Notes from the MN Farmers Union 6-11-10
Notes from the Minnesota Farmers Union Friday June 11, 2010
MFU President testifies before U.S. Senate Subcommittee
MFU President Doug Peterson testified Wednesday before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power on the status of Upper Mississippi River water quality. "This was a great opportunity to stress the need for farmer participation in this process to ensure implementation plans contain pollution reduction strategies that consider local needs," said Peterson. The hearing was held as the subcommittee is considering S.2779, which was introduced by Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar. Given the vast landscape over which water quality information will be gathered, implementation of data collection as proposed under this bill will require an extensive network of monitoring stations, equipment and personnel. With more than 60 percent of the Upper Mississippi River Basin in cropland or pasture, private landowners are logical partners in the establishment of a nutrient and sediment monitoring network. "Private property rights should be recognized as a monitoring network is established and maintained," said Peterson. "It is absolutely critical that any data collected should be sensitive to landowner privacy as provided for in the legislation." National Farmers Union (NFU) policy states that program effectiveness must be measured in an outcome-based approach where real changes and environmental benefits are tracked and rewarded. Efforts to improve data collection and analysis related to water quality moves the U.S. toward that goal by providing essential information that can be used to continually improve programs and practices for the best possible outcome. Link to legislation: Upper Miss. legislation
MFU heads to Walker
MFU is expecting a great turnout of county presidents and emerging leaders for the MFU "Focus on the Future" retreat in Walker, MN this Sun-Tues. June 13-15th. MFU will have a board meeting of county presidents at 4:00 on Sunday to cover MFU business, and then dinner with guest speakers Rep. Loren Solberg, Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, FSA State Director Linda Hennen, NFU President Roger Johnson and William Nelson from CHS. On Monday retreat goers will be focusing on emerging policy issues, education programs, communicating through county units and social networking. Members will also be able to take a tour of Hubbard Co. President Norton Berg and his wife Carol's farm near Laporte. MFU thanks the MN Corngrowers, MFU Insurance Agency, and Cablea's who are among the sponsors.
MFU VP represents Farmers Union at summit
MFU Vice President Gary Wertish represented the National Farmers Union (NFU) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Summit of Rural America event in Hillsboro, Mo., June 4. The event was a wrap up to the Rural Tour that has been ongoing since the summer of 2009. The objective of both the tour and summit was to gain insight from residents in small towns and collect their thoughts on revitalizing our agricultural nation. Wertish co-chaired a breakout session on farm competitiveness and market productivity. Breakout sessions focused on providing solutions, ideas and success stories to address the challenges facing rural America. The philosophy behind the sessions was to create a constructive dialogue geared towards sharing success stories instead of reiterating problems or challenges. "According to USDA statistics, one in twelve jobs in the U.S. are agriculture-related, and as rural residents we know how important we are to the U.S. economy," said Wertish. "Our messages need to be expressed to the rest of the country and I truly believe that the USDA is on board with being proactive in obtaining the needs of America's farmers, ranchers and rural residents."
MFU, NFU oppose organic cost share repeal
MFU and NFU have both signed onto a letter to Reps. Collin Peterson and Frank Lucas to express opposition to HR 5326, introduced by Congressman Mike Conaway to repeal the National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program. Farmers Union believes that organic producers and handlers are highly opposed to this legislation, because cost share assistance is critical to the continued vitality and diversity of organic agricultural production.
MFU Golf benefit coming up
MFU and Farmers Union Agency are having their 3rd annual golf benefit for Lake Sarah youth camp on Wednesday, June 23 at the Mahnomen Country Club Golf Course.
Registration is from 1 p.m.-2 p.m., with a shotgun start of 2:15 p.m. There will be a break for dinner and prizes from 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m., with a second nine holes beginning at 6:15 p.m. You can golf nine or eighteen holes for $30 or $40 respectively. Dinner is included with golf; however, you can purchase dinner for $15 if you choose to not golf.
If you are interested in golfing; sponsoring a hole; or donating a prize to the golf benefit, or to the Lake Sarah campaign fund, please contact Ken Pazdernik at 218-206-4499. All donations are tax deductible. The Mahnomen Country Club is located at 2267 155th Avenue in Mahnomen.
Dairy Leader Roundtable
MFU attended a meeting this past week of the Dairy Leaders Roundtable, where Sen. Steve Dille was recognized for his work with the dairy industry and robust discussion was held on the European Union ruling on 400,000 somatic cell count. There are now 4,553 dairy farms in Minnesota with the average farm milking 102 cows. Minnesota has lost 51 dairy farms this year. The top five counties in milk production are Stearns, Winona, Wabasha, Morrison, and Ottertail.
MFU attending DOJ-Dairy Workshop in Madison
MFU VP Gary Wertish and myself will be attending the DOJ-USDA dairy anti-trust workshop in Madison, Wisconsin on Friday June 25th. We have a spot or two left if anyone is interested in riding with us. For more info on hearing checkout: DOJ Workshop
Legislative Auditor releases reports on State Fair and BWSR
The Office of the Legislative Auditor has released two reports one on the State Agricultural Society (State Fair). On the Fair they concluded the State Agricultural Society´s financial statements for the two years ended October 31, 2009, were fairly presented in all material respects. The report contains two findings related to the society's financial operations. In regards to BWSR, findings were that the board did not have internal controls adequate to ensure that it safeguarded its financial resources, accurately paid employees and vendors in accordance with management´s authorizations, complied with finance-related legal provisions, and created reliable financial data. The report contains nine findings related to internal control weaknesses and noncompliance. Check out this site for more info: http://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/
NDFU President appointed to EPA panel
NFU congratulates North Dakota Farmers Union (NDFU) President Robert Carlson on his appointment to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Farm, Ranch, and Rural Communities Committee (FRRCC) for the 2010-2012 term. The FRRCC is an independent committee that advises EPA on a wide range of environmental issues of importance to agriculture and rural communities. Carlson was selected from a large pool of applicants responding to a request for nominations published last November in the Federal Register. All new members include representatives from academia, industry, non-governmental organizations and state, local and tribal governments. As a member of FRRCC, Carlson will provide useful insight to the agency on topics such as non-point source water pollution, agricultural air issues and environmental markets.
Ag Energy and Climate Forum in Willmar
MFU President Doug Peterson will be a panelist at an Ag and Energy Forum to be held June 28th at Ridgewater College in Willmar from 10-4. Former NRCS Chief Bruce Knight and Chris Clayton from DTN are among other speakers. The event is open to the public and to register for event visit http://agcarbonmarkets.com/Forums.htm
MFU partnering with AURI on food event
Food production is a vital industry in Minnesota and it holds the potential to do even more. On Wednesday, June 30th at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, a consortium of food processing organizations begins a conversation on the recently released Minnesota Food Production Sector: Growing Green Jobs report and on launching innovation and creating competitive advantage. This legislative report looks at Minnesota's food production sector through the diverse perspectives of thought leaders across the state on growing Minnesota's green economy and agricultural jobs. The June 30th event will begin turning the report into action by engaging a network of interested parties to foster collaboration that will give Minnesota businesses a competitive advantage. This kickoff event is an invitation to those who are interested, involved, and knowledgeable about
Minnesota's food production industry. The event is free of charge by registering in advance. There is limited space available. Please visit www.auri.org for more information and to register.
MFU members attend meeting with Franken, Oberstar
Steele County MFU President Trevor Jensen recently represented MFU at a meeting in Rochester with Reps. James Oberstar and Tim Walz to discuss captive rails issues and other items. W. Ottertail Co. Pres. Dave Johnson and MFU member Julie Blehyl recently represented MFU at a meeting in Fergus Falls with Sen. Al Franken to discuss renewable energy. Franken was the keynote speaker at the AURI Renewable Energy Roundtable.
FarmFest
MFU is busy planning for the annual FarmFest farm show August 3-5th near Redwood Falls, MN. MFU believes Congressional candidates will debate on Tues. August 3rd, and Governor Candidates will debate August 4th, just before the June 10th primary, should be good! For more info on FarmFest checkout: http://www.farmshows.com/ffst/index.po
MDA promotes water quality through assurance plan
Minnesota livestock producers have a new voluntary and proactive way to address water quality issues on their land through the Livestock Environmental Quality Assurance Program (LEQA). With funds from the environmentally-dedicated sales tax, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) has launched the program to help livestock producers take the initiative on a non-regulatory basis to evaluate water quality issues and implement appropriate practices. MDA has contracted with Ag Resource Strategies, LLC, to recruit farmers to enroll in the LEQA program. The company trains technicians to look at the farm in separate resource management areas, such as the farmstead, livestock facilities, fields and wooded areas. The technicians then develop an assessment and an action plan, if necessary. The assessment and plan is confidential unless the farmer decides otherwise. The cost to register for the program is $225. The farmer then receives an assessment, action plan and up to 20 additional hours of assistance from the LEQA technician. More information is available at www.agresourcestrategies.com or contact Tim Gieseke at 507-359-1889.
MN Congressional delegation seek wolf- delisting
Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Rep. Oberstar have sent a letter to Rowan Gould Acting Director at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service requesting the removal of the Gray Wolf from the endangered species list. Sen. Franken and Reps. Peterson, Kline, Walz, Bachman, and Paulsen also sent a similar joint letter to the agency. The letters state the fact that the DNR states a wolf population of 3,000 which nearly double the 1,600 which the species stability act requires. MFU thanks their Congressional representatives and strongly supports this request.
Sept. NFU Fly-In to D.C.
The Fall Farmers Union Fly-In to Washington D.C. is scheduled for Sept. 12th to the 15th. It is an excellent opportunity for MFU members to visit with their legislators and see how the process works. MFU provides a stipend for members who are interested in attending. If you are or have questions, please contact me at 651-288-4067 or thom@mfu.org .
Behrman passes
Former Yellow Medicine County MFU President Morris Behrman passed away Tuesday June 8th. MFU President Doug Peterson sends condolences on behalf of MFU to his family.
That is all for now, as usual, questions, comments and complaints to me!
Thom Petersen, Director of Government Relations, MN Farmers Union