A special legislative session appears imminent. Gov. Mark Dayton has suggested Sept. 9 for a one-day gathering of the House and Senate. But the exact agenda for the session has remained uncertain in recent days. Dayton indicated on Tuesday that he wanted disaster assistance relating to storm damage in 18 counties to be the sole item on the agenda.

Gov. Mark Dayton indicated in a speech at FarmFest on Thursday that he wants to utilize an upcoming special session to repeal a controversial tax on farm machinery repairs.

In the flurry of activity that closed out the 2013 legislative session, a sales tax on farm machinery repairs became part of the omnibus tax bill ultimately signed into law. Now that the tax is on the books and farmers are facing levies on the labor costs of having their tractors and milking parlors fixed, it’s no surprise that the 11th-hour development at the Capitol is one of the hot topics at the annual Farmfest expo near Redwood Falls.

DFL and Independence Party candidates for governor today sat down for the first time in an open forum with GOP-endorsed candidate Tom Emmer in an hour-and-a-half forum at Farmfest. Statewide candidacies like Jesse Ventura's have seen their star rise with successful appearances at the annual event in southwestern Minnesota.

As farmers, implement dealers, rural financiers and the rest of Minnesota's agrarian class rolled into Farmfest on Tuesday, the first sight they beheld was a group of fresh-faced College Republicans standing on the side of the road holding signs assailing the federal cap-and-trade bill.