence in competition including competing in subsection/section teams, and at least one appearance at the Minnesota State High School League state speech tournament. Other criteria include community engagement and utilizing their speech skills in at least three other activities.
Carbonneau said the oral and written skills learned in competing in extemporaneous speaking overflow into his other high school classes.
“For me I’d say it makes other projects easier,” he said.
Carbonneau received All-State recognition Saturday night at the Class A awards banquet.

Elementary students at Hills-Beaver Creek learned about raptors Monday.
The birds, not the dinosaurs.
Max Borge with the Gabbert Raptor Center on the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, said many people ask him if he has dinosaurs in the blue plastic kennels emblazened with “The Raptor Center” stickers on each side.
“No,” is his polite answer.
Instead, he often travels with a falcon, an owl, an eagle and a hawk, all of which he brought to Beaver Creek so the elementary students could learn about the non-extinct raptors.
Each bird is an ambassador at the Raptor Center and each has injuries that prevented survival in the wild. Each raptor posed on Borge’s arm as he talked about it, except for the eagle, who was hesitant to leave the darkness of the plastic kennel.
Borge left students with a message.
“Each raptor is very important to the environment,” he said. “If you see raptors, the environment is healthy.”
Borge slipped each raptor raw meat as a reward for sitting patiently on his left arm. Each gobbled the treat as students watched.
The Raptor Center treats about 1,000 eagles, hawks, owls, falcons and vultures in a year, with 60 percent successfully returned to the wild.
Those who survive and are not rehabilitated back into nature become ambassadors at the center or become exhibit birds for nature centers across the U.S.
The Raptor Center’s visit was sponsored by the H-BC Elementary PTO.

Javner probate
STATE OF MINNESOTA FIFTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
                                                                         DISTRICT COURT
COUNTY OF ROCK                                                                     PROBATE DIVISION
 
Estate of                                                                           Court File No. 67-PR-23-85
Deborah Maymee Javner, a/k/a                                 
Deborah M. Javner,                          NOTICE AND ORDER OF HEARING ON
a/k/a Deborah Javner,                    PETITION FOR PROBATE OF WILL AND
      Decedent         APPOINTMENT OF PERSONAL 
REPRESENTATIVE AND NOTICE TO CREDITORS
 
It is Ordered and Notice is given that on June 5, 2023, at 8:30 a.m., a hearing
will be held in this Court at 204 E. Brown St., Luverne, Minnesota, for the formal
probate of an instrument purporting to be the Will of the Decedent dated, May 9, 2022,
(“Will”), and for the appointment of Greg Vanderpoel, whose address is 1721
75th Ave., Lake Wilson, MN, 56151 as Personal Representative of the Estate
of the Decedent in an UNSUPERVISED administration. Any objections to the
petition must be filed with the Court prior to or raised at the hearing.  If proper and if no
objections are filed or raised, the Personal Representative will be appointed with full power  to administer the Estate including the power to collect all assets, to pay all legal debts,
claims, taxes and expenses, to sell real and personal property, and to do all necessary
acts for the Estate.
Notice is also given that (subject to Minnesota Statutes section 524.3-801)
all creditors having claims against the Estate are required to present the claims
to the Personal Representative or to the Court Administrator within four months
after the date of this Notice or the claims will be barred.
 
Dated: April 25, 2023 BY THE COURT
 
COURT SEAL /s/ Terry S. Vajgrt
District Court Judge
 
Attorney for Petitioner /s/ Natalie Reisch R. Paul Goode, Jr. Court Administrator
Runchey, Louwagie & Wellman, P.L.L.P.
533 West Main Street
Marshall, MN 56258
Attorney License No: 0336415
Telephone: (507) 537-0515
FAX: (507) 537-0518
Email: paul@rlwlawyers.com
(05-04, 05-11)