Minnesota Legislature
Five-year organic task force extension receives division support
A bill seeking to extend the Organic Advisory Task Force found support in the House Agriculture and Food Finance and Policy Division Tuesday.
HF1267, sponsored by Rep. Todd Lippert (DFL-Northfield), would extend the task force, which is currently set to expire at the end of June, for five years.
The bill was referred to the House Ways and Means Committee. There is no Senate companion.
The task force provides advice to the Department of Agriculture and the University of Minnesota on organic agriculture policies and programs.
Maintaining it is vital to the industry, according to Bruce Miller, membership and outreach director for the Minnesota Farmers Union.
“Task force members offer a tremendous amount of experience, expertise and talents,” Miller said. “… We need to make sure that community and that sector continues to thrive.”
The state was an early adopter of organic agriculture, according to Miller, and currently ranks between fifth and seventh in the nation for organic production.
Minnesota is the top organic producer nationally for crops such as green peas, sugar beets and sweet corn, ninth in the nation for certified organic farms, and eighth for organic milk production.
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