By Rep. Paul Anderson
Long days in session highlighted last week’s workload at the Capitol. All the major spending bills were passed and made ready for conference committee action with the Senate. Again, keep in mind that this is not a budget year, so the spending in these bills reflects adjustments to last year’s budget utilizing the surplus contained in state coffers. In the House plan, about a third of the $300 million surplus goes for tax relief and another third goes to roads and bridges.
The agriculture budget was increased by $250,000, with most of it going for a program working with farmers in the area of mental health. In these stressful times, it was important to adjust this area of spending. Currently, one mental health profession deals with issues all over the state, and this increased allocation will allow another person to be hired to work with farm folks, mainly in the northern part of the state.
Two weeks remain in the session, with the final day being May 21. Actually, the last day to actually pass legislation is the day before, May 20, as that final Monday is reserved for retiring speeches and other formalities.
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A joint informational hearing was held for the Agriculture and Environment and Natural Resources Committees last week. We heard testimony from the Office of the Legislative Auditor as they had recently released their evaluation report dealing with the Board of Animal Health’s oversight of deer and elk farms. As of April of this year, Minnesota had 398 registered herds, consisting of about 9,300 deer, elk, and other cervid species. In our area, Stearns and Douglas Counties each have several farms that raise the animals in captivity, while none exist in Pope County.
The concern is that deer and elk health is threatened by a disease called chronic wasting disease (CWD). Since 2002, CWD has been identified on eight Minnesota deer and elk farms, and also in wild deer in two Minnesota counties. The disease is always fatal, and the only accurate way to test for its presence is to examine brain tissue from dead animals.
The Board of Animal Health, which falls under the direction of the Department of Agriculture, has jurisdiction over the cervid farms, while the DNR has authority over animals that live in the wild. There have been concerns raised about the two agencies not working together well and not sharing information when outbreaks occur. The report from the Legislative Auditor recommended several changes in Board of Animal Health procedure, including updating its annual inventory report form which cervid farms must complete annually. In addition, the Board should clarify how producers need to verify their herds on an animal-by-animal basis. It was also recommended that the Board and DNR draft a memorandum of understanding outlining each agency’s responsibilities with respect to data sharing.
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It was only a few weeks ago that the ground was covered with a white blanket of snow and area lakes were still encased in solid ice. Today, the ice has either melted or been blown off, and farmers are busy playing catch-up with their spring planting. The ground conditions this year seem a bit different, at least on my farm. The low areas of fields are extremely slow in drying out as the frost is just now coming out of the ground. I worked one field two weeks ago but had to leave low spots, thinking they would be dried out by the next weekend. Surprisingly, they were just as wet when I came back a week later! A nice rain would even things out and get things growing.
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