Marshall Independent

By Deb Gau

Work on a new Farm Bill is ongoing, and area residents had plenty of thoughts to share about it. Concerns ranging from crop insurance to farm transitions were all brought up during a Wednesday listening session in Marshall.

Staff members for Sen. Amy Klobuchar led a meeting at Marshall’s City Hall, to hear public feedback on the next Farm Bill. Staffers said a listening session tour around the state is something Klobuchar’s office does for every new Farm Bill.

“These sessions are so important, because they allow us to get input and feedback from you, the people who will benefit directly from the programs and resources in the Farm Bill,” Klobuchar said in a video message at the start of the meeting. “Hearing from all of you on your priorities will shape and inform what I’ll fight for as we begin our work in Washington to pass a strong 2023 Farm Bill.”

A group of about 25 people, including southwest Minnesota farmers and representatives of agricultural groups, attended the event.

In her message, Klobuchar gave an update on the Farm Bill hearings underway in Washington, as well as some of her priorities.

“Among my top priorities is continuing the progress that we’ve made on our commodities, to make sure that there’s a safety net for our commodities, and that runs the gamut of different kinds of farm programs,” Klobuchar said in her video message.

Klobuchar said she was working to support provisions in the Farm Bill to support biofuels. She was also leading bipartisan legislation with Republican Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska to make E15 fuel available year-round.

“I’m also focused on ensuring we have strong crop insurance, voluntary incentive-based conservation initiatives, and agriculture disaster programs,” Klobuchar said.

Carolyn Olson, vice president of the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation, said she wanted to thank Klobuchar for her work on E15 and biofuels.

“Biofuels are so important to Minnesota, and it’s one of the big things that we’re working on in the Minnesota Farm Bureau as well,” Olson said.

However, there were some things that the Farm Bureau thought should be addressed in the Farm Bill. Olson said. One was increasing baseline spending for the bill.

“With the cost of business being higher for everybody, including farmers, an increase to the baseline seems to make sense. So we’re asking for that to happen,” she said.

“One thing with crop insurance is, we ask that we do not tie crop insurance to conservation programs,” Olson said.

Farmers around the country have unique needs and experience with conservation because their land and locations are unique, she said.

“What works for me here in Lyon County will not work for somebody in Idaho. So to make a blanket, ‘You have to do these things to get a discount on your crop insurance,’ does not make sense,” she said.

Olson said conservation programs needed to stay voluntary, but they also needed to be flexible.

Doug Albin, chairman of the Minnesota Corn Research and Promotion Council, said support for agricultural research could help farmers making conservation decisions.

“We need the research dollars, and research that’s unbiased, without an end goal in mind, that they can help farmers work through their challenges of, ‘Do I want to go to cover crops? What’s the value to my operation? What’s the ultimate payback to our society and the environment?’ “ Albin said.

Other concerns audience members voiced included the need to more easily transition farms to new generations of farmers. One person suggested that there should be a tax write-off for a farmer selling their farmstead and land, to make it easier to sell to a new operator.

Ted Winter, a representative of the Minnesota Farmers Union, also spoke out on the need to support small meat lockers and animal processors. The union and other organizations in Minnesota are working to help train a new generation of processors who can take over for existing small meat plants, Winter said. He asked if there was anything that could be done to simplify the process of getting grant funds or assistance for smaller meat processors.

“If there was any way they could look at streamlining the process, so that there’s not the work required to do all the paperwork to get that done, that’s one thing that would help,” Winter said.

“We’ve heard that comment a few different times in the previous stops,” said Chuck Ackman, regional outreach director for Klobuchar’s office.

When the COVID pandemic led to shutdowns at large meat plants in the region, it highlighted the need for smaller local processors.

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