In this Edition
Capitol Corner- State
- MCPR Legislative Update
- Minnesota Legislature's 2024 Session Ends in Anger and Acrimony
Capitol Corner - Federal
- ARA STATE ASSOCIATIONS COMMITTEE
Industry Related News
- CHS Poised To Absorb Large Western Minnesota Cooperative: West Central Ag Services Has Signed A Non-binding Letter Of Intent To Join CHS
- Bayer Cuts 1,500 Jobs and Lowers 2024 Earnings Guidance as Q1 Sales Dip
- Key Discovery Made In Tar Spot Battle
- For Agriculture, the Artificial Intelligence Test Has Arrived
- The EPA Is Cracking Down on PFAS — But Not in Fertilizer
- Minnesota Corn releases First-ever Sustainability Report
Partner News/Announcements
- Reminder – CCA Registration and Exam Schedule
- Minnesota Department of Agriculture: New Conditions of Registration and Sale of Chlorpyrifos Products
- Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis – May 13 Agriculture Conditions Update
- Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST)
- AASA Inspecting Minnesota Retailers with Bulk Pesticides this Summer
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The past week has been a hectic week of hearings, conference committee meetings, long floor sessions, and a chaotic scramble at the end. The legislators worked through a rather full plate of policy issues, supplemental funding proposals, and capital investment requests.
Earlier in the session, MCPR, in a strong show of unity, joined forces with other Ag community organizations to successfully fend off a proposed $.99 per ton fertilizer fee increase.
The renewal of the Agricultural Fertilizer Research and Education Council (AFREC) and maintaining the funding for research and education were intensely debated throughout the Session. The Governor’s supplemental budget proposal recommended a 5-year renewal for the council. The Senate supported the council’s recommendation for a 10-year renewal, while the House proposed sunsetting the program and redirecting the funding to a private well drinking water account. The final conference committee position with AFREC extended for 5 years and expanded the membership to 15 members with MCPR losing a seat to accommodate four new members. New policy language was added to require AFREC to consider funding project to study the availability of nitrogen by manure type and livestock species based on management and manure management and fertilizer best management practices for areas where surface water or groundwater are vulnerable to nitrate losses, including the adjustment of practices based on vulnerability such as coarse textured soils, soils with shallow bedrock, and karst geology.
The agriculture policy section of the omnibus bill SF 4942 includes several updates to fertilizer definition consistent with the MDA recommendations. Similarly, the bill included several MDA proposed updates to the pesticide statutes that were necessary to bring Minnesota into alignment with federal policy requirements. The proposals to add an expanded list of nitrogen fertilizer definitions and impose additional requirements when MDA considers applications for emergency pesticide use were not included in the final conference committee report.
The Environment Omnibus bill (HF 3911) includes a sweeping set of policies as part of the Packaging Waste and Reduction Act. The policy establishes a statewide program conducted by a product stewardship organization, organized and funded by producers of packaging and paper products and overseen by the Pollution Control Agency, to collect, recycle, and reuse packaging and paper products. There were a few key exemptions for packing that contained substances regulated under FIRA and the Virus-Serum-Toxins Act, but other agricultural containers may be subject to the new regulatory structure. We anticipate hearing about opportunities for providing industry input and seeing additional guidance from MPCA and MDA in the coming months.
The session ended rather chaotically, with the Republicans engaging in long filibusters to delay action on the various bills. In the final moments before the legislature was required to adjourn, the DFL majority combined the various supplemental omnibus and the tax bill into a single bill that was passed by the House and Senate with debated suspended.
After nine bills are combined and passed amidst chaos, 2024 session is all over but the shouting
Minnesota’s legislative sessions have had some chaotic conclusions, but nothing quite like Sunday night’s final hour.
While the tax bill is quite often the final bill off the floor at the end of a session, the 2024 edition was something else entirely.
Shortly after 10 p.m. — with a midnight deadline looming for completing the Legislature’s business — the taxes conference committee amended into its final bill, HF5247, the language of eight other bills that had been tabled over the course of the week. Many were supplemental budget and policy bills from other areas.
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Minnesota Legislature's 2024 Session Ends in Anger and Acrimony
Republicans complained of being shut out of negotiations and shouting matches erupted on the floors as Democrats passed their final bills.
The Legislature's 2024 session ended in chaos late Sunday night, as Democrats loaded a tax bill with a panoply of proposals, turning it into a massive vessel of more than 1,400 pages with provisions involving higher education, energy, transportation and gun safety.
At 11 p.m., with an hour to go until the midnight deadline, House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, suspended debate and called for a vote on the mammoth bill. GOP legislators tried to stop her, shouting "tyranny" and "communism!"
"This is a horrible way to govern," Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, shouted. She was still fuming after the session and said she'd filed an ethics complaint against Hortman, alleging the speaker quashed legitimate motions.
Thirty minutes later with the House in recess, the same scene played out in the Senate. "My ears are still ringing," Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said at a news conference an hour after adjournment.
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TO: ARA STATE ASSOCIATIONS COMMITTEE
FROM: HUNTER CARPENTER, ARA
DATE: MAY 17, 2024
RE: ARA FARM BILL UPDATE
On May 17, House Agriculture Committee Chairman GT Thompson released Farm Bill base text.
The following ARA policy priorities are included in the House bill text:
- Crop Insurance Updates
- Technical Service Provider (TSP) reforms
- Language to ensure EPA OPP and State Lead Agencies have exclusive pesticide regulatory role
- Agricultural Labeling Uniformity Act language to reaffirm EPA’s risk-based role regarding pesticide regulation
- Plant Biostimulant definition
- Listing of potash and phosphate as critical minerals
- Ag research funding
ARA sent out a grassroots alert to its members asking them encourage House members to vote yes. You can view the alert and take action here.
Thank you for your time and consideration of this important effort.
Best,
Hunter Carpenter
Senior Director of Public Policy
Agricultural Retailers Association
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CHS Poised To Absorb Large Western Minnesota Cooperative: West Central Ag Services Has Signed A Non-binding Letter Of Intent To Join CHS
A proposed cooperative combination could bring Minnesota farmers better market access as global competition puts pressure on producers.
West Central Ag Services, based in Ulen, Minn., has agreed to join forces with Inver Grove Heights-based CHS, the nation's largest agricultural cooperative.
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Bayer Cuts 1,500 Jobs and Lowers 2024 Earnings Guidance as Q1 Sales Dip
Bayer released its first-quarter 2024 earnings on Tuesday announcing that it has reduced its headcount by approximately 1,500 jobs—mostly management positions—amid a slight decline in sales, while lowering its full-year earnings outlook.
“Approximately two-thirds of these were management jobs,” CEO Bill Anderson said in a Tuesday morning media call, referring to the workforce reductions which impacted its pharmaceuticals, crop science and consumer health divisions.
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Key Discovery Made In Tar Spot Battle
This breakthrough could speed up development of tolerance to tar spot.
Anyone born before 1960 likely knows what they were doing when Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon. His words, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” still echo across the universe. If you grow corn, someday you might remember when you first read about the news you are about to learn. In the fight against tar spot, it could prove to be a turning point in the journey toward improved genetic tolerance and better management strategies.
Recently, Bayer Crop Science announced that its researchers artificially inoculated tar spot in field test plots. Until now, no one had accomplished that feat. Why does it matter?
“By creating field conditions for tar spot to take place, as well as inoculating the field artificially, we now have a reliable opportunity to study the environment and genetic response to the presence of the disease,” says Christian Heredia, Bayer Crop Science market development manager. “We can rapidly identify and promote new corn hybrids with enhanced tar spot tolerance, as well as enable breeding strategies to deliver more genetic potential.”
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For Agriculture, the Artificial Intelligence Test Has Arrived
By its nature, technology is a rapidly moving category. Each few months it seems, some new kind of improvement or technological innovation is introduced into the world. And each gets talked about quite a bit, initially. Then, something new comes along and it inevitably becomes the new “it” item. And so on.
However, one recent technological innovation promises to eclipse all overs in terms of market buzz – artificial intelligence (AI). As described by Mark Kuehn, OEM Sales Manager for North America at Trimble: “To put it as simply as possible, AI allows computer systems to complete tasks that are normally performed by humans.”
Given this definition, AI could mean myriad operations — from performing cognitive tasks such as data analytics and forecasting to physical tasks such as spraying weeds or picking produce in crop fields.
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The EPA Is Cracking Down on PFAS — But Not in Fertilizer
Farmers spread treated human waste on their crops. It's full of forever chemicals.
On Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency designated two types of “forever chemicals” as hazardous substances under the federal Superfund law. The move will make it easier for the government to force the manufacturers of these chemicals, called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, to shoulder the costs of cleaning them out of the environment.
The EPA “will focus enforcement on parties who significantly contributed to the release of PFAS chemicals into the environment, including parties that have manufactured PFAS or used PFAS in the manufacturing process, federal facilities, and other industrial parties,” the agency explained in a press release. The designation, which will take effect in 60 days, comes on the heels of an EPA rule limiting the acceptable amount of the two main types of PFAS found in the United States, PFOS and PFOA, to just 4 parts per trillion.
Although the EPA’s new restrictions are groundbreaking, they only apply to a portion of the nation’s extensive PFAS contamination problem. That’s because drinking water isn’t the only way Americans are exposed to PFAS, and not all companies spreading PFAS into the environment deliberately added the chemicals to the products. In Texas, a group of farmers whose properties were contaminated with PFAS from fertilizer are claiming the manufacturer should have done more to warn buyers about the dangers of its products. The first-of-its-kind lawsuit illustrates how much more regulation will be needed to rid the environment — and Americans’ bodies — of forever chemicals.
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Minnesota Corn releases First-ever Sustainability Report
The report highlights Minnesota Corn's many years of investment in the People, Planet, and Profit factors that go into building a sustainable future for corn farming in the state.
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Partner News/
Announcements
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Reminder – CCA Registration and Exam Schedule
Exam Registration Dates
Register and pay for the exam(s) of your choice.
- June 19th to July 15th
- September 25th to October 21st
Available Exam Dates
Exams will be conducted during this time frame.
- July 24th to August 5th
- October 30th to November 11th
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Minnesota Department of Agriculture: New Conditions of Registration and Sale of Chlorpyrifos Products
Pesticide Dealers: The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) would like to remind all pesticide dealers that several chlorpyrifos products were granted conditional registration for use on food crops in the state of Minnesota in 2024. In an effort to protect Minnesota’s surface waters, every unit of the following products sold within Minnesota must be accompanied by a copy of the MDA’s Water Quality Best Management Practices (BMPs) for chlorpyrifos.
A copy of the BMPs can also be obtained from the MDA’s webpage
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Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis – May 13 Agriculture Conditions Update
May 13 Regional Economic Conditions webinar on agricultural conditions. Slides and video of the event are now available to view. You can read a summary of results here.
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Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST)
A team of over 100 soil scientists and agronomy professionals from across the nation have collaborated on developing a new web-based tool to enhance nutrient management. This team represents nearly 50 universities, the USDA, and several nonprofit organizations all driven to reduce nutrient losses from agricultural fields and, therefore, increase farmer profitability.
The Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST) provides an unbiased, science-based interpretation of soil-test phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) values for nutrient recommendations. This will be a huge advancement in soil testing for P and K application, utilizing data from across the United States to enhance nutrient management in increase nutrient use efficiency.
According to researchers, the first objective of developing this tool was to create a national database to “archive soil-test correlation and calibration research.” This ensures research information supporting crop fertilization recommendations will not be lost as scientists retire. The second objective of the program was to “provide a tool that anyone can use to review the research results relevant to their specific crops, soils, and geographic area to check their soil-test-based recommendations.”
This is an amazing advancement as soil fertility faculty worked independently state-to-state and sometimes even within the same state. The other benefit of this project is providing a consistent method of reporting and saving data, making it more applicable and usable for future projects.
For example, the data used to create this program allows for the development of response curves showing the optimal rate of nutrient application for increased crop yield while decreasing potential nutrient losses through surface water. This same data can be used to update state nutrient recommendations or show the “holes” in existing data to provide insight for future research needed.
The tool currently provides P and K soil-test values for critical needs. This will indicate to farmers and their advisors where there is no expected increase in yield from P or K application. In the future, the tool will be able to assist farmers in selecting the minimal fertilizer to be applied while producing the maximum crop yield and expand to other crop nutrients such as sulfur. The FRST tool is a great step forward to providing farmers with the tools they need while minimizing negative impacts on water quality from production agriculture.
If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to Andrea at arice@mo-ag.com or by calling 573.636.6130.
Andrea Rice, MACA Water Consultant
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AASA Inspecting Minnesota Retailers with Bulk Pesticides this Summer
NOTE: Ag retailers with stationary bulk pesticide storage tanks received a letter from AASA in early May, informing you of the inspection process; an AASA inspector will then call you to set up an appointment this summer for the inspection.
This summer the American Agronomic Stewardship Alliance (AASA) will be inspecting bulk pesticide facilities in Minnesota to help ag retailers assure compliance with the USEPA regulations governing bulk pesticide storage, containment, and repackaging. Bulk pesticide storage is defined as any stationary storage tank, over 500 gallons, which holds herbicides, insecticides, fungicides or other ag chemicals with a USEPA product registration number.
The AASA inspects these facilities on behalf of Bayer, BASF, Corteva, Syngenta, UPL, Winfield United, Helena and Teleos—these companies deliver pesticides into stationary bulk storage containers and want to ensure that the facilities they are shipping to comply with USEPA regulations for tank integrity, containment, transfer, and repackaging.
The AASA program is an industry stewardship program, it is not a government inspection.
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Minnesota Crop Production Retailers | P: 763.235.6466
www.mcpr-cca.org
1020 Innovation Lane, Mankato, MN 56001
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