Marshall Independent
By Fritz Busch
GILFILLAN ESTATES — Seven U.S. Senate candidates discussed a variety of farm issues and how they would solve them at a Farmfest forum Wednesday.
The farm bill, a multiyear law that governs many agricultural and food programs and allows policymakers to address ag and food issues, is typically renewed every five years. The 2018 farm bill was the most recent version. It expires at the end of fiscal year 2024.
Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the first woman elected to represent Minnesota in the U.S. Senate, talked about the importance of research which is a part of the farm bill that expands academic knowledge and helps producers be more productive.
“We don’t want to depend on foreign food like we depended on foreign fuel. I’ve seen good research at the University of Minnesota and Ridgewater College in Willmar,” Klobuchar said.
Republican challenger Joe Fraser, a former U.S. Navy senior intelligence officer with 26 years service and now a senior business executive, said sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), can help reduce defense spending.
Fraser said prefers the free market to SAF government programs and said maritime (shipping) renewable fuels are also the way to go.
“Let producers figure out supply and demand,” he said.
Fraser said partnerships with research universities can help solve farm animal diseases.
Republican challenger Alycia Gruenhagen of Glencoe said ethanol isn’t profitable because it needs government subsidies. She said farmers and veterinarians know more about animal disease than anyone in Washington and called for less government.
“The government has its hands in way too many things,” said Gruenhagen.
Another Republican challenger, Royce White, a mixed martial artist and former professional basketball player, said he opposes corporate elites, big government and allowing wealthy people in countries hostile to the U.S. to buy land here.
“We can’t sell our land to our mortal enemies. They shouldn’t get another acre of our land,” White said.
Libertarian challenger Rebecca Whiting of Bemidji blamed rapid inflation on overspending and the continual printing of money. She called for deregulation.
Whiting said a 1951 tractor is driven on her farm and her neighbor has a 1946 tractor because newer tractors are too costly and require more maintenance.
Independent party challenger Joyce Lacey of Ashby, a former newspaper and radio reporter, said destroying whole flocks because one or two birds are ill doesn’t make sense.
Klobuchar said allowing the sale of E15 (15% ethanol gasoline) all year is needed.
“It’s the craziest thing that courts threw that out. We will get that done,” she said.
Klobuchar said she supports trade agreements with Cuba if it doesn’t violate human rights and with India, home to more than 1 billion people.
Lacy said she’s intrigued by a guest worker immigration program with a legal path to immigration over a period of several years. She also called for raising the Social Security age from 62 to 63 and taxing the highest tax bracket for Social Security.
“We have to improve our legal immigration system for rural America,” said Klobuchar.
She described real courage as standing next to someone you don’t always agree with but doing what’s best for the country.
