MCGA’s Allen-Tully hosts Lt. Gov. Flanagan for farm visit
Standing at the edge of a field sprinkled with winter rye, Minnesota Corn Growers Association (MCGA) Past President Dana Allen-Tully explained cover cropping to Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.
Farmers support cover crops where they make sense, Allen-Tully said, but the practice isn’t viable everywhere. “There’s a place for cover crops, but not every place,” she said.
Allen-Tully’s comments came Wednesday during a visit by Lt. Gov. Flanagan, Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen, and Deputy Agriculture Commissioner Andrea Vaubel to her family’s dairy and crop farm in Eyota. Allen-Tully also gave the Lieutenant Governor a ride in the combine and highlighted her farm’s participation in the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program. The program is a voluntary opportunity for farmers and agricultural landowners to implement conservation practices that protect the state’s water resources.
“We’re proud to be ag water quality certified,” Allen-Tully said during a press briefing held midway through the tour. “It really is just us being able to communicate with the public and hopefully they have some confidence then in what it is farmers are doing to protect their water, particularly given the heightened concern about water quality in the southeast.”
Commissioner Petersen said over 1,500 farmers are enrolled in the program and that more than 1 million acres have been certified, adding that a lot more farmers are in the queue. He said the program provides participating farmers with recognition, 10 years of regulatory certainty, and priority for technical and financial assistance to implement water quality practices.
Petersen added that farmers can receive up to five endorsements through the program. The endorsements provide additional recognition to water quality-certified producers who are going above and beyond to implement conservation on their farms.
MCGA held the farm tour for Lt. Gov. Flanagan as part of its ongoing efforts to build robust working relationships with state and federal policymakers. Developing relationships is critical to ensuring that corn farmers have a fair policy and regulatory environment in which to operate, one in which they have reasonable opportunities to efficiency and sustainably produce and market their crops.
In addition to hosting her yesterday, Allen-Tully hosted Lt. Gov. Flanagan this past June during National Dairy Month. Additionally, MCGA board members Nick Petersen and Bryan Biegler hosted Minnesota Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Aric Putnam in July, and MCGA farmer-leaders connected with members of Congress during Corn Congress in July and at Farmfest in August. The week after Corn Congress, Allen-Tully testified to the U.S. House Agriculture Committee about the importance of passing a robust farm bill.
Additionally, MCGA board member and past National Corn Growers Association president Harold Wolle hosted U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar for a farm visit earlier this month.
Throughout the fall, MCGA farmer-leaders will continue engaging policymakers from both political parties to highlight how corn farmers are making strides in sustainably and efficiently producing their corn crop. They’ll also continue advocating for policies that create market opportunities for family farmers while ensuring they have the tools and products necessary to grow a productive crop.
More information about MCGA’s grassroots engagement with state and federal policymakers can be found here.
