An ag update from the Minnesota state capitol

January 26, 2015

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Anna Boroff, Public Policy Director for the Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA), has been at the state capitol throughout the current legislative session. Here are Anna’s thoughts on what corn farmers should be paying attention to as this legislative session continues:

Everyone is talking about Gov. Dayton’s buffer strip statement made 10 days ago at a statewide DNR roundtable event. In case you missed it, the governor proposed mandating 50-foot buffer strips on all Minnesota waterways. As of now, we’ve seen no official legislative proposal on this matter. As MCGA President Bruce Peterson said in a statement he issued following the governor’s remarks, we’ll review any actual buffer strip legislation and take appropriate action, when, and if, it’s proposed. Meanwhile, we continue to meet with legislators and partners to highlight everything Minnesota’s corn farmers are already doing to protect water quality and wildlife habitat.
The debate about how to fund our state’s transportation needs continues. The House and Senate have two vastly different proposals. The House would like to use existing funds and some surplus funds to strictly funds roads and bridges. In the Senate, there’s talk of dedicating a sales tax to roads and bridges and adding an additional one cent sales tax in the metro for mass transit projects. Stay tuned.
Proponents of GMO labeling are holding a rally at the state capitol on Tuesday, Jan. 27. There has been a bill to label GMOs proposed in the Senate that we’re keeping our eye on. A fact sheet and letter opposing state GMO labeling that we helped put together with A Greater Minnesota is being distributed to legislators in advance of the rally.
Deputy Commissioner of Agriculture Charlie Poster provided an update to the Senate Ag Committee on the AGRI fund, which includes funding to help Minnesota Corn, the American Lung Association of Minnesota and other partners install flex fuel infrastructure at stations throughout Minnesota. Soon, there will be 25 stations in the metro area pumping higher blends of ethanol such as E15 and E85 from these flex fuel pumps.
Other ag-related topics that have popped up include the DNR’s groundwater management plan as it relates to irrigation and the delisting of wolves from the endangered species list.
With the House now under republican control, and with so many new members in the House, it’s not a bad idea to see which members make up the House Agriculture Finance Committee and the House Agriculture Policy Committee and familiarize yourself with the chairs and members.

That’s all for this week. I’ll try and check in periodically with updates.