KSTP 5 News reports on a farmer forced to raise prices as a result of rising costs: “As much as we don't want to up our prices, we have to because of everything that's going up”
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From a May 3, 2026, video uploaded to the YouTube page of KSTP 5 News
JOE MAZAN (REPORTER): If hope springs eternal on baseball's opening day —
PERSON 1: Thank you, ladies.
PERSON 2: Thank you!
MAZAN: The same can be said for Minneapolis's farmers market on opening weekend.
PERSON 2: Oh, it's super exciting just to smell the fresh new spring air.
Good morning, guys.
MAZAN: Manuna Vang's family has sold produce here for decades. She and her mother own a farm in Hastings. How difficult has it been just farming that land now with the prices that have gone up?
PERSON 2: It's really challenging.
MAZAN: Rising gas and fertilizer prices have forced her to raise prices at the farmers market.
PERSON 2: If you're not also upping your prices, then you won't make it because as much as we don't want to up our prices, we have to because of everything that's going up.
MAZAN: So, now everything will cost more, including these green onions.
PERSON 2: Last year, they were $2. This year, it's 3.
PERSON 3: Oh, I totally get it. I totally understand that. You know, they've got to make a living too.
MAZAN: Shoppers like Mary Jane Rohlf knows she'll pay more for produce at the grocery store and farmer's markets.
Have you had to change the way you shop a little because of it too? Are you a little more cautious?
PERSON 3: I might be a little more cautious in the fact that I don't overbuy anymore. I maybe used to buy a lot more than I do now.
PERSON 2: Hello. Good morning.
MAZAN: And that brings us back to Manuna and her rising prices.
PERSON 2: Right now, everybody understands.
MAZAN: No one, not even a single person, has complained to her.
PERSON 2: It's that bad to where everybody's like, well, it's fine. Everything's going up. You know, I haven't even had anybody ask me once yet.
MAZAN: If that's not hope for humanity, I don't know what is. Some told me today they plan on growing more fruits and veggies in their gardens this summer, and you could be sure every square inch of this community garden here will be used to try to help and cut costs.