Legislative Updates

Welcome Stu Lourey!

Today MFU officially welcomed Stu Lourey as our new Government Relations Director. Stu grew up on a beef farm in Kerrick, Pine County, and previously worked with Senator Tina Smith’s staff, with a focus on health care.

An MFU member himself for several years, Stu is enthusiastic about working for our organization and speaking up for MFU policy at the Capitol. We’re glad to have him on board!

To contact Stu, call him at (651) 288-4067 or email stu@mfu.org.

Legislative update: Bills introduced on Farm to School, Forever Green

Despite the NFU Convention, our work at the State Capitol pressed forward. This Friday, March 15, is the deadline for bills to be heard in committee.

We were pleased to see a bill introduced in the House Health & Human Services Policy Committee to establish the ONEcare program, which was part of Gov. Tim Walz’s budget proposal and is effectively a MinnesotaCare Buy-in option. We testified in support of the bill. Legislators were moved by stories we shared about people who have to pay $45,000 a year for health care. The bill will be heard by the House Commerce Committee this Wednesday. Rep. Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester, is the chief author.

Some great news was that the funding package to support rural mental health efforts, including funds for more Farm Advocates, passed the House unanimously. MFU thanks Rep. Jeanne Poppe, DFL-Austin, for authoring this bill. The Senate companion has been laid over for inclusion in a larger committee bill later.

Lastly, the House Commerce Committee heard HF1138, the Digital Fair Repair Act, on Friday morning. This would address our Right to Repair priority, as it would require equipment manufacturers to make information and instructions for repairing the equipment readily available. Jackson County Farmers Union member John Nauerth sent a letter in support of Right to Repair, describing his own experiences with the matter. The Senate companion is SF1077. MFU thanks Rep. Peter Fischer, DFL-Maplewood, and Sen. Dave Osmek, R-Mound, for authoring this bill.

More information about our legislative work this session is available at www.mfu.org/legislative-updates/. Our full legislative agenda is available here.

NFU joins coalition in highlighting importance of carbon capture

National Farmers Union (NFU) joined the Carbon Capture Coalition in submitting a letter to leaders in Congress to highlight the importance of “carbon capture research, development, and commercial deployment as an essential component of a broader strategy to decarbonize power generation and key industry sectors by midcentury” to meet climate goals.

The letter, signed by a cross-section of the Coalition’s 60 Participants and Observers, is intended to reinforce the role of carbon capture technologies in any federal policy discussions about climate, energy, infrastructure or job creation. The group expressed support for legislation including the USE IT Act that would build on the FUTURE Act to advance the use of carbon capture technologies nationwide.

“Carbon capture presents family farmers and rural communities tremendous opportunity to both better the environment and enhance quality of life in rural America,” said NFU President Roger Johnson. “These technologies create jobs, produce domestic energy, benefit the U.S. ethanol industry, and reduce carbon emissions that exacerbate climate change. So as Congress looks to reduce our nation’s carbon emissions, we proudly join the Carbon Capture Coalition in urging congressional leadership to advance federal policies that accelerate deployment of carbon capture, utilization and storage.”

It was a particularly busy week for MFU at the State Capitol. We saw several bills introduced that we support, covering rural broadband, farm-to-school and the Forever Green program.

MFU State Secretary Anne Schwagerl made another trip to the Capitol to testify in support of Senate File 9 on Feb. 27, which appropriates funds for rural broadband grants. She pointed out that high speed internet access helps rural residents access virtual health care and allows students to have e-learning days when we experience bad weather like we’ve had this winter. The bill’s House companion is HF 7. We and the Rural Broadband Coalition thank Sen. Mark Koran and Rep. Rob Ecklund for introducing this bill. We also thank Secretary Schwagerl for her leadership and being a voice for the family farmer.

We also saw an outpouring of bipartisan support for farm-to-school funding, which was formally presented in the House on Feb. 26. Rep. Todd Lippert is the primary sponsor of HF 811, which establishes a formal farm-to-school program. MFU joined a large number of agricultural organizations in testifying in support. Sen. Mike Goggin introduced the Senate companion, SF 1346, on Feb. 28.

On Feb. 28, Rep. Jeff Brand introduced HF 962, which appropriates $5 million to the University of Minnesota Forever Green Program. We have long supported this program which researches new crop options for family farmers which not only are beneficial to the environment, but also add economic value to our operations. We participated in a news conference along with various agricultural and environmental organizations to show support for HF 962. Sen. John Marty is the Senate sponsor.

More information about our legislative work this session is available at www.mfu.org/legislative-updates/. Our full legislative agenda is available here. If you have any questions, contact Membership & Outreach Director Bruce Miller at bruce@mfu.org or (651) 470-5438.

Farmers with ties to Ashby elevator must file claims by March 23

Farmers who have conducted business with the Ashby Farmers Cooperative Elevator of Ashby, Minn., must submit a bond claim with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture by March 23. This applies to farmers that have not received payment or who had grain stored at the elevator.

The elevator, in accordance with the law, held a $125,000 bond with the Department to help grain sellers and depositors mitigate any losses. To submit a claim, a farmer will need do the following steps:

1. Complete a Grain Bond Proof of Claim Form. This can be found at mda.state.mn.us/grain
2. Include supporting evidence. This is including but not limited to scale tickets, purchase agreements, purchase receipts, non-sufficient funds checks, contracts, warehouse receipts, assembly sheets, etc.
3. Send in the form and supporting evidence by email to christine.mader@state.mn.us, fax to 651-201-6108, or mail to:

Minnesota Department of Agriculture

Fruit Vegetable & Grain Unit

625 North Robert St.

St Paul, MN 55155

Claims must be received by March 23, 2019.

Once all claims are received, the MDA will review all submitted claims, associated paperwork, internal documents and records from inspector visits to determine which claims are valid. In the case of multiple valid claims, a pro-rated share is calculated and dispersed. A decision of disbursements of valid bond claims will be made by May 20, 2019.

Questions on this process can be directed to Christine Mader at 651-201-6620 or christine.mader@state.mn.us, or Nick Milanowski at 651-201-6076 or nicholas.milanowski@state.mn.us.

Lourey to begin as Government Relations Director March 11

We are pleased to announce that Stuart Lourey will begin duties as MFU Government Relations Director on March 11. Stu is a former staff member of Sen. Tina Smith in both Minnesota and Washington, D.C. He grew up on a grass-fed beef farm in Kerrick, Pine County, and is enthusiastic about advocating for family farmers. Our organization is excited to have Stu on board, representing our members at the Capitol.

Legislative update

About a quarter of the 2019 Legislative session is over, and it is starting to heat up. Much time has been waiting the release of Gov. Walz’s budget which sets forth his administration’s priorities for legislative action. Now that it has been released, the Legislature and organizations like Minnesota Farmers Union are analyzing what is in it and looking for areas which we can support or hope to see expanded.

These early weeks have included a lot of introductions, and overview presentations on issues. Your MFU legislative team is meeting with legislative leaders and members, talking with the Walz administration and commissioners and meeting with other groups who are working on issues with us. We’ve also had a meeting with the Speaker of the House, Melissa Hortman. Topping the discussions so far is health care, and especially our support for a buy-in to the Minnesota Care program, extending the provider tax, lowering drug prices and continuing to allow farmers to form health care cooperatives.

We’ve been pleased to see bills introduced on some of our top priorities, including funding for the Forever Green Program, for Farm-to-School programs, rural mental health treatment, the Farmers Legal Action Group and the Good Food Access Program. Each of these are important resources for family farmers and rural residents, especially during this time of low prices.

If you ever want to make a trip to the Minnesota State Capitol and spend the day with one of our MFU staff, we can arrange that and help you try to schedule a meeting with your legislators. Each day at the Capitol is different, depending on the issues in front of the Legislature that day. Contact us if you’re interested.

Despite a polar vortex freezing most of Minnesota to a halt, the MFU government relations team still kept active in St. Paul. Most notably, the House Agriculture Committee’s hearing on Thursday, Jan. 31, included testimony from MFU State Secretary Anne Schwagerl, an organic grain and pastured pork farmer in Big Stone County.

The committee heard from Schwagerl and several other farmers, as well as farm business management and ag economic professionals, about the different issues making life tough in farming right now. Schwagerl mentioned health care affordability and accessibility, the lack of high-speed internet in rural areas and, most importantly, low prices for farmers’ labor. Other farmers echoed her concerns. Watch the full hearing here.

Additionally, Rep. Jeff Brand, DFL-St. Peter, introduced a bill appropriating funding for the Farmers’ Legal Action Group, which provides legal assistance for family farmers. MFU has worked with FLAG since its inception and strongly supports this bill. Membership & Outreach Director Bruce Miller testified in favor of it. The bill was laid over for further discussion later.

We will provide talking points to members about these and other issues on Lobby Day Drive-In, Tuesday, Feb. 5. In the meantime, we encourage you to contact your legislators about issues that are important to you and write letters to the editor in your local news outlets, to make sure the voice of the family farmer is heard all session long.

Congratulations Thom!

First, a hearty congratulations to Thom Petersen for his appointment as the new Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. For more than 16 years, serving as the MFU Government Relations Director, Thom helped develop MFU’s policy and represented us as a major voice in working with elected and appointed officials at the state and federal levels.

Government Relations team

MFU has posted the position of Government Relations Director and will be reviewing applications soon. For the 2019 legislative session, MFU Membership and Outreach Director Bruce Miller is the Legislative Lead on Agriculture issues. MFU Programming Director Michelle Medina is the Legislative Lead on Energy and Environment issues. President Gary Wertish, Vice President Bryan Klabunde, Michelle, intern Emily Pliscott and Bruce are covering all other legislation that impacts family farming and rural life especially including health care, taxes, broadband and farm stress, as well as other issues in our policy platform.

Legislative session introductions

The MFU Government Relations team has been busy meeting with legislative leaders and members, talking with the new Walz administration and commissioners, and meeting with other advocacy groups who are working on issues with us. Topping the interest levels so far is health care, with our support for a MinnesotaCare Buy-In option, extending the provider tax, lowering prescription drug prices and continuing to allow farmers to form health care coops.

Other issues range from our work on property tax relief; the MDA budget; funding for agricultural education; farm stress and mental health issues; broadband internet for farmers and rural communities; tax conformity; expanding the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit, transportation funding for rural roads and bridges, including a gas tax increase; renewable energy standard increases; fixing the problems we are seeing in meat processing; advocating industrial hemp programs; compensation for landowners, including a tax credit, for buffers; the good food access fund to bring fresh foods to parts of Minnesota who do not have access; and support for the University of Minnesota Forever Green program initiative.  For more details on all those issues, visit our policy section on our website at www.mfu.org/legislative-priorities. We will provide legislative updates in our email newsletter to members each week and post those online as well.