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State Representative Paul Anderson
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4317
For more information contact: House GOP Communications 651-296-5520
GUEST COLUMN
It's Dairy Month in Minnesota
By State Rep. Paul Anderson
Did you know that Minnesota’s diary industry, both production and processing, employs approximately 75,000? That’s more jobs than 3M, Medtronic, and the former Northwest Airlines combined. So during June, Dairy Month, we say thanks once again to those involved in the industry for a job very well done.
Some other facts pertaining to the folks who produce that wonderfully refreshing liquid called milk include: The average U.S. dairy herd is 135 cows. And the “average” cow produces nearly seven gallons of milk per day. And for those of us who love butter on our potatoes and sweet corn, it takes nine pounds of milk to produce one pound of butter.
Milk prices for producers are not good, in fact they are right around or even below the cost of production. With the average price of milk in the store being in the neighborhood of $3 per gallon, the farmers’ share of that is a bit less than $1.
According to the 2007 Census of Agriculture, Stearns County leads the state with 825 dairy farms and nearly 69,000 cows. Kandiyohi County has 82 farms that produce milk and 6,600 cows, while Pope County has 68 dairy operations and just over 5,100 cows.
As for legislative news, here are some brief highlights of the recently concluded legislative session. If you would like more information on any of these bills, just contact me for more details.
Included in the omnibus agriculture bill is a requirement that the Dept. of Ag. make it a goal to issue or deny environmental and resource management permits within 150 days. The bill also considers horses raised for riding, driving, farm or ranch work, competition, racing, recreation, sale, or for breeding as livestock for the purposes of financial transactions and collateral. Another provision of the bill requires banks to extend credit to feed mills for 45 days at the beginning of the mediation process.
As a result of legislation passed in 2010, Minnesota will become part of an interstate operation for transferring youth who are part of the corrections system. The new law, effective Aug. 1, adopts the revised Interstate Compact for Juveniles, which is the only legally authorized method available to the state to transfer juvenile delinquents and return runaways across state lines so they can be properly placed. Our state was one of eight states that had yet to adopt the compact.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that will allow corporations to spend money either for or against political candidates, a new law was passed in Minnesota that requires better disclosure of political expenditures. It took effect last month.
Grants to counties for voting equipment are part of a new law. Options to replace equipment such as optical scan machines are updated. Grants totaling over $2 million from the HAVA account are included in the law to help counties with the cost of these machines.
The 2008 community-based wind energy development (C-BED) laws have been modified in an attempt to make them more clear. Current law requires that 51 percent of those who benefit from a C-BED project must come from the service area or be a Minnesota-based company. The new law, which went into effect May 18, gives clarification as to whom those beneficiaries can be. They could be landowners, manufacturers or construction workers, and the banks that finance these projects.
And, nearly $23 million worth of LCCMR environmental projects were approved during this year’s session. These state lottery proceeds have been used since 1988 to protect, preserve, conserve and enhance the state’s natural resources.
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Rep. Anderson encourages constituents to contact his office with input regarding any state legislative issue. He can be reached on the web at www.house.mn/13A and via email at rep.paul.anderson@house.mn. To contact Anderson by phone, call (651) 296-4317. Mail can be sent to Rep. Paul Anderson, 239 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, Minnesota 55155.
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