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Minnesota Farm Bureau delegates in DC discuss key issues

Minnesota Farm Bureau delegates are in Washington DC this week to discuss issues important to the state. Fourteen members, including Loren Molenaar of Raymond, spent time with Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken while also meeting with six of the eight representative offices. Molenaar says certainty with the new Farm Bill is needed, “We just went through a rigorous process of getting this five year Farm Bill passed.  Now there’s talk of opening it back up for budget reasons.”  According to Molenaar, “Just as farmers are getting done signing up for this new program and getting going with it.”

The Minnesota delegation also took their concerns about the endangered species act to DC. Molenaar tells Brownfield reform is needed now that wolves are back on the endangered species list. “We have lots of members up in northern Minnesota who raise cattle and they struggle every day with wolves.  They’re predators of cattle and calves, and there’s not a whole lot they (producers) can do about it.”

Wolves have reverted back to federal protection status in the Great Lakes region under the Endangered Species Act following a federal judge’s decision in December 2014.