Dear Neighbor,
We started out the new year with some very brisk weather. We have seen -30 and colder several times in the past few days. Despite having plenty of winter left, we are headed in right direction, the days are getting longer, and we still have the January thaw ahead of us.
Sadly, our community was touched by tragedy in the first days of the new year. Two young men were lost in a snowmobile accident. Please keep the Fulton and Justen families in your prayers as they and our entire community mourn the loss of Isaac, age 16, and Westin, age 18.
The Legislature will reconvene at the end of this month. We gavel-in Monday, Jan. 31 and will be in session until the third week of May. We will be working on right-sizing Minnesota’s incessant over-taxation problem that has created the $7 billion-plus projected budget surplus.
We will be looking hard at the March semi-annual budget forecast. The current two-year state budget will have been in operation for nine months by then. The March forecast will project what Minnesota’s economy will look like for the remaining 18 months of this budget cycle and beyond.
Minnesota’s economy continues to grow; however, the “so-called transient inflation” appears to be permanently imbedded in todays’ economy. Recently, President Biden commented that he is going to do something about the four major meat packers to lower the inflated cost of beef in the grocery store.
I am more than mildly familiar with the beef industry, and still have a few cows here on the farm. I am disappointed with the administration’s apparent shallow understanding of what is causing inflated meat and other food prices.
The President’s war on fossil fuel is the root the problem. That has caused major increases in the cost of critical inputs fundamental to producing meat and plant-based foods. Petroleum fuels the machines that plant and harvest. Fossil fuel is also a fundamental element in the production of fertilizer.
As we in agriculture anticipate the cost of fuel, fertilizer and other inputs for next year’s crop, the federal government needs to stop suppressing the production of domestic fossil fuel and support regaining energy independence. That will help bring down food costs in the grocery store and drive down inflation across the economy.
Sincerely,
Dale