In this Edition
Save the Dates
- MCPR Annual Golf Outing - August 7th, 2024
- CPM Short Course and MCPR Trade Show - December 10-12, 2024
Capitol Corner- State
- Legislative Activity the week of 4/15 to 4/19
- The Senate Bill Renews AFREC and Extends the Program for 10 Years
Capitol Corner - Federal
- Senators Continue To Urge Biden Administration To Prioritize E-15
- EPA Publishes Update on Herbicide Strategy Progress (Released on April 16, 2024)
Industry Related News
- Crop Protection Sector Capitalizes on Technology, Biorational Innovations
- Goodbye, El Niño. Hello, La Niña? The Big Transition to La Niña is Already Underway
- McKinsey: U.S. Sustainable Farming Outlook Positive, But Operational and Financial Support Still Key Barriers to Adoption
- USDA Census Highlights Conservation Progress: Ag Water Stewardship: Slight Increase Seen in Intensive Tillage Practices
- Fertilizer Research Funding in Minnesota Could Run Dry in June
- Committee OKs Agriculture Bill Funding Nitrate Treatment, Allowing Fertilizer Research Council to Sunset
Partner News/Announcements
- 4R Nutrient Stewardship Certification Program Celebrates a Decade of Commitment to Ohio’s Water Quality
- Help is Available for Minnesota Producers Facing Times of Stress
- American Agriculture at Risk: An Open Letter from Bayer on Glyphosate
- Field School for Ag Professionals registration is open
- Join AgriGrowth's Second Virtual Capitol Conversation on April 24th!
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MCPR Annual Golf Outing - August 7th, 2024
The 2024 MCPR Annual Golf outing will be held Wednesday, August 7th at The Wilds Golf Club, located in Prior Lake, MN.
Registration and lunch at the The Wilds Golf Club will begin at 10 AM. After lunch the shot gun start will take place at 11 AM. Dinner and awards will conclude the days event.
More information and registration information will be available soon! Keep an eye on your inbox.
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CPM Short Course and MCPR Trade Show - December 10-12, 2024
MCPR staff, Board of Directors and the University of Minnesota are already planning the 2024 CPM Short Course and MCPR Trade Show, that will be held December 10-12, 2024 at the Minneapolis Hilton hotel.
Be sure to mark your calendars!
Further information regarding programming and registration will hit your inbox late summer/early fall.
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Legislative Activity the week of 4/15 to 4/19
The week of April 15 to 19 was busy with the legislature considering the various omnibus funding bills.
The Ag Community organizations, in a display of strong unity, have been steadfast in their support for a clean renewal of AFREC. The current versions of the bills, a result of our collective efforts, do not contain an increase in fertilizer fees. The bills contain investments in various efforts to promote soil health and clean water, as well as address nitrates in SE Minnesota. The bills take different approaches and funding levels, which will need to be hammered out in the conference committees.
One issue that could have posed a significant challenge was a provision in the House Environment bill that would ban neonicotinoid pesticides on soybeans (unless determined that use would improve yield and not have an unreasonable adverse effect on the environment). However, thanks to the proactive advocacy of the Minnesota Soybean Growers, that provision was successfully removed. Check out their update here: MSGA meets with lawmakers, protects seed treatment use. (Posted April 17).
House Ag Committee
The bill would extend the AFREC program for one year and then end it. The $.40 per ton fertilizer fees would then be redirected to the private well drinking-water assistance account. Rep Anderson (R) proposed an amendment for a clear 5-year reauthorization of AFREC. The amendment failed on a 5-8 roll call vote, with the republicans voting for the clean reauthorization and the democrats voting against it.
Several amendments were considered. The bill was passed on a split vote along party lines and referred to the Ways and Means Committee.
House Environment Committee
The House Environment Omnibus bill was amended and passed by the committee on Wednesday. It was referred to the Ways and Means Committee. Substantial testimony in opposition to the bill came from a wide spectrum of impacted industries and advocacy organizations.
Senate Ag Committee
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The Senate Bill Renews AFREC and Extends the Program for 10 Years
The Senate bill enjoyed positive bipartisan support, and Committee Chair Senator Putnam was gracious in discussing how the omnibus bill was a collective effort and included several Republican bills. The Senate Ag Omnibus bill was amended and passed by the committee on Wednesday. It was referred to the Finance Committee and heard on Friday, April 19. During the Finance Committee, Senators Frentz and Putnam both express strong support for renewing AFREC with the proposed 10-year extension.
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Senators Continue To Urge Biden Administration To Prioritize E-15
A member of the U.S. Senate Ag Committee says expanding the use of E-15 sends important signals to consumers and the energy industry.
Sherrod Brown of Ohio is part of a bipartisan group of Senators who recently sent a letter urging President Biden to permit the summertime sale of the fuel. “I want to see us enable the year-round nationwide sale of ethanol blends higher than 10%,” he says. “It will lower fuel prices, it supports farmers, it expands markets, and it really does provide price stability for consumers.”
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EPA Publishes Update on Herbicide Strategy Progress (Released on April 16, 2024)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is releasing an update to its draft Herbicide Strategy, which is part of the Agency’s plan to improve how it meets its Endangered Species Act (ESA) obligations. The purpose of this update is to describe some improvements that EPA plans to make as it continues finalizing the strategy to increase flexibility and improve ease of implementation while still protecting federally listed species. The Agency expects to publish the final strategy in August 2024.
The draft strategy, which EPA released for public comments in July 2023, describes whether, how much, and where mitigations may be needed to protect listed species from agricultural uses of conventional herbicides. The goal is for EPA to use the strategy to proactively determine mitigations for registration and registration review actions for herbicides even before EPA, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) formally complete the lengthy ESA determination on whether an herbicide has effects on a listed species. By adopting these early mitigations, EPA can begin protecting listed species while FWS and NMFS are making their ESA determinations.
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Crop Protection Sector Capitalizes on Technology, Biorational Innovations
Companies in the crop protection sector are working through distribution and inventory challenges exacerbated by higher interest rates, supply chain issues, and regulatory challenges, which are unlikely to ease in the next 12 to 18 months. However, technology advancements supported largely by AI, coupled with the growing adoption and proven efficacy of biologicals and biorationals, are paving a path forward in a dynamic marketplace.
Rob Schrick, N.A. Strategic Business Lead for Bayer U.S. – Crop Science, said the company started planning last year to assure strategic inventory stocks were optimized for 2024.
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Goodbye, El Niño. Hello, La Niña? The Big Transition to La Niña is Already Underway
The lingering effects of El Niño are still being felt in the U.S. The deluge of rains that fell across the mid-south, southeast and eastern U.S. are a reminder of that.
However, one agricultural meteorologist says as El Niño fades, La Niña is already knocking at the door, and it could bring dryness to the southern U.S. The biggest question is now timing.
Just last fall, 40% of the lower 48 states were experiencing some form of drought. Today, that number is cut in half thanks to the impacts of El Niño.
“I feel like the transition to La Niña is already underway,” says Brad Rippey, USDA Meteorologist. “The thing about that is that the impacts often are not felt for many months.”
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McKinsey: U.S. Sustainable Farming Outlook Positive, But Operational and Financial Support Still Key Barriers to Adoption
New research released by McKinsey & Company (McKinsey) reveals that while a vast majority (90 percent) of US farmers have an understanding of sustainable farming, the uptake of practices remains low. Even where farmers are adopting sustainable practices, they are only implementing them on a small share of their acreage (typically less than 30 percent).
McKinsey’s 2024 U.S. Farmer’s Survey, which gathers perspectives from nearly 500 US farmers , outlines a positive outlook for the future of sustainable farming, with farmers already showing to be willing, but major barriers to adoption still remain, namely obtaining a market premium for sustainably grown crops and implementation difficulties.
The report also finds that adoption of practices is correlated with perceived return on investment (ROI), and practices with the highest perceived ROI, such as applying fertilizer based on soil sampling, have the highest rates of adoption. Although farmers have position perceptions of long-term benefits of many sustainable practices, they still expect costs to remain 1 to 3 percent higher after more than five years.
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USDA Census Highlights Conservation Progress: Ag Water Stewardship: Slight Increase Seen in Intensive Tillage Practices
The 2022 Census of Agriculture was published in February. Published every five years, the census provides an in-depth look at farm production, economics, demographics and practices. For most information categories, methods have been largely unchanged, allowing for the evaluation of trends over the last quarter-century.
Not surprisingly, the 2022 census found fewer Minnesota farms in 2022, at 65,531. For comparison, the 2017 census reported 68,822, while the 1997 census reported 78,755. Interestingly, the number of farmers is up in 2022, at 114,868, compared with 111,760 in 2017.
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Fertilizer Research Funding in Minnesota Could Run Dry in June
The fertilizer tonnage fee (40 cents of every ton of fertilizer) that goes to fund the Agricultural Fertilizer Research and Education Council in Minnesota is slated to end on June 30 of this year.
The Agricultural Fertilizer Research and Education Council has funded 19 research projects for $1,263,694 in the past year, but its current funding structure is set to expire this summer.
Since 2008, funded research through the Agricultural Fertilizer Research and Education Council has helped raise public awareness on everything that farmers can do to help the environment and save on fertilizer costs.
Jeff Kosek is a director of the Northharvest Bean Growers Association and one of 12 members of the Agricultural Fertilizer Research and Education Council. Kosek, along with his wife and son, raise around 3,800 acres of corn, soybeans and edible beans, as well as about 200 head of cattle.
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Committee OKs Agriculture Bill Funding Nitrate Treatment, Allowing Fertilizer Research Council to Sunset
In the interim, the Environmental Protection Agency directed the state to address nitrate contamination often connected to fertilizer use.
Members approved the bill, as amended, on a split-voice vote Thursday and referred it to the House Ways and Means Committee.
… Before the vote, Vang successfully amended the bill to remove two controversial items. As a result, interest will continue to build up the grain indemnity fund that was created last year, and school boards can allow waterfowl hatching programs.
Republicans, however, took issue with a remaining provision that would end funding for the Agricultural Fertilizer Research and Education Council. A 40-cent per ton fee on agricultural fertilizer raising about $1.3 million per year used to fund the council would instead go to a private well drinking water assistance program, beginning in the next biennium.
Rep. Paul Anderson (R-Starbuck) called the council a farmer-funded program that provides resources and education that can help reduce fertilizer use, adding it seems counterproductive to end the program when it could benefit water quality.
Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul) said AFREC has always been about improving production, not water quality.
Related Fact Sheets:
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Partner News/
Announcements
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4R Nutrient Stewardship Certification Program Celebrates a Decade of Commitment to Ohio’s Water Quality
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Help is Available for Minnesota Producers Facing Times of Stress
MDA offers free, confidential tools to navigate farm challenge
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American Agriculture at Risk: An Open Letter from Bayer on Glyphosate
The national battle over the future availability of glyphosate is reaching a critical stage. Today, Bayer issued the following open letter on glyphosate that ran in Politico, the Washington Post, the St. Louis Dispatch, the Jefferson City News Tribune and the Des Moines Register. The letter is also posted on the Bayer // United States web page at:
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Field School for Ag Professionals registration is open
The 2024 Field School for Ag Professionals will be held July 30 and 31 at the University of Minnesota Agriculture Experiment Station in St. Paul.
This two-day event is the premier summer training opportunity that combines hands-on, interactive training with real world field scenarios.
The first day of the Field School program focuses on core principles in agronomy, entomology, weed and soil sciences to build a strong foundation of skills and knowledge. The second day builds on this foundation with timely, cutting-edge topics that participants can select.
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Join AgriGrowth's Second Virtual Capitol Conversation on April 24th!
The second Capitol Conversation Policy Update is fast approaching next week. Register today! These interactive Conversations are a great way to catch up on the latest from St. Paul over your lunch hour.
Pre-registration is required! A Zoom link will be delivered to your inbox after registration.
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Does your organization or company have news or a press release that you would like to share with the MCPR’s membership? If so, please contact MCPR - lee@mcpr-cca.org.
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Minnesota Crop Production Retailers | P: 763.235.6466
www.mcpr-cca.org
601 Carlson Parkway, Ste 450, Minnetonka, MN 55305
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