View From The Cab

By David Tollefson, Columnist

While many of us are (or should be) concerned about spring cleaning, Paul Malchow, managing editor of THE LAND magazine, in the April 12 issue, covers a multitude of issues for us farmers and rural area residents. I’ll attempt to highlight a few of what I thought were pertinent issues as we move through spring of 2024:

Mankato had a bit of a brush with fame on April 3rd when U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack made an appearance at Minnesota State University Mankato. State highway patrolmen and men in suits with earpieces milled around the school’s student union as many of the region’s big ag players took in the event.

Vilsack announced the availability of $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2024 to invest in partner-driven conservation and climate solutions through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is accepting project proposals now through July 2 that will help farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners adopt and expand conservation strategies to enhance natural resources while tackling the climate crisis.

Vilsack spoke of the current trend of consolidation of farm income. One-third of U.S. farms are owned by investors.  Ten percent of the farms in the United States receive 85 percent of the country’s farm income. “1.5 million farms share 11 percent of farm income,” he said.

To help counter a steady loss in the number of farms in the United States, and bring new people into farming, Vilsack said it is vital to create multiple sources of farm income. This includes bio-product – especially those generated from ag waste.  More farms need to take advantage of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. Vilsack said less than 1 percent of U.S. farms currently take advantage of those cost savings. He also added that there needs to be more local food distribution instead of trucking commodities over long distances.

Unless changes are made, Vilsack said, the disappearance of family farms will continue to sap the nation’s rural economy: fewer schools, fewer hospitals and medical clinics, fewer stores and small businesses. “This is not just about farmers. It’s about all of us.”

After Vilsack’s presentation, he joined a panel of ag leaders from around the state to talk about the current condition of various commodities.  Joining Vilsack were:

Thom Peterson, MN Department of Ag Commissioner

Harold Wolle, National Corn Growers President (farmer from Minnesota)

Lori Stevermer, of National Pork Producers Council

Bob Worth, Minnesota Soybean Growers Association

Grant Bruetkreitz, MN farmer

Megan Roberts, from MSUM

Jes Westrock, Minnesota Turkey Growers Association

Lucas Sjostrom, MN dairy farmer and exec. Dir, of Minnesota Milk Producers Ass’n

Biofuels, the Farm Bill quagmire and California’s Proposition 12 were some of the top discussion points, and Vilsack made it clear he has little influence over Congress and ag legislation. He did, however, commiserate with the panel members and their issues. “The Supreme Court doesn’t understand the pork industry,” he told Stevermer. “The people of California have every right to raise pigs however they want, but it shouldn’t affect the entire country. Minnesota doesn’t tell California how to produce wine.”

Vilsack was also candid about the Farm Bill. “The only way to get the Farm Bill done is finding additional money,” he said.  Vilsack added that Farm Bill progress is being stalled by fiscal conservatives in Congress – including a large number who want to eliminate export assistance programs. “Eventually they have to get serious about this.”

No one on the panel brough up China, so Vilsack did. “There are nuances in dealing with China and we have to use caution,” he said, mentioning China’s land ownership in the United States, our country’s reliance on computer chips, and our need to have China as a customer.

“If we want to sell to China,” Vilsack stated, “we have to be less confrontational.”

No real new ground was broken during Vilsack’s visit, although the Secretary did comment that the recent discovery of HPAI (virus) in dairy cows was “sensationalized.”

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Today is another wet day around southern Pope County. What a change from about a week ago.

A lot of local farmers were well on the way to completing corn and sugar beet planting, and a few soybean fields were put in. But that all came to a halt on Friday, April 26. I would guess that many planters were running most of that night before the rain came, anticipating the wide-spread rain event. At my place I have measured in that rainy week, 3.12 inches, and as I write this it is sprinkling again.

What a crazy spring this has been. I began picking rocks in early March on   land that I own and operate, as well as doing custom rock picking. That is soon two months ago! As I did that early rock picking, through low ground and high ground, I never got enough mud on the tractor and rock picker tires to leave any dirt on the highways, county and township roads. It was dusty even in the low areas, which usually are wet and unable to drive through. But at this point, even on planted ground, there is water standing, as anyone driving through rural areas can see for themselves.

A year ago, my corn was planted on May 16 and my beans on May 20. We began field work on May 1. This year my corn was planted April 20-23.

Who knows when the major acres of soybeans will be planted this year. There is considerable corn left to plant too. So we “roll with the punches,” as they say.

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Please contact David Tollefson with thoughts or comments on this or future columns at: adtollef@hcinet.net