By Rep. Paul Anderson
Gov. Dayton certainly created a great deal of publicity last week with his letter to the Minnesota Vikings concerning the possibility of stadium licenses for individual seats in the new stadium.
What was most interesting about the letter was the governor’s apparent surprise about the team possibly using the licenses to generate revenue to help cover their portion of construction costs. I was part of the working group that put the framework of the stadium bill together, and those stadium licenses were part of the discussion from the start and shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Dollar amounts were not mentioned in those negotiations, and it’s certainly my hope that if the team chooses to issue those licenses, which amount to a one-time surcharge on premium seat locations, they would be much more modestly priced than the figures being tossed around in the media.
One of the conferences I try to attend each year is the annual meeting of the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council. This year’s confab was held at the Minneapolis Convention Center Nov. 13 and the speakers on the agenda were once again outstanding. Dr. Michael Swanson, chief economist for Wells Fargo, gave his annual assessment of the nation’s economy from an agricultural perspective. He told those in attendance that when one is contemplating a purchase of high-priced land, the number of bushels that can be produced on that ground should be the prime driver in the decision. He said that certain improvements, such as irrigation or tile drainage, have not increased in price as much as land itself, and that a farmer may be better off spending money to improve the land he already owns rather than purchasing additional land. It all comes down to producing the most bushels of a commodity at the lowest possible cost.
Dr. Swanson discussed the possibility of American becoming self-sufficient in energy production. We are now producing 6.5 million barrels of oil a day, mainly because of a 15 percent increase in North Dakota. He talked about the price relationship between oil and natural gas, which should be at a ratio of 6:1 because a barrel of oil contains about six times more BTU’s than one unit of natural gas. Today, however, with a glut of natural gas on the market, that price ratio is not in balance.
In conclusion, Dr. Swanson said that high commodity prices incent production, especially in other countries that have more potential to improve farming practices and bring new land into production. There is a global response, he said, that will lead to increased production. He does see a brighter future for livestock producers, who have lately seen their margins compressed by the high price of corn.
Another speaker discussed the recently-defeated proposition in California, known as Prop 37, which would have required the labeling of genetically modified foods. Brandon Castillo, who works for a public relation firm that lobbied against the proposal, said his group focused on flaws in the legislation, which he said was “poorly drafted and written.” The bill contained numerous exemptions, such as food eaten away from home, and it would have made California an island in terms of packaging and labeling. Approximately 160 organizations were united in their opposition to the bill, and more than $40 million was spent to defeat it.
Proponents of the California food labeling bill tried to frame it as “your right to know.” However, according to Castillo, their real intent is an outright ban on genetically engineered food.
-30-