Senator Klobuchar’s Office to Host Public Forums as Part of Farm Bill Tour

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – On Monday, January 23, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office will kick off her Farm Bill Tour. Klobuchar’s staff will join with Minnesota agriculture leaders – including Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Dave Frederickson – to gather input from Minnesotans on ways to strengthen the 2018 Farm Bill. Over the two-day tour, Klobuchar’s office will host forums open to the public in six counties across Minnesota.

As a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and a 2014 Farm Bill Conference Committee member, Klobuchar helped craft the current Farm Bill, which was designed to reduce the deficit, strengthen the crop insurance program, eliminate direct payments, boost conservation, maintain the sugar program, and keep nutrition programs strong for Minnesota families. She successfully pushed for several key provisions to support rural development projects, conservation programs, agricultural research, and the Rural Energy for America (REAP) program. Klobuchar’s measure to help beginning farmers and ranchers access crop insurance by reducing the cost of insurance by 10 percent for these producers in their first five years was also included in the final bill.  

The Farm Bill was last reauthorized in 2014 and will require Congressional reauthorization in 2018.

Monday, January 23

8:30 a.m. 
Steele County Administration Building

630 Florence Avenue

Owatonna, MN 55060

12:00 p.m.

New Ulm City Hall

100 North Broadway Street

New Ulm, MN 56073

3:30 p.m.
Marshall Public Library

201 C Street

Marshall, MN 56258

Tuesday, January 24

8:30 a.m.

Kandiyohi County Health and Human Services Building, Community Room

2200 23rd Street NE

Willmar, MN 56201

11:30 a.m.

Morris

USDA Agriculture Research Service North Central Soil Conservation Research Laboratory

803 Iowa Ave

Morris, MN 56267

3:30 p.m.

Minnesota State Community and Technical College

Oscar Bergos Center

1900 28th Ave S

Moorhead, MN 56560

 

3rd Annual RRV Agriculture Water Issues Forum

Drainage, flooding, retention, and water quality are huge issues for NW Minnesota farmers. As a result, your state and local agricultural organizations are getting together to host three water retention meetings in the area. These meetings are meant to help get farmers engaged in conversations regarding water retention in their local watershed districts as well as help develop projects that will benefit the Red River Basin. 

These organizations need involvement of area farmers and landowners as the 2014 Farm Bill has designated funding for water retention and wildlife enhancement projects in the Red River Valley (RRV). With the potential for a large amount of monetary resources heading this way, now is the opportunity to give farmers a chance to learn more and ask questions about water retention on ag land and its role in reducing flooding impacts in RRV.

RRV Meeting Locations
Jim Kukowski Farm - Strathcona, MN / Wednesday, July 16, 2014 / 8:00 am to 12:00 pm
Skaurud Grain Farms - Gary, MN / Thursday, July 17, 2014 / 8:00 am to 12:00 pm
Jerry Nordick Farm - Rothsay, MN / Friday, July 18, 2014 / 8:00 am to 12:00 pm

Attending these meetings will be John Finney, President, Red River Watershed Management Board; Don Baloun, State Conservationist, MN NRCS; Representative Collin Peterson (in-person or via conference call), Local Watershed District Administrators and other experts will also be on hand. To find out which local watershed districts will be represented at each of the locations, go to the website below.

These sessions are free and no pre-registration is necessary. Speaker information and specific directions to each location are at the Minnesota Wheat Grower’s website, www.smallgrains.org.

The meetings are organized & sponsored by: MN Farm Bureau Federation & NW MN County Farm Bureaus, MN Association of Wheat Growers, MN Agricultural Water Resource Center, RRV Sugar Beet Growers Association, MN Corn Growers Association, MN Soybean Growers Association, & the MN Soybean Checkoff

Moving agricultural freight in Minnesota Forum

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is organizing a one day forum on the future of agricultural freight in the state. The goal is to discuss strategies among rail providers and agricultural producers for successfully moving product in the coming years. Agricultural producers have faced challenges securing space on rail, while providers are also feeling mounting pressure to transport more products on their rail lines.

Envisioning the Future of Agricultural Freight in Minnesota is supported by the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council, Minnesota Grain and Feed Association and the Midwest Shippers Association. The forum features experts from railroad companies, agricultural commodity groups and government agencies, including MDA Commissioner Dave Frederickson.

“I hope this forum can spur solutions to our busy freight lines and we can learn from past delays and difficulties to move our agricultural products on rail in the fastest, safest and most cost effective way for farmers and rail providers,” said Frederickson.

The forum is free to attend Thursday, July 10 from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. at the Arrowwood Resort in Alexandria, Minnesota. Pre-registration is required by Monday, July 7 by emailing christina.connelly@state.mn.us. The day will feature two expert panels moderated by Don Wick of the Red River Farm Network and Perry Aasness of the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council.

For more information on the event or to register, please visit http://www.mda.state.mn.us/international.

Take Charge of Your Community's Future

The North Dakota State University Extension Service is sponsoring "Taking Charge of Your Community's Future," a series of community forums, in early 2012.

These forums are designed for community leaders and citizens interested in learning more about what other community leaders are doing to capitalize on the oil boom in western North Dakota, help local decision makers better understand zoning ordinances and land use planning, and assist surface owners and others to better understand their rights.

Topics of discussion will be:

* "What We Wish We Knew" - lessons learned from those who have been through it

* "Making Informed Decisions Part 1" - zoning, ordinances, etc.

* "Making Informed Decisions Part 2" - surface rights, mineral rights,
understanding your lease agreement

* NDSU Extension and other resources

The dates and locations for these community forums are:

* Jan. 18, Glen Ullin (Morton County), school gym

* Jan. 19, Underwood (McLean County), City Hall auditorium

* Jan. 20, Hettinger Research Extension Center (Adams County)

* Feb. 28, Bowbells (Burke County), courthouse

* Feb. 29, Lansford (Renville and Bottineau counties), community center

Speakers include NDSU faculty, city and county officials, and an engineering firm planner.

Preregistration is required. The cost is $10 per person to cover meals and materials.

For more information, contact the NDSU Extension office in the counties where the sessions will be held.

Dairy Policy Reform Forum Set

North Dakota dairy producers will have an opportunity later this month to learn how national dairy policy reform could impact their dairy operation.

The North Dakota State University Extension Service dairy specialist and other members of the I-29 Dairy Consortium are hosting the Forum on National Dairy Policy and Immigration Reform, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 30, at the Best Western-Ramkota in Sioux Falls, S.D.

"This forum is a great opportunity for dairy producers, milk processors and other dairy industry professionals to learn more about important dairy policy
issues and ask questions about how potential changes will impact their own operations," says J.W. Schroeder, NDSU Extension dairy specialist.

National Milk Producers Federation officials will discuss the Foundation for the Future, a package of proposed dairy policy programs that would serve as a new roadmap for dairy policy by focusing on margin protection rather than price.

Attending the forum is free of charge but reservations are required by Aug. 25 because the event is limited to 100 people. To make a reservation, send an email to sddairyproducers@gmail.com or call (605) 692-1775.

The event will include a complementary lunch.

The I-29 Dairy Consortium is a coalition of organizations focused on supporting dairy production in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. Members are the Extension organizations at NDSU, Iowa State University, University of Minnesota, University of Nebraska and South Dakota State University, and South Dakota Dairy Producers, the Southwest Minnesota Dairy Profit Group and Western Iowa Dairy Alliance.

More information on the Foundation for the Future is available at http://www.futurefordairy.com.

Program to protect state's drinking water sources will hold first Advisory Forum meeting Jan. 20

Minnesotans concerned about protecting the state's water resources from contaminants will have an opportunity to hear about the work of the state's Drinking Water Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CEC) program this week. The first meeting of the CEC Advisory Forum will be held Thursday, Jan. 20, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Minnesota Department of Health's Snelling Office Park facility. The meeting is open to the public and the proceedings will be posted on the Advisory Forum Web page at http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/risk/guidance/dwec/advisory.html.

Forum participants are likely to include representatives from local, state, and federal government agencies, academic programs, nonprofit groups, industry groups and drinking water and wastewater professional organizations. If you would like to attend and/or become a member of the Advisory Forum, please contact Michele Ross at michele.ross@state.mn.us or 651-201-4927.

The Advisory Forum is expected to meet one or two times per year for the purposes of:
• Obtaining nominations for contaminants of concern.
• Reviewing work completed by task groups.
• Discussing monitoring and research on contaminants of emerging concern being conducted in Minnesota.

The CEC program was made possible by a constitutional amendment passed by Minnesota voters in 2008. The Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment dedicates certain portions of state sales and use taxes to outdoor heritage, clean water, parks and trails and arts and cultural heritage. Under the amendment, clean water funds must be used to protect, enhance and restore water quality in lakes, rivers and streams and to protect groundwater from degradation and to protect drinking water sources.

Under CEC, MDH is able to take a more proactive approach to the protection of drinking water. The CEC program identifies contaminants in the environment for which current health-based standards do not exist or need to be updated to reflect new toxicity information. Through the CEC program, MDH investigates the potential for human exposure to these contaminants, and develops guidance values. Contaminants evaluated by CEC staff may include industrial chemicals, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, and other contaminants that have been released or detected in Minnesota waters (surface water and groundwater) or that have the potential to migrate to or be detected in Minnesota waters.
Since February 2009, MDH has been working with a number of state agencies and partners in laying the groundwork for the CEC program. A task group was formed and met four times in 2010 to review the proposed chemical screening process and discuss the development of the chemical prioritization process. Additionally, another task group was formed and met one time in 2010 to develop and expand on the education, outreach, and engagement plan for the program. These task groups will continue to meet in 2011. However, Thursday's meeting will be the first for the broader Advisory Forum. Additional task groups may be formed from the members of the Advisory Forum.

More information on the Advisory Forum or the CEC program can be found on the MDH website at http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/risk/guidance/dwec/index.html.