Fertilizer research council seeks 10-year extension

A bill to keep the Agriculture Fertilizer Research and Education Council funded and in existence moved through the House Agriculture and Food Finance and Policy Division Tuesday with only a single dissenting vote.

HF47, sponsored by Rep. Paul Anderson (R-Starbuck), would fund the council for another 10 years by renewing fees on bulk fertilizer, soil amendment and plant amendment purchases. Those fees are set to expire June 30, 2019. It would also renew the council, set to expire June 30, 2020, an additional 10 years.

Rep. Paul Anderson

Under the farmer-led program, farms and other bulk purchasers currently pay a fertilizer tonnage fee of 40 cents. Those fees pay for fertilizer research, education, and technology transfer grants through the council. Department of Agriculture staff assist the council with administrative duties.

Describing successes, such as improved nitrogen application methods that reduce fertilizer use, Council Chair Grant Anderson said, “These dollars are well spent and well allocated.”

Fees for Anderson’s 6,000-acre farm account for less than 10 cents per acre, he said.

“I think I more than get that value back out of the research that is funded by the AFREC council,” Anderson said.

The council receives around $1.1 million per year in fees. According to Anderson, the number of grant proposals received far exceed the funds available to award.

Concerns over water quality propelled Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul) to offer the lone dissenting vote.

“I would feel completely comfortable extending it for 10 years if you just added water quality into your reason for the research and not just production,” Hansen said.

Anderson expressed comfort with adding language to address water quality, though Rep. Jeanne Poppe (DFL-Austin), the division chair, reminded members they were there to vote on the bill as presented.

The bill’s next stop is the House Ways and Means Committee. Its companion, SF635, is sponsored by Sen. Bill Weber (R-Luverne) and awaits action by the Senate Agriculture, Rural Development, and Housing Policy Committee.