Changes proposed to spur agriculture
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
By Scott Wente
Capitol Correspondent, West Central Tribune
ST. PAUL — Emphasizing local control and more support for agriculture across Minnesota, rural lawmakers on Monday announced plans to assist beginning dairy operations and promote sustainable farming practices. The proposed legislation is among recommendations of the Citizen Task Force on Livestock and Rural Communities.
The group included the Minnesota Farmers Union, Minnesota National Farmers Organization, Land Stewardship Project and the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota.
Specifically, legislators highlighted two farm bills they plan to introduce during the 2005 session.
One provides aid to beginning dairy farmers. The state would pay $1 per hundredweight of milk produced for up to five years with a maximum of $10,000 each year.
Sen. Becky Lourey, DFL-Kerrick, will introduce the bill. She said it’s critical to support family farms given that, for instance, 96 percent of Minnesota dairy operations are 200-head herds or smaller.
“We must preserve them as other people talk about big (agriculture),” Lourey said.
Also, Sen. Gary Kubly, DFL-Granite Falls, will propose a bill providing $150,000 annually to continue funding the University of Minnesota’s Alternative Swine Program and expand it to include dairy and other livestock systems.
Rep. Lyle Koenen, DFL-Clara City, said the citizen task force’s recommendations would go a long way to support small livestock operations.
Koenen, who spent 25 years as a dairy farmer, also noted that the task force wants the Legislature to uphold the rights of local governments to make planning and zoning decisions.
The citizen group’s recommendations differ from those of Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s livestock farming task force from last year. It noted problems with the siting of new livestock operations and called for a review of county and township planning and zoning laws.
The farm groups agreed with parts of Pawlenty’s report, but it didn’t address pricing, which is the biggest dilemma facing small farmers, Minnesota Farmers Union president Doug Peterson said.
Legislators expressed optimism that the new proposals would make it through the Legislature.
“I think there will be some support,” said Rep. Mary Ellen Otremba, DFL-Long Prairie, who is authoring the House version of the dairy assistance bill.
Yet Otremba said it’s unclear whether dollars are available to support the initiatives in a year when the state is facing a $700 million-plus deficit. Lawmakers didn’t put an estimate on the proposals’ costs.
The Department of Agriculture is expected to issue a report next week that examines the farm proposals.
Rep. Gregory Davids, R-Preston, who chairs the House Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, said he wants to see that analysis before weighing in on the task force proposals.
“We’ll certainly give it the recognition it deserves,” Davids said, adding that any bill with “a financial implication like that” may have a tough time passing the House.
Content © 2005 West Central Tribune
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