WORTHINGTON -- Export markets, livestock production and expansion, bovine tuberculosis and transportation were among the issues discussed at a listening session Wednesday afternoon with Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Gene Hugoson.
While Hugoson said the purpose of the meeting was to gather input from farmers and agribusiness people in the area, he also spent time talking about top issues in Minnesota agriculture.
On the minds of several in the room was the status of the expected split-state designation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture regarding bovine TB.
Until the bovine TB designation is granted, Nobles County Farmers Union president Tim Henning said the region's cattle producers are suffering.
Hugoson said the latest information he has received targets Oct. 12 as the date split-state status would be granted. However, the USDA has requested that in exchange for the designation, the state must test another 150,000 head of cattle, from all across the state. The Minnesota Board of Animal Health already tested 150,000 head following the TB downgrade in the state -- testing that was done with federal dollars. This second round of testing, which would need to be done in 2009, will not be paid for by the USDA.
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"It would cost the state about $1 million," said Hugoson. "We don't know where that money is going to come from."
He told the nearly 20 people in attendance that the state will hold their "feet to the fire as much as we can," so that statewide testing would not have to be done a second time.
Merri Post of Chandler raised an issue important to her family's dairy farm -- accessible markets for the milk produced on dairies across southwest Minnesota. She said with increased numbers of cows and milk production, the need for a local processor is evident.
Hugoson said after years of declining dairy farms in the state, milk production has rebounded to the point that some are exporting their product to Wisconsin for processing. He mentioned the proposed expansion of a processing facility in Litchfield and talk of new plants being constructed. Unfortunately, most of those ideas are slated for the dairy production belt from St. Cloud to Rochester.
Another dairy producer in the room, Nobles County Farm Bureau president Dean Christopherson, cited concerns about proposed regulations that may prevent him from spreading manure on cropland with a 4 percent slope or greater. He said the straw and manure mix he applies on his land does much to hold in moisture on the slopes and does not want to see legislation enacted.
"Farmers have got to be active about state government," responded Hugoson, adding that information such as that is needed for political leaders to make informed decisions.
Linden Olson, a rural Worthington hog producer, asked if there was any new information regarding the immigration issue and employment at processing facilities. With the nation facing an economic crisis, and with a presidential election just weeks away, Hugoson said the hot-button issue has been pushed back.
"The reality is, without a type of guest worker program, agriculture is going to be sunk," Hugoson said. "Something has to be available, and government needs to address that as well."
