Michael Johnson column sig.jpg

Michael Johnson

News editor

Michael Johnson joined Agweek in 2022 as the news editor. He grew up on a dairy farm north of Verndale, Minn., where he raised cattle, pigs, ducks and renowned sweet corn.

He previously worked for the Barnesville Record Review and Clay County Historical Society out of Barnesville, Minn.; reported for the Gillette News Record in Gillette, Wyo.; served as editor of the Leader-News in Washburn, ND and the Underwood News in Underwood, ND; covered outdoor news for the Brainerd Dispatch as the community editor in Brainerd, Minn., and after a brief escape from the deadlines of newspapers came back as a reporter for the Wadena Pioneer Journal and Perham Focus, before an opportunity to serve as the editor of the Wadena Pioneer Journal in 2018.

He now covers all things agriculture especially in the areas of central Minnesota.

Pronouns: He/him
Languages: English

Even with all parents working and with child care workers often underpaid in rural areas, child care can still be an expense that pushes the limits of a family’s income.
And this fall they will make the 5-mile trip back to the winter barn. It’s not known that any other dairy in the state does it like this.
The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld California's Prop 12, but the decision and its dissents left open possibilities for new ways to fight the law that curtails tight confinement of some livestock.
When large processors were forced to close during the COVID-19 pandemic, smaller processors like Heart O' Lakes Meats took on more than they could chew to keep producers and consumers served.
Minnesota experienced a winter fish kill not seen in decades, according to fish farmer Barry Thoele. It's going to have a large impact on the ability to buy bait fish this year.
Farming is on track nationally, but in the upper Midwest, progress has been slow. Iowa farmers are ahead, but planting has been slow in South Dakota and Minnesota and nonexistent in North Dakota.
Policy funds are paving the way for electric vehicles, but the ethanol industry believes, from an environmental standpoint, ethanol is the right fit, right now.
While bank management and risk assessments are vastly different from a big-tech bank to a rural lending institution, there are some common economic concerns among all sectors.
The sun has the power to give us what we need, but it’s also powerful enough to disrupt our way of life here on earth.
Former FEMA leaders consider AM an integral part of the emergency alert system -- something that should not be removed from the newest electric vehicles.