State soil in omnibus ag bill

Minnesota could soon have an official state soil.

Included in the conference committee report for the omnibus agriculture bill is a Senate provision to designate Lester soil as the state soil. The purpose is to help the University of Minnesota celebrate the 100th anniversary of the soil science program and in recognition of the 40-year-old Minnesota Association of Professional Soil Scientists in 2013. Also, a Smithsonian soil exhibit is expected to come to Minnesota in 2013, according to Rep. Paul Anderson (R-Starbuck), who sponsors the report with Sen. Doug Magnus (R-Slayton).

The House adopted the conference committee report 111-20 April 24 and sent it to the Senate where it passed 66-0 on

April 25. It now awaits action by the governor.

A large section of HF2398*/ SF2061 may help consumers choose hardy stock for Minnesota’s extreme growing conditions by requiring new labeling.

It would define “non-hardy” as a plant that cannot be expected to survive or produce flowers in certain growing zones and would require non-hardy nursery stock to be labeled as such.

Similarly, nursery stock collected from the wild must be labeled as such when sold; unless it has been grown in nursery rows for at least two years. Additionally, vegetable and flower seed packets could list the number of seeds in the packet, instead of the net weight.

The Department of Agriculture’s nursery and plant inspection and enforcement powers would expand to include the department’s Wholesale Produce Dealer, Grain Buyer/Grain Storage, and Warehouse oversight responsibilities. The department could enter sites, inspect and sample products, issue commissioner’s orders, and pursue administrative and criminal penalties for failure to follow the laws.

Farmers who grow feed for their own use and commercially would no longer be charged a fee on the portion they use themselves, according to the report. The provision would be retroactive from Jan. 1, 2012.

Other provisions would:

• establish a pilot microloan fund for those of a protected class who want to grow specialty crops or own livestock for production of products to market;

• establish a Dairy Research, Teaching and Consumer Education Authority; and

• enable the remaining portion of a 2010 Lutheran Social Services appropriation for disaster and mental health relief in rural communities to be expanded to more counties until spent.

The proposed legislation is also referred to as the food safety bill because it moves enforcement of food safety regulations into a new chapter of law and grants authority for the Department of Agriculture to issue civil penalties, in addition to criminal or administrative penalties.