By Rep. Paul Anderson
I met with officials of the University of Minnesota last week to hear about their plans for a major expansion in agricultural research at the university. The concept is called FAARM, which stands for the Future of Advanced Agricultural Research in Minnesota. The vision calls for a public-private partnership between the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Science (CFANS) at the "U" and Riverland Community College in Austin.
This project would be a first-of-its-kind advanced ag and food systems research and innovation complex. It would be located in a centralized location for applied scientific research and hands-on learning. Through its relationship with the college in Austin, the complex would provide educational offerings for students of all ages, from K-12 to post-secondary to undergrad and graduate degrees. It would also provide outreach education to the public.
It's an ambitious plan, one that combines funding from private sources, along with state bonding money and operating funds from the University. Since agriculture and its related industries are the largest single segment of our state's economy, providing a $112 billion impact, it's important that Minnesota remain a leader in research as the industry faces challenges in sustainably feeding a growing world population.
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With the first House deadline of the session approaching this Friday, committees are working extra hours as they attempt to hear as many bills as possible. Except for taxes, legislation not heard in one body by the end of the week is effectively dead for the session. One of the bills we heard last week pertained to permanent funding for the state's Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD's). In the past, their operating source has been the Clean Water Fund, but it was an appropriation that had to go through the political process and be renewed every two years.
SWCD's have elected board members but, unlike watershed districts, they do not have levy authority. They have long asked for stable, consistent funding for their on-going projects. I support the work done by our local SWCDs and am in favor of this dedicated source of state funding to go along with the revenue they receive from their respective counties.
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The Minnesota House still has not passed legislation that would replenish the state's Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. The deadline was March 15 in order to stop rate increases from being send out to all businesses in the state. House Republicans tried on two occasions to suspend the rules and bring up the legislation already passed in the Senate that would have stopped those rate increases. But, each time, the majority refused to take up the measure, saying they would do so only if legislation providing bonuses to front line workers was also included.
So now we are at an impasse. The frontline workers bill has ballooned from the originally agreed upon total of $250 million to $1 billion, and the outlook for either of these bills, if they remain tied together, is questionable.
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The year ahead contains many challenges for farmers, as they face huge cost increases for the inputs used to grow crops. We are all experiencing sticker shock when filling our tanks, and seeing diesel prices even higher than gas! This country runs on diesel fuel, and with prices above $5 a gallon, that makes everything we purchase cost more because it's all brought here in trucks or trains.
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