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December 12, 2008

Farm news disappointing at forum

By Mark Fischenich

NORTH MANKATO — The farmers and ag industry officials had a tasty-looking lunch at the 26th annual Rural Legislative Forum in North Mankato Friday, and then faced some potentially serious indigestion when area lawmakers talked about the state budget shortfall.

“It’s dismal and getting worse,” said Rep. Tony Cornish, R-Vernon Center, of the projected $5.3 billion gap between spending and revenue. “... I have no doubt that counties and cities are going to be hit.”

“The deficit is going to be worse in February than the forecast says it is now,” said Rep. Kathy Brynaert, DFL-Mankato. “That’s an absolute certainty.”

“We will have significant cuts across all sectors of the government,” said Sen. Kathy Sheran, DFL-Mankato. “... Taxes will be discussed. Fees will be discussed. Surcharges will be discussed.”

“We were told to probably cancel our summer plans,” said Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont.

And Rep.-elect Paul Torkelson, R-St. James, noted that he has never held elected office of any kind and doesn’t become a state lawmaker until Jan. 6 when the Legislature convenes.

“I’m not yet sworn in, so I accept no responsibility whatsoever,” Torkelson said.

A farmer, Torkelson got a good laugh, but it was one of few humorous moments as the lawmakers previewed the difficult legislative session in front of them.

Because federal farm policy has a much more direct impact on the finances of farmers than state government, there wasn’t much talk of how budget reductions at the state Capitol might impact farm programs. But the audience expressed concerns about growth in fees, fuel taxes and local property taxes.

And there was a fair amount of discussion about how efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and proposals to boost renewable energy could impact agriculture in Minnesota.

“Our green economy is going to get more of our green dollars,” one audience member said, predicting higher fuel prices, which will result in higher trucking costs and increasing costs for food.

Torkelson favors a cautious approach at the state level in attempting to curtail carbon emissions believed responsible for global climate change, saying Minnesota’s efforts will have a minimal impact on a worldwide problem while making the state a more expensive place to do business.

Sheran argued that Minnesota should get a head start on finding reasonable solutions to a problem that every state and nation will eventually need to deal with.

“We can’t keep pushing it off and say we’re going to wait until the world solves the problem,” Sheran said.

Kevin Paap, a Blue Earth County farmer and president of the state Farm Bureau, said he believes agricultural groups should be actively involved in discussions at the Capitol because greenhouse gas regulations are inevitable.

“We’d rather be at the table, rather than not at the table or locked out of the room,” Paap told the lawmakers.

Several farmers wondered if the state might be able to increase the use of ethanol by promoting installation of blender pumps at filling stations. The pumps allow the owners of certain vehicles to select the mix of ethanol they want to put into their tanks.

“It’s something we’re looking at,” Rosen said.

Then she mentioned that reimbursing stations for some of the costs of switching to a blender pump would cost money. In 2009, Rosen said, that makes the prospects very questionable.

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