Prairie and Grasslands Public Grazing Program Established in Law

On May 3, Governor Dayton signed into law the Omnibus Environmental Policy Bill (HF2164). Included in the bill was language that establishes a "Prairie and Grassland Public Grazing Program", which calls for the Dept of Natural Resources to enter into cooperative farming agreements or lease agreements with livestock owners to graze state-owned lands.

Unfortunately, during the last minute negotiations language was removed that would have required lands that are purchased with dedicated sales tax monies to maintain existing fencing and pay for the installation of new fence.

The MSCA will continue to work with the Dept of Natural Resources and other partners to identify other long-term funding sources to pay for perimeter fencing, gates and other infrastructure that will lead to managed grazing of conservation lands.

Wolf Season Established in Law

Governor Dayton has signed into law the Game and Fish Bill (HF2171). In terms of wolf management the bill contains the following language:
  • Establishes a wolf hunting and trapping season that begins with deer hunting season;
  • Authorizes DNR to set a quota of number of wolves to be taken;
  • Establishes $4 application fee, and $30 fee for license fee for in-state and $250 license fee for out-state hunters, with revenue deposited into wolf management account;
  • Dedicates 50 cents of deer license fee into wolf management account;
  • Authorized DNR to set compensation rate for predator controllers, current compensation is $150;
  • Appropriates $100,000 each year from non-game wildlife account for wolf research and $120,000 each year from game and fish fund for wolf management.

Agriculture Policy Bill Signed by Governor

Governor Dayton has signed HF2398, the Omnibus Ag Policy Bill. Highlights of the bill include:
  • Clarifies the Board of Animal Health’s authority related to the establishment of quarantine zones. The language clarifies that the Board has authority to restrict movement of livestock off an individual premise that is identified as being infected, and also reinforces that quarantine zones should be the smallest practical size.
  • Exempts commercial feed producers from paying inspection fees on feed they use themselves;
  • Establishes a Dairy Research, Teaching and Consumer Education Authority;
  • Establishes additional food safety enforcement authority for the MN Dept of Agriculture;
  • Changes to grain buyer's bond requirements;

Importantly, language was removed from the conference committee report that would have required lean finely textured sold in Minnesota to be labeled.

Legislative Audit Commission to Audit Conservation Easements

The Legislative Audit Commission has selected conservation easements as one of the topics for review between now and the 2013 session. Since 2009, over $145 million worth of conservation easements have been funded. With the growing amount of dollars being spent on conservation easements, the Commission is expected to evaluate how easements are selected, monitored, managed and funded.

MSCA Delegation Travels to D.C.

The MSCA was well represented during a national cattleman fly-in April 17-19. During the visit, the delegation attended briefings with the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, visited with the Office of Management and Budget on the cost of proposed regulations related to NPDES permits, and spent time visiting eight offices of the Minnesota delegation. During our delegation visits, we focused on discussing: the Farm Bill and provisions related to CRP reform, conservation funding, insurance, and research; proposed federal regulations ranging from child labor to additional NPDES permitting; animal care and antibiotics; wolf management; and estate tax. Thanks go out to those individuals who took the time to make the trip, and for members and staff that took time out of their schedule to have a conversation.

Dept of Labor Withdraws Proposed Rule on Youth Labor

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced they are withdrawing the proposed rule they issued in September of last year, and stated that the administration will not pursue this regulation for the duration of the Obama administration. Dept of Labor announcement: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/whd/WHD20120826.htm

Senate Ag Committee Passes Farm Bill

On April 26, the Senate Agriculture Committee passed their version of a Farm Bill which is projected to spend around $25 billion less over the next 10-years compared to the current Farm Bill. Of that amount, around $15 billion will come from the commodity programs.

The bill was approved by the Committee, with five southern republican senators voting against the bill, as they feel the bill disproportionately affect Southern growers. The next stop will be the Senate floor, where several amendments are expected to be offered. You can view the 980-page bill here.

Highlights:

Commodity Title

  • Eliminates direct and countercyclical payments, along with Average Crop Revenue (ACRE) and Supplemental Revenue Assistance (SURE) programs.
  • Establishes new Revenue Insurance Program aimed at protecting farmers against “shallow losses”, with traditional insurance program covering larger losses. The new program would make payments to farmers when revenue from a crop is 11 to 21 percent below the five-year average, with a maximum payment of $50,000 per person.
  • An individual would not be eligible for program payments for individuals with incomes over $750,000, down from the current $1.25 million limit.
  • Eliminates Dairy Product Price Support (DPPS), Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) and Dairy Export Incentive (DEIP) programs and replaced with a dairy production margin protection program and a supply management program (otherwise known as dairy market stabilization). The Dairy Forward Pricing Program, Dairy Indemnity Program, Dairy Promotion and Research Program would all be extended – as would the Federal Milk Marketing Orders.

Livestock Title

  • Title has been removed and essential provisions moved to other parts of the bill.

Conservation Title

  • Consolidation of existing conservation programs from 23 to 13
  • Maintains 60% of EQIP funding for livestock
  • Reduces CRP by 7 million acres and expands haying and grazing flexibility

Research Title

  • Creation of a research board that is similar to National Institute of Health (NIH). Board will consist of ½ industry and ½ academics for all Agricultural Research.
  • Board will be responsible for establishing research priorities/needs
  • Individuals can make tax-deductible contributions to research with a federal govt match $1 to $1

Miscellaneous

  • Added a predator loss provision to cover animals lost by the government’s reintroduction or protection of predatory animals
  • Added an additional program for livestock indemnification to cover losses currently covered by APHIS indemnification programs but limited because of decreased funding

The House Agriculture Committee is in process of holding hearings on the Farm Bill, but has not yet offered a full version for official consideration. The House is expected to cut around $33 billion from their version of the Farm Bill.

Update on Clean Water Act Issues

Congressman Denny Rehberg (R-Mont.) was successful in adding an amendment to the 2013 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill that would prevent the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from expanding their authority over "non-navigable" waters, which would open the door for those federal agencies to require federal permits for a variety of normal agricultural activities. The bill now moves to the full House for a vote.

On a related front, additional stand-alone bi-partisan legislation (H.R. 4965) has been introduced in the House that would prevent the ACOE and EPA from expanding their authorities over waters and requiring permits. This legislation is subsequent to the Preserve the Waters of the United States Act, which was introduced by U.S. Senators John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Dean Heller (R-Nev.) Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.).

Thanks go out to Congressman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) for being a lead author of the legislation.

Ron Eustice Announces Retirement from Minnesota Beef Council

After 22 years at the helm of the Minnesota Beef Council, Ron Eustice has announced his plans to make a career change effective October 1st. Ron says he's not really retiring because he will continue to work as a consultant in food safety and issues management.

With Ron's announcement, the Minnesota Beef Council is seeking applications for the position of Executive Director. The ideal candidate will have extensive cattle industry and agricultural knowledge, food industry experience, and have a Bachelor's Degree at minimum. Successful management of budgets and non-profit associations will be helpful.

The successful candidate will report to the Minnesota Beef Council Chairman. He/she will also directly supervise three employees and a part-time consultant. This position requires some travel and is based in the Minnesota Beef Council office in Bloomington (Minneapolis). A complete job description can be found here.

Applications and résumés are due no later than June 30th and may be sent to: Ronald Eustice, Executive Director, Minnesota Beef Council, 2950 Metro Drive, Suite 102, Bloomington, MN 5542

BSE Identified in U.S. Cow

On April 24, the USDA confirmed the identification of BSE in a dairy cow in central California.
    The key messages are:
  • Beef is SAFE.
  • This case was identified as part of USDA's enhanced surveillance program to test cattle for Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy.
  • USDA confirmed that this animal did not enter the human food chain.
    Other key messages and facts:
  • The USDA is still conducting their investigation as to the age and origin of the animal, but they have confirmed that a dairy animal in Central California which was delivered to a rendering facility was tested and confirmed to have "atypical" BSE. To reiterate, at no time was the animal ever at risk of entering the food chain.
  • "Atypical" BSE occasionally appears in animals, and is NOT linked to consuming contaminated feed. This is the third case of "atypical" BSE found in the United States over the last several years, with one case in Texas in 2005 and another in Alabama in 2006.
  • USDA tests over 40,000 high-risk cattle annually. According to the USDA only 29 cases of BSE were found worldwide in 2011, down from over 37,000 positive animals found in 1992 during the peak of concern, and prior to the feed ban on feeding bone meal to ruminant animals.
  • According to USDA, this detection should in no way affect the United States' BSE status as determined by the OIE (a worldwide body that determines risk of a country's livestock), and should NOT impact the ability for U.S. beef to enter international markets.
For additional information see: http://www.bseinfo.org/

DNR Conservation Officer Contact Information

If you experience livestock depredation you should call USDA-Wildlife Services in Grand Rapids at 218-327-3350 or a DNR Conservation Officer listed below.

If you take a wolf on your property that is threatening or attacking your livestock, you should contact the following DNR Conservation Officers listed below.

Region 1 (Northwest)
Captain Jim Dunn
218-308-2635
email

Region 2 (Northeast)
Captain Ken Soring
218-999-7809
email

LTC Rodmen Smith, Assistant Director
MN DNR Enforcement
651-259-5054
email