Notes from the Minnesota Farmers Union October 5, 2005
10/06/2005
Thom Petersen,
Director of Government Relations,
MN Farmers Union
October 5, 2005
Budget cuts looming
Sen. Saxby Chambliss, Chairman of the Senate Ag Committee will mark-up ag budget cuts tomorrow, Thursday, at 9:30 am. The pain is shared by all commodities and conservation, research and food programs.
It will amount to a 2.5% reduction in farm commodity payments for all producers. It extends the MILC program, albeit at a reduced payment rate. Deep cuts are also proposed for the CSP and EQIP.
These cuts are at the wrong time, as commodity prices are declining, input costs are skyrocketing, and over one-half of the counties in the nation have been declared disaster areas. With energy pushing inflation, interest rates are likely to rise, putting farmers and ranchers in a difficult financial situation – less revenue, higher costs, and lower production. The decision to move ahead with budget cuts in ag programs is counter-productive, and should be rejected by Congress. Please call Sen. Norm Coleman at 202-224-5641 and Sen. Mark Dayton at 202-224-3244, members of the ag committee today and urge them to reject the budget cuts.
For those of you interested in MILC. You can oppose the budget cuts, and still be for extending MILC.
MILC
The Milk Income Loss Contract program (MILC) was allowed to expire on October 1st, 2005. Rep. David Obey from Wisconsin did try to amend an extension onto a bill last week and was ruled out of order. MFU will continue to push for an extension of this program which serves as a safety net for the 5,500 dairy producers in Minnesota.
FSA Office Closings
MFU continues to oppose the FSA proposal to close nearly 1/3rd of the state offices. MFU is concerned about this proposal being brought during harvest time when farmers are very busy, and has questions about making this happen when we are not sure what the 2007 farm bill will contain. MFU has heard from a lot of its members that have concerns about this issue and urges members to contact your member of Congress and voice your concerns. You can read FSA’s version of this story at: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/pas/FullStory.asp?StoryID=2195
2020 testimony
Last week I testified in favor of HF 1561 authored by Rep. Aaron Peterson that would require the state of Minnesota to receive 20% of its energy needs by the year 2020 from renewable sources such as wind power. The hearing was a joint meeting of the House Regulated Industries and Agriculture Committees. The one question MFU members will debate at their state convention is what is renewable energy? Wind, biomass, digestion? But more specifically hydropower? Minnesota utilities are currently allowed to buy hydropower from large dams in Manitoba Canada and that counts as renewable energy in Minnesota. The question for MFU members and delegates to this years convention will be should it count? I also served on a panel discussion this past week at forum put on by the Minnesota Environmental Initiative, http://www.mn-ei.org/ , that looked at Renewable energy.
Meeting with Chair Davids
Last week I participated in a meeting called by the Chairman of the Minnesota House Ag Committee Chairman Greg Davids. Davids was seeking input from ag groups about what could be issues next year. Among the issues raised were: the dairy investment tax credit, open lot agreements, impaired waters, eminent domain, gmo wild rice, racino, organic issues, 1031 exchanges, township issues, and the ag budget.
Ridgewater College
Last week I had the opportunity to speak to Brant Groen’s sophomore ag class at Ridgewater College where I spoke about farm groups and lobbying. It was good to see that many of the student’s families did belong to MFU or another group. Students were most interested in CAFTA and ethanol. For more info on Ridgewater, checkout: http://www.ridgewater.mnscu.edu/Future-Students/Academics/Transfer-Education.cfm?ProgramName=Agriculture
NAIS
MFU also continues to raise concerns about the USDA’s recent proposal to privatize the National Animal ID (NAIS) animal tracking database. The USDA will hold a hearing in Kansas City, MO on October 12th and National Farmers Union will be present to voice concerns; to read their statement checkout: http://www.nfu.org/newsroom_news_release.cfm?id=1359
State Fair Auction show
The Pioneer Public Television station in Appleton has recorded a video show of the Minnesota State Fair Blue Ribbon Auction. They have already aired the program watch, for it to be re-broadcast soon. It will also be broadcast on Lakeland Public TV on October 13th at 8:30 pm. MFU President Doug Peterson served as the auctioneer and MFU Insurance Agency bought a reserve grand champion steer.
County Conventions:
Lyon County: MFU President Doug Peterson attended the Lyon County convention held in Marshall. Alan Benz, county President presided. Also attending was MFU member Pat Mellenthin who is running for the state legislature against Marty Seifert in District 21A.
Cottonwood County: MFU Field Services Director Brad Redlin and Sen. Jim Vickerman were guesets at their annual meeting held in Storden. Members passed 13 resolutions dealing with issues such as CAFTA, COOL, Social Security, eminent domain, and federal farm payment caps.
Jackson County: I was the guest speaker at the annual meeting held in Jackson. President Gary Wilson was re-elected and Marvin Lucht was elected as the new VP. Gary gave an update on the Trimont Area Wind Farm.
Stearns County: MFU President Doug Peterson was the guest speaker at the annual meeting held at Charlie’s Café in Freeport. Among the issues discussed were 1031 land exchanges.
MFU VP Dennis Sjodin also was the guest at both the Meeker and CrowWing County conventions this past week, but I haven’t got a full report yet.
Checkout: http://www.mfu.org/index.cfm?p2=67354159&category1=Events&category2=main&category3=x&category4=x&category5=x&category6=x for more information on upcoming conventions, many have been added in the past week.
That is all for this week as usual, questions, comments, and complaints to me!
Thom Petersen, Director of Government Relations, MN Farmers Union