Dusting off the newspaper blog

During a period of time when getting information out quickly is very important, the Bonanza Valley Voice is dusting off a blog that hasn't seen regular use since 2015.

There's nothing urgent to post at the current time, but in the mean time some opinion may find its way here, and other random items for readers.

Below, I've got noteworthy news to post.

Representative Paul Anderson-Starbuck

The COVID-19 crisis has expanded financial harm (and certainly emotional harm) that workers and farmers in the agriculture community have endured in recent years.

Currently, the Minnesota State Legislature is crafting a relief bill for agriculture. It includes a provision for farmer-lender mediation if a farm owner is in financial crisis. This state-sanctioned mediation allows a farmer to come to an agreement with his or her lender regarding outstanding farm debt. If this legislation passes, the deadline for applications filed by August of this year would be December 1, 2020.

I am hopeful it will pass. It is badly needed.

(Video) Irrigation plot tour

Here's a video clip that goes with a story published in the August 27 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice newspaper:

Irrigation town hall meeting

Irrigation Town Hall Meeting Planned

A town hall meeting focused on irrigation and hosted by area legislators is scheduled for Alexandria on Wednesday, July 29.  It will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Glenwood State Bank building in Alexandria.

“This is an opportunity for irrigators to let us know how new water appropriation rules are impacting them,” said Rep. Paul Anderson (R-Starbuck).  “The DNR plays an important role in the permitting process for large volume water users, and they will also be in attendance.”

Other legislators who will be at the meeting include Rep. Mary Franson (R-Alexandria) and Rep. Denny McNamara (R- Hastings), who is currently serving as chair of the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee.

“This town hall meeting is a great opportunity for constituents to engage in dialog with DNR officials and lawmakers,” Franson said. “We’re looking for ways to make irrigation and well permitting policy more efficient and workable for area farmers.”

Legislation passed in the 2013 session changed how the DNR reviews applications and approves permits for new irrigation wells. “These changes have caused some confusion and time delays in the process,” said Anderson. “This meeting will give area farmers an opportunity to share their experiences in dealing with the permitting process and hopefully offer suggestions on how to make it better and more streamlined.”

The location of the meeting in Alexandria is the second floor community room of the Glenwood State Bank building at 2221 South Broadway St. in Alexandria.  It begins at 8:30 a.m. on July 29.

 “This is an important topic for our area,” Anderson added.  “The Bonanza Valley around Brooten and Belgrade is heavily dependent on irrigation to produce crops.  It’s also one of four pilot areas in the state where the DNR is conducting studies on water sustainability.”

June Dairy Month at Redhead Creamery

Shown is the Redhead Creamery cheese shop, with Lucas and Alise Sjostrom visiting with customers.

The Redhead Creamery is celebrating June Dairy Month with a “not your average book fair” on Tuesday, June 16 from 1 to 4 p.m.  This event includes Usborne Books, a reading corner and a petting farm.

The Redhead Creamery is also excited to host an Open House on Saturday, June 27 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Summer cheese shop hours are on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. all four days.

Here's a video clip from a stop I made in April during a tour for visitors to Redhead Creamery:

How to get to Redhead Creamery?

From Brooten, turn north onto County Highway 18 (Central Avenue North) and travel north on that road for 5.2 miles. Then turn right onto 310th Street (gravel) and take that for two miles. Then take the first left onto 463rd Avenue. The farm is the first driveway on the left 0.6 miles later.

31535 463rd Avenue, Brooten, MN 56316

www.redheadcreamery.com

info@redheadcreamery.com

Soil erosion

I found it important to share this blog post from Jim Van Der Pol, a writer and farmer from the Clara City area.

http://pasturesaplenty.blogspot.com/2015/05/fifty-years.html

I am not impressed

In 2014, Republicans made considerable hay out on the campaign trail in rural Minnesota complaining about the combination of environment and agriculture topics in a House Committee in 2013 by the DFL party. The DFL party made the change for the 2013 session after taking control of the Minnesota House in the 2012 elections.

Fast forward to this week, and the Republicans are doing the same thing the DFL party did in 2013: they combined environment bills and agriculture bills into one omnibus bill.

Boo! I don't know about you, but I am not a fan of hypocrites!

Read all the details here:
http://www.bluestemprairie.com/bluestemprairie/2015/05/mn-house-republicans-were-against-combining-agriculture-environment-before-they-were-for-it.html

(Video) Redhead Creamery

Here's Lucas Sjostrom giving a tour to customers and visitors at the Redhead Creamery on April 18 in rural Brooten:

Farming "small"

This was very intriguing!

http://civileats.com/2015/04/21/earn-a-good-living-without-a-tractor-a-market-gardener-tells-you-how/

A good story on the "Local Food" movement

http://wcfcourier.com/news/opinion/columnists/local-food-means-real-rural-development/article_62c32760-8764-5205-b56e-dba9fffbd230.html

Good reading on an agriculture topic

Check it out:
https://hewittfarmsinc.wordpress.com/2015/03/25/the-buffer-strip-controversy-debunked

And don't miss the "town hall" story in this week's Bonanza Valley Voice starting on page one.

Congressman Peterson statement on CFTC legislation

Opening Statement by Agriculture Committee Ranking Member Collin C. Peterson
Hearing to Review the 2015 Agenda for the Commodities Futures Trading Commission

--As Prepared for Delivery--

“Thank you Chairman Conaway. Good morning everyone and welcome Chairman Massad to the Agriculture Committee. This is the Chairman’s first appearance before the Committee but I’ve had the opportunity to meet with him and have been impressed by his commitment to implementing the new regulations called for under Dodd-Frank and being inclusive of all points of view throughout the process.

“The rulemaking process has maybe taken longer than some would like but, given the limited resources they’ve had to get these new rules in place, I think the CFTC has done a good job. I look forward to an update on the Commission’s continued rulemaking, I believe about 80 percent of the rules have been completed. I’ll also be interested in hearing from the Chairman on some of the market issues that have recently made headlines.

“As has been mentioned before, one of the Agriculture Committee’s top priorities for this year is to again pass legislation to reauthorize the CFTC. We passed a good, bipartisan bill last Congress that would protect farmers and ranchers who use the futures market to hedge against risk. I hope that we can build on that legislation and actually get something signed into law this year.

“With that, I thank the Chair and look forward to Chairman Massad’s testimony.”

Redhead Creamery announcement

Hello everyone! This is really neat! I am happy to report that the Redhead Creamery of rural Brooten has partnered with Micki's and L & L Family Foods in Belgrade as well as the Local Pantry in Brooten to sell their "ridiculously good cheese curds"!

Read more details on this announcement as well as other information on the Redhead Creamery on their color advertisement on page eight of this week's Bonanza Valley Voice.

Food Awareness Month

Minnesota Farm Bureau Commemorates Food Awareness Month

Minnesota Farm Bureau is celebrating February as Food Awareness Month. Food Awareness Month was created to bring awareness to all things food – from the farmers who grow and raise our food, to food safety and availability.

“Farm Bureau’s Food Awareness Month aims to help American consumers learn about the food they eat every day,” said TaLana Mathiowetz, Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF) Promotion & Education (P&E) Committee chair. “Minnesota farmers and ranchers take pride in ensuring safe food choices for Minnesota families.”

To mark the occasion, county Farm Bureaus throughout the state will be hosting events and working with food shelves to increase awareness of local food and hunger.

“Farmers are committed to providing safe and healthy food choices for all Americans. As Farm Bureau members, we want to talk with families about our shared goal of nutritious and affordable meals,” said Mathiowetz.

For more information on Food Awareness Month, visit fbmn.org/pages/food-awareness-month.

Minnesota Farm Bureau – Farmers ● Families ● Food is comprised of 78 local Farm Bureau associations across Minnesota. Members make their views known to political leaders, state government officials, special interest groups and the general public. Programs for young farmers and ranchers develop leadership skills and improve farm management. Promotion and Education Committee members work with programs such as Ag in the Classroom and safety education for children. Join Farm Bureau today and support efforts to serve as an advocate for rural Minnesota, www.fbmn.org.

Farmers

Agriculture announcement!

A glimpse of what will be a story on the Ag-Business page next week.

Dick Hagen

The Bonanza Valley Voice is thrilled to announce the addition of Dick Hagen of Oliva to our list of writers and contributors. Hagen is as knowledgeable and thoughtful as they come in the agriculture industry and is a current staff writer for The Land publication. He has graciously offered his services in helping add more agriculture content to our newspaper.

Coming in our Feb. 5 issue is an article by Hagen about a speech given by former area State Representative Al Juhnke of Willmar at the Jan. 9-10 Organic Farmer Conference in St. Cloud.

Thank you, Dick Hagen!!!

USDA Conservation Stewardship Program announcement

USDA Accepting Applications for Conservation Stewardship Program

$100 million Expected to Attract Enrollment of 7.7 Million Acres for Conservation

WAITE PARK, MINN, Jan. 28, 2015 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture will make available $100 million this year through the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). Completed applications must be received Feb. 27, 2015 to ensure they are considered for this year’s funding.   

“Stearns County currently has over 54,000 acres enrolled in CSP, bringing in over $7 million to local farmers and forest landowners. CSP is a way of providing an incentive for farmers, ranchers, and private forest managers who maintain a high level of conservation on their land and agree to adopt higher levels of stewardship,” said District Conservationist David Rose of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). “By focusing on multiple resource concerns, landowners are able to achieve a sustainable landscape and maintain or increase the productivity of their operation.”

Through CSP, participants take additional conservation steps to improve the resource conditions on their land, including soil, air and habitat quality, water quality and quantity, and energy conservation. 

Rose said CSP producers are conservation leaders, showing how science-based conservation and technological advancements can improve the environment and farming operations at the same time. 

The 2014 Farm Bill brought changes to CSP including an expanded conservation activity list that will offer participants greater options to meet their conservation needs and protect the natural resources on their land. These conservation activities, called enhancements, include cover crops, intensive rotational grazing and wildlife friendly fencing. 

  

As part of the CSP application process, applicants will work with NRCS field personnel to complete a resource inventory of their land, which will help determine the conservation performance for existing and new conservation activities. The applicant's conservation performance will be used to determine eligibility, ranking and payments.

A CSP self-screening checklist is available to help producers determine if the program is suitable for their operation. The checklist highlights basic information about CSP eligibility requirements, stewardship threshold requirements and payment types. To find out more about the CSP program contact the NRCS office in Waite Park at 320-251-7800 ext.3.

For more on technical and financial assistance available through conservation programs, visit www.nrcs.usda.gov/GetStarted or a local USDA service center.

Ag in the classroom

Here's video from January 9 at the elementary school. This was featured in a front-page story in the Jan. 15 issue of the Bonanza Valley Voice.

2014 Legislative session begins

Here's an article that didn't get published this week featuring the start of the 2015 Minnesota Legislative session. District 12B State Representative Paul Anderson returned a call to the Bonanza Valley Voice on Tuesday and offered a few responses on local topics.

Rep. Paul Anderson took his fourth oath of office to serve in the Minnesota House of Representatives Tuesday, Jan. 7 at noon in St. Paul at the State Capitol.

"Hopefully we can get some important work done this session with mixed power as it is," said Anderson.

"I want to see us figure out how to scale back some taxes while increasing nursing home funding and transportation funding. There's a very real crisis going on with rural nursing homes. The need is great."

In terms of Governor Dayton's recently-announced transportation package, Anderson said, "I'm not really keen on what Dayton put out. The 12-cent a gallon hike on gasoline at the wholesale level may not seem like much at current gas prices, but if gas goes back up again inflation will make that hurt a whole lot worse."

Anderson stated his willingness to consider Dayton's focus on education and support ideas that make sense for rural Minnesota and school districts in District 12B.

As a farmer and a legislator, Anderson will serve as chair of the House Agriculture Policy Committee this biennium. He also will be on Ag. Finance, Education Finance, and the Property Taxes & Local Government Finance Division.

"In terms of agriculture policy, we'll hold hearings on the issues out there. I know water issues are a concern right now for our part of the state. The Department of Natural Resources has put a big spotlight on water usage, and I want to work with them to make sure they aren't setting up a system that will adversely hurt our farmers. I want to see more evidence of what the DNR is saying that farmers are doing wrong. I'm not sold on what they're trying to do."

By law, the DNR has been directed to study water usage and irrigation practices of farmers. In 2012, White Bear Lake sued the DNR over the lake's diminished water level and blamed it on agency approval that allowed surrounding communities to draw more water from an aquifer located beneath the lake.

"It's certainly not a bad thing to look at water issues, but the actions taken by the DNR have to be reasonable. We can't just shut down irrigation or place an unfair level of fees on farmers," added Anderson.

Anderson’s post as an agriculture chair will allow him to continue working on issues that impact Greater Minnesota, something he has made a priority his first three terms in the House.

“Our top job this session will be to set a new two-year budget and I look forward to that challenge,” Anderson said. “It always is a good feeling to start a session fresh with goals and ideas of what you would like to accomplish. For me, serving as an ag. chair will really put me in position to make decisions that will help our area.”

Anderson welcomes input from local citizens throughout the year, particularly during the legislative session. He can be reached by emailing rep.paul.anderson@house.mn, or by calling (651) 296-4317.

“One thing I pride myself on as a legislator is being in touch with the people I represent,” Anderson said. “The feedback I receive from constituents helps me continue doing my best to voice their thoughts, ideas and concerns at the Capitol.”

A very intriguing column

Check it out:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/opinion/why-are-some-cultures-more-individualistic-than-others.html?ref=opinion&_r=0