Minnesota Farmers Union

Convention nears
MFU President Doug Peterson says that convention planning is going well for the 67th annual MFU convention this weekend Nov. 21-23 in Mpls.  MFU is expecting a great turnout from members and friends of MFU.  Sen. Amy Klobuchar will be keynoting the banquet on Saturday night, and Rep. Tim Walz is likely to give some opening remarks also at the banquet.  Assistant MDA Commissioner Joe Martin will provide an update on bovine tb and take questions, and in addition BWSR ED John Jaschke will address the convention and take questions.  MFU is also pleased to have Attorney General Lori Swanson, Dean of the U of M CFANS Allan Levine and FSA State Director Perry Aasness address the convention on Saturday. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie will address the convention on Sunday.  A full agenda can be seen at www.mfu.org .

Convention transportation still available
There are a limited number of seats on the MFU vans which are providing transportation to the MFU convention from NW Minnesota. The vans leave early on Saturday morning and return Sunday afternoon. If you are interested, contact Jim Tunheim at 651-288-4066 or education.director@mfu.org .

Friday night reception
For the third year, Farmers Union Insurance Agency will sponsor an early bird reception on Friday night the 21st for convention goers in salons A and B at the Four Points Sheraton.  The reception has great finger food and a cash bar.  The reception runs from 7:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m.  For more info on the agency checkout: http://www.farmersunionagency.com/

Resolutions-Policy
The Policy committee met last weekend and is recommending nearly 70 changes for this year’s policy statement after pouring over hundreds of resolutions.  Some changes are major, some technical, and some are simply removing obsolete language.  Christa Williamson from Kandiyohi Co. is the Chair this year and the other members are: Steve Albers, Rice Co., Trevor Jensen, Steele Co., Alan Perish, Todd Co., Todd Churchill, Goodhue Co., Karen Benitt, Marshall Co., Carol Schmidt, Morrison Co., and Nancy Dahlin-Teich, Chisago Co.  The Committee will also meet this Friday night at 6:30 p.m. in the Natchez room to consider last minute changes and resolutions.

Special Orders
MFU will consider three special orders on Sunday that deal with hot issues that MFU is working on, they include changes to Green Acres (by far and away the #1 MFU resolution this year), the MN Clean Car Act, and the recently passed constitutional amendment and MFU’s recommendation on how the money should be spent.

Convention Food
During the Minnesota Farmer’s Union Convention on November 22nd, and 23rd, foods from throughout Minnesota will be served. “It is important to support Minnesota farmers, and what a better way to do so then by having Minnesota-grown foods at our State Convention,” said Doug Peterson, Minnesota Farmers Union President. The following food, Farmers Union members, and those who support them by doing business together will be featured at our convention: milk and cream from Cedar Summit Dairy in New Prague; butter and cheese from Pastureland in Dodge Center; beets, carrots, and onions from Whole Farm Coop in Long Prairie; squash from Mark Koenen, a market gardener in Clara City; ham from Pastures A’ Plenty in Kerkhoven; apples, apple cider, apple and pumpkin pies from Pine Tree Apple Orchard in White Bear Lake; lamb from the Lamb Shoppe in Hutchinson; buffalo from Sand Hill Bison in Fertile; elk from the Elk Association in Rogers; sheep cheese from Steven Read in Nerstrand; goat cheese from Dannah Dairy in Kimball; and bread from Saint Agnes in St. Paul.

Bernie the Burn Barrel!
Mark Rust from the MN Pollution Control Agency will make a presentation on backyard burning and burn barrels on Sunday morning at 7:45 a.m. in the main ballroom.  Mark has also promised me to bring “Bernie the Burn Barrel” which is his life size prop. Checkout this for more info:
http://www.pca.state.mn.us/oea/reduce/burnbarrel.cfm

Environmental Issues
Bill Grant from the Izaak Walton League and a member of the NextGen Energy Board will discuss and provide information on a Cap and Trade System and a Low Carbon Fuel Standard, in kind of 101 on how both might work on Sunday morning of the convention in the Memphis room at 7:45.  This is a very important session as these are very important issues MFU will be dealing with in the next year.

New BSE Dead Animal rule/issues
MFU will also discuss with members in a session on Sunday morning of the convention at 7:45 a.m. in the New Orleans room issues surrounding dead animal collection namely of beef and dairy cattle when the new BSE rules take affect early next year.  The new rule will require animals over 30 months of age to have the spinal cords and brains removed from the carcass prior to processing which could make the process cost prohibitive.  MFU has met with MDA to discuss what happens next year when this rule takes effect.  Bring your ideas and questions to this important meeting.

Carbon Credit Update
Guy Rusche from National Farmers Union will provide an update and informational session on Farmers Union’s carbon credit program on Saturday of the convention during the lunch break which is scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m.  For more info checkout: http://nfu.org/issues/environment/carbon-credits

Farm PAC reception
The Minnesota Farmers Union Political Action Committee will host a reception on Saturday night of the convention in the Itasca room beginning at 5:00 p.m. and lasting until the banquet starts at 6:30 p.m.  (I think the bar might be open a little earlier).  The reception has a cash bar, and features many state legislators from around the state and some newly elected ones! 

Chilton named to Transition Committee
From Reuters: Former NFU Government Director Bart Chilton, who also worked for former Sen. Tom Daschle and the USDA will lead an examination of USDA to prepare for the Obama administration, the president-elect's office said on Friday.  It said teams will complete a thorough review of federal departments so incoming officials can "make strategic policy, budgetary, and personnel decisions prior to the inauguration" and "ensure that senior appointees have the information necessary to complete the confirmation process, lead their departments, and begin implementing signature policy initiatives immediately after they are sworn in."

NFU Convention
National Farmers Union released some information this week regarding the 2009 NFU convention which will be held March 8-10 in Washington D.C. followed by a lobby day on March 11.  A new administration and a new Congress make Washington, D.C. the perfect location for NFU’s 2009 convention. For more info checkout: http://nfu.org/about/convention

Pork Checkoff
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announced recently that it will conduct a Request for Referendum next month among eligible producers and importers of hogs, pigs, pork, and pork products to determine if they want a referendum on the Pork Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Order, commonly known as the Pork Checkoff Program. Participation is voluntary, and only individuals who desire a referendum on the Pork Checkoff Program should participate. USDA will only conduct a referendum on the order if at least 15 percent of the total number of eligible pork producers and importers request a referendum. The total number of producers and importers eligible to participate in the Request for Referendum is approximately 69,446; therefore, at least 10,417 eligible producers and importers must request a referendum. If necessary, the referendum will be conducted within one year after the results of the Request for Referendum are announced. If results of the Request for Referendum indicate that a referendum is not supported, a referendum would not be conducted. The Request for Referendum will be held Dec. 8, 2008 through Jan. 2, 2009.

Producers and importers who were engaged in pork production or in the importation of hogs, pigs, pork or pork products between Jan. 1, 2007, and Dec. 31, 2007, and were at least 18 years of age on or before Dec. 31, 2007, are eligible to participate. For producers, the Request for Referendum will be conducted at the USDA County Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices where their administrative farm records are maintained. For producers not participating in FSA programs, the opportunity to participate will be provided at the County FSA office where the person owns or rents land. Eligible producers may obtain form LS-54-1: Pork Promotion, Research, and Consumer Information Request for Referendum from those offices either in person, by mail or by facsimile. Forms may also be obtained at: http://www.ams.usda.gov/LSMarketingPrograms.

NFU Calls on Congress to examine food prices
NFU President Tom Buis recently called on Congress to again hold hearings to re-examine the cause of high food prices. Congress previously held hearings this spring with many concluding high food prices were the result of high commodity prices. Since that time, however, commodity prices have fallen while retail food prices remain high.

Last February, Minneapolis milling wheat traded for $19 a bushel, and a loaf of bread sold for $2.79. Wheat has since dropped to $7.63 a bushel, yet a loaf of bread increased to $2.99. Corn prices have declined by approximately 45 percent since June, yet corn-based retail products have not witnessed the same decline in price. Further, the retail price of one pound of top sirloin was $7.99 in May and remains at $7.99 today. However, cattle prices have dropped from $91.60 per hundredweight to $88.60 per hundredweight.
In a letter to leaders of the Joint Economic Committee and House Small Business Committee Buis said previous testimony had unanimously blamed the rising cost of agricultural commodities and renewable fuels for increased retail food prices. "This portrayal of retail food prices is finally being proven inaccurate by recent market conditions," Buis said.

New Education Director at NFU
NFU President Tom Buis announced the selection of Brittany Jablonsky to serve as NFU's Acting Education Director. Jablonsky will temporarily fill the position recently vacated by Laura Johnston Monchuk. Jablonsky joined the NFU staff in September 2008 as Executive Assistant to Buis and Government Relations Office Administrative Assistant. Brittany is no stranger to the Farmers Union family, having grown up in the education program, serving as an intern in the Government Relations office the summer of 2007 and as the legislative/communications intern for the South Dakota Farmers Union. Brittany hails from the Dickinson, North Dakota area and recently graduated from the University of Minnesota-Morris.

Willie’s Letter
A lot of people have sent me singer Willie Nelson’s letter to President –Elect Obama.  Nelson is the Chairman of FarmAid and in the letter lays out some of FarmAid’s priorities.  Check it out at: http://www.farmaid.org/site/c.qlI5IhNVJsE/b.4725373/?tr=y&auid=4198959

Next Gen Grants
Governor Tim Pawlenty has announced the first recipients of the Next Gen Energy Board grants. The Next Generation Energy Board was established by Governor Pawlenty as part of the Next Generation Energy Act of 2007. The board develops next generation energy and biofuels policy, and makes recommendations to the Governor and Legislature about how the state can invest its resources to most efficiently achieve energy independence, agricultural and natural resources sustainability, and rural economic vitality. A total of 28 proposals were submitted to a technical review committee. Awardees:

• Central Minnesota Ethanol Partnership, Little Falls - $910,000. The grant will fund the final stage of a study to determine the feasibility of building a commercial scale cellulosic ethanol plant that would be co-located with the existing Central Minnesota corn ethanol plant.
• Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company, Benson - $700,000.  This project will introduce new technology that will allow the Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company facility to use farm or woodland biomass to power plant operations, replacing up to 90 percent of its current dependence on natural gas.
• Rick Neuvirth Farm, Elkton - $220,000.  Mr. Neuvirth, a hog producer, plans to use anaerobic digester technology on his swine operation, generating electricity to meet nearly 100 percent of his farm's energy needs.
• Northern Excellence Seed, Williams - $200,000.  This seed company's project will demonstrate the viability of burning waste biomass such as grasses to produce electricity, which will bring the state closer to commercializing small-scale gasification technology and use of turfgrass biomass to produce electricity.
• Minnnesota Valley Alfalfa Producers, Raymond-$400,000.  This farmer-owned cooperative will demonstrate a promising approach called "pelletizing," in which a variety of biomass materials are processed into uniform sized pellets that can be more easily stored and transported.
• University of Minnesota Department of Forestry, St. Paul - $100,000.  The U of M will study the sustainability of the state's approximately 16 million acres of forests.
• Central Lakes College Ag Center, Wadena - $100,000. The project will provide significant insight into the production feasibility and energy content of five perennial energy crops, including four native prairie plants.
• University of Minnesota, Morris - $50,000.  The University of Minnesota, Morris is in the process of installing a biomass gasifier to serve as the campus heating plant and help reduce campus energy costs.

Livestock Grant
The Governor also recently announced the award recipients for the Livestock Investment Grant Program. It was an extremely competitive process with 38 awards given out of 576 applications.  Many MFU members were among those getting grants, check out who got them at: http://www.mda.state.mn.us/grants/grants/livestockinvestment.htm

USDA Announces Regional Tuberculosis Listening Sessions: 
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has indicated potential changes to the bovine tuberculosis program to help meet current challenges.  To this end, they have scheduled a series of public meetings on tuberculosis to gain stakeholder input.   The meetings-which are open to the public-will be formatted as listening sessions, with participants breaking into small groups to discuss innovative ways to address every aspect of the tuberculosis program.  A schedule of the sessions is below:

-Minnesota - Wednesday, December 10, 2008 Hilton Minneapolis, 1001 Marquette Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 66403

Finally…..

MFU President asks members to keep long-time MFU Office Manager Vivian Smith in their thoughts and prayers as she recovers from an illness.  This will be the first state convention in 27 years without Vivian. 

That is all for now, as usual, questions, comments and complaints to me!

Thom Petersen, Director of Government Relations, MN Farmers Union