Notes from MN Farmers Union 2-2-09
Notes from the Minnesota Farmers Union Monday February 2nd, 2009
MFU hosts successful lobby day
MFU President Doug Peterson thanks the many members who took time out of their busy schedules to travel to the capitol in St. Paul for the first of two MFU lobby days. Members attended the Agriculture Finance Committee hearing on Green Acres, met with Attorney General Lori Swanson, met with MFU leaders, and held several legislative meetings. Among the legislators MFU members met with were: Sens. Lourey, Olseen, Saxhaug, Vickerman, Rosen Frederickson, Erickson-Ropes, Murphy, Pariseau, Dahle, and Senjem, and Reps. Davids, Bly, Eastlund, Hilty, Solberg, Faust, Hamilton, Magnus, Cornish, Kath, Torkelson, Kelly, Demmer, Welti, Garafalo, Fritz, and Drazowski.
Next lobby day Feb. 11th
MFU is hosting its second lobby day on Wednesday Feb. 11th from Northwest and West Central Minnesota. MFU has a good response already from members for this day, and looks forward to a good group of members who will be able to attend the House Ag Finance Committee hearing, meet with legislators and also meet with Secretary of State Mark Ritchie. For more info on the lobby day, contact me at 651-288-4067.
Green Acres bill moving
Last week the House Ag Finance Committee chaired by Rep. Al Juhnke took a dual-track approach to the Green acres issue. HF10 authored by Rep. Al Doty was sent to the Finance Committee, and should land in the Tax Committee after that. HF10 is a full repeal of last year's changes. The Committee also passed HF217, authored by Rep. Tim Faust and sent the bill to the Finance Committee, where it will ultimately land in the Environment Committee chaired by Rep. Kent Eken. Eken plans on hearing the bill possibly the week of Feb. 9th. HF217 includes lots of fixes to green acres that MFU is seeking, including a complete grandfather for those who were enrolled before changes. Check out the updated bill and let me know if you have questions: HF217
MFU testifies on Green Acres
MFU has already testified on Green Acres in both the House and the Senate. Benton County President Jon Hansmeier, his son Josh, and John Kaproth also from Benton County testified recently before the House Ag Finance Committee and did a great job. Both Hansmeier and Kaproth have significant acreage in CRP and so-called "non-productive" land. Their testimony was featured in the St. Cloud Times and Fargo Forum and East Central Publications. Check it out at: green acres story
Governor releases budget
Governor Tim Pawlenty has released his budget recommendations for the 2010-2011 years. The Agriculture budget (which makes up about 1/3 of 1 percent of the overall budget) recommendations were not as bad as anticipated. Bigger ticket item changes included cuts to the sustainable ag demonstration grant program, the dairy profitability teams, and inclusion of some new money for livestock investment grants and an increase for the livestock depredation account. There were no recommended changes for the ethanol producer payments, organic cost share and county fair grant programs. There are some fee increases. The Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI) takes a 50% cut in the proposed budget. This is just the beginning of the process, the February budget forecast at the end of this month will most likely make matters worse, so stay tuned, if you have questions about the budget please contact me, you can check it out at: http://www.mmb.state.mn.us/
TB update
The Minnesota Board of Animal Health has announced that the herd buyout program is now complete and that the state bought out 46 herds of cattle in the buyout area totaling 6,200 head of cattle. In addition 27 producers were required to add additional fencing of feedstocks. For more information checkout www.mntbfree.com
Wolf update
From USDA, the state and federal government report that there wolf survey for 2008 indicates that there are about 2,900 wolves in Minnesota. MFU supports additional money for the state wolf depredation account which pays farmers for livestock losses associated with wolf kills. In 2008, the state paid out $93,398.00 for 96 kills, and in 2004 for example the state paid $41,552 for 44 kills. In 2008, Beltrami was the hot spot with 12 claims paid; followed by Pine with 9, Carlton-7, St. Louis-6, and Cass with 5.
NFU meets with Vilsack
National Farmers Union President Tom Buis met recently with USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack to discuss the challenges currently affecting those in rural America. Buis and Vilsack discussed the drastic change in the rural economy due to the sharp decline in commodity prices and what this means for producers. Buis hand-delivered a joint letter from NFU and Feeding America that calls on the Secretary to increase commodity purchases through the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP). Buis said this action would be a win-win for agricultural producers and the growing number of Americans seeking food assistance. Buis stressed the importance of implementing the 2008 Farm Bill in a timely manner, giving producers ample time to educate themselves about the new programs contained in the law. Buis stressed the importance of following congressional intent when writing the rules for the bill's provisions.
NFU supports Johnson-Enzi Livestock legislation
NFU has announced support for the bipartisan Foot and Mouth Disease Prevention Act of 2009 introduced recently by Sens. Tim Johnson, D-S.D. and Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., that would prevent imports of Argentinean livestock and meat products until the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) certifies the country Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) free. In a letter of support, NFU President Tom Buis applauded the Senators for their leadership, efforts to protect the American livestock industry and consumer confidence.
"The ban proposed in your legislation is necessary in order to prevent jeopardizing our own efforts to eradicate livestock diseases, and thereby protecting the food supply," Buis said. FMD is a highly infectious virus that, if introduced into the United States, could contaminate entire herds and leave producers in financial ruin, as infected herds must be culled to prevent the spread of the disease. FMD is so devastating the American Veterinary Medical Association considers it to be the most economically destructive of all livestock diseases.
Klobuchar makes recommendations
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar has announced she is recommending Linda Hennen to serve as FSA State Executive Director and Waubun farmer and MFU member, Dave Haugo to serve as FSA State Committee Chair. Klobuchar has also recommended Colleen Landkamer from Blue Earth County to serve as State Director of Rural Development.
Eger new PCA Commissioner
Governor Tim Pawlenty recently appointed Paul Eger as Commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA). Eger replaces Brad Moore who left the agency to pursue an employment opportunity in the private sector. The appointment is effective immediately. Eger, 35, has held several positions at MPCA since 2002 including Assistant Commissioner for Water Policy and Clean Water Policy Manager. He most recently managed the internal operations of the agency as Deputy Commissioner. MFU has worked with Eger for many years on a variety of issues most notably impaired waters.
Biodiesel update
Recently a Bloomington, Minn., school district was quick to accuse biodiesel, which is required by a Minnesota two percent biodiesel mandate, as the culprit behind their stalled buses earlier this month. However, an independent study identified the problem as a substance found in petroleum and was not related to biodiesel at all. The Minnesota Department of Commerce and the Minnesota Trucking Association have taken steps to clear up the situation with their constituents; however the school district has yet to retract their statements. Biodiesel is used year-round and problem-free in some of the nation's coldest climates. To find out more about the biodiesel use in cold weather, visit: http://www.biodiesel.org/cold/
4th annual Wetlands Summit
The fourth annual Wetlands Summit will be held at Normandale Community College in Bloomington from 8 am to 4:30 pm on Saturday February 21. Themes for the summit are the economic and non-economic values of wetlands, and the impact of dedicated funding on wetlands restoration and preservation. Morning sessions will include a presentation on the impacts of wetland loss and a talk by Mike Kilgore, interim chair of the Lessard Outdoor Heritage Council. The Council will recommend projects to be funded by the sales tax increase voters approved in the last general election. This diverse coalition has organized around the positive impacts that wetlands provide. Members of the public are encouraged to attend; a registration fee of $25.00 per person ($15.00 for students) will cover registration, morning and afternoon refreshments and a noon lunch. Parking is readily available. Pre-registration is advised. For more information and registration call (651)221-0215 or e-mail ikes@minnesotaikes.org.
Bill introductions of note:
Anderson, B. and Kiffmeyer introduced: H. F. 0387, A bill for an act relating to property taxation; repealing the 2008 changes to the Green Acres law; amending Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 273.111, subdivisions 3, 4, 8, 9, 11, 11a; Laws 2008, chapter 366, article 6, section 52; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 273.111, subdivision 3a.
Urdahl; Juhnke; Anderson, P.; Torkelson; Koenen; Hamilton; Otremba; Eken; Nornes; Murdock; Davids; Hosch; Magnus; Demmer; Shimanski; Kiffmeyer; Dettmer and Emmer introduced: H. F. 0394, A bill for an act relating to taxation; sales and use; expanding the definition of farm machinery; exempting construction and other materials used in livestock farming operations; amending Minnesota Statutes 2008, sections 297A.61, subdivision 12; 297A.69, subdivisions 2, 3, 4.
Otremba, Morrow, Faust, Koenen and Juhnke introduced: H. F. 0280, A bill for an act relating to human services; requesting the commissioner of human services to resubmit for federal approval the elimination of depreciation add-back for self-employed farmers in MinnesotaCare.
Peppin introduced: H. F. 0311, A bill for an act relating to agriculture; repealing the ethanol producer payment program and the minimum ethanol content requirement; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2008, sections 41A.09, subdivisions 1a, 2a, 3a, 4, 10; 239.791, subdivisions 1, 1a, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15.
Senator Vandeveer introduced--S.F. No. 280: A bill for an act relating to taxation; agricultural property; modifying the Minnesota agricultural property tax law; amending Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 273.111, subdivisions 3, 3a.
Senators Olseen and Lourey introduced--S.F. No. 286: A bill for an act relating to the taxation of agricultural property; modifying the Minnesota agricultural property tax law; amending Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 273.111, subdivisions 3, 3a.
Senators Erickson Ropes, Vickerman, Skogen and Fobbe introduced--S.F. No. 289: A bill for an act relating to agriculture; eliminating the sunset of the farmer-lender mediation law; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 583.215.
Senators Lynch, Skoe, Skogen, Fobbe and Dille introduced--S.F. No. 299: A bill for an act relating to energy; exempting sales of natural gas for use on farms or ranches from surcharges for utility low-income affordability programs; amending Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 216B.16, subdivision 15.
Senators Anderson, Torres Ray and Kubly introduced--S.F. No. 309: A bill for an act relating to dogs; requiring certain dog owners to take responsible dog owner classes and pass certain tests; requiring maintenance of a database; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 347.
Senator Skogen introduced--S.F. No. 316: A bill for an act relating to taxation; providing a tax credit for certain small wind power generator installations; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 290.
Senator Stumpf introduced--S.F. No. 324: A bill for an act relating to agriculture; appropriating money for livestock and crop depredation payments.
That is all for now, as usual, questions, comments and complaints to me!
Thom Petersen, Director of Government Relations, MN Farmers Union