In Minnesota Public Radio's story Michael Bloomberg to visit Minnesota Wednesday, Brian Bakst reports:
Michael Bloomberg is making his first Minnesota appearance as a presidential candidate with a stop at a soybean farm Wednesday.
Bloomberg has been airing TV ads in heavy rotation since his late entry into the Democratic nomination contest. The billionaire businessman and former New York City mayor has concentrated on states that will vote on "Super Tuesday" in the first week in March.
His campaign says he'll visit a farm in Wells, west of Albert Lea. He plans to hold a roundtable and discuss his economic agenda for rural communities. . . .
The Minnesota Soybean Growers Association had more about the roundtable in a blog post on its website (which serves as a portal for the state soybean checkoff funded Minnesota Soybean Research and Promotion Council and the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association).
When we first read the blog post, this was the copy in the post, preserved at the Blog4President website here:
Minnesota Soybean Growers Association (MSGA) Secretary Hosting Mike Bloomberg in Wells, Minnesota
MSGA secretary hosting Mike Bloomberg at Wells farm
Throughout his farming career, Darin Johnson has hosted many international trade delegations from across the world at his family farm in Wells. But Johnson, secretary of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association (MSGA), has never hosted a high-profile presidential candidate from New York before.
“That’s certainly a first for me,” Johnson says. “Being a part of MSGA really has opened so many opportunities for myself and my family.”
But Wednesday afternoon will also be a new experience and opportunity for Mike Bloomberg when the Democratic meets the Johnson family at their farm in southern Minnesota. The business mogul and former New York City mayor will be visiting a Minnesota farm for the first time. . . .
“We are very excited to host the Bloomberg campaign for their first visit to Minnesota,” Johnson says. “Our organization is non-partisan and doesn’t endorse candidates, but we certainly encourage and welcome all candidates from both parties to visit a farm and see what life is like in rural America.”
Bloomberg is expected to arrive at the Johnson family farm in Faribault County Wednesday afternoon for a tour of Johnson’s operation, followed by a roundtable discussion with Darin, his wife, Rachel; father, Charlie; uncle, Scott; MSGA Executive Director Joe Smentek and Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council CEO Tom Slunecka. Mayor Bloomberg and the Johnson family, who also run a flourishing seed business, will discuss the agriculture economy, renewable fuels, health care options, improving rural broadband access and other farm policy priorities heading into the 2020 primary season.
“This is a great opportunity for Darin and our farmers,” Smentek says. “Minnesota agriculture contributes about 25 percent to the state’s GDP, and we’re pleased to see that Mayor Bloomberg realizes farming drives local economies throughout the country.”
https://mnsoybean.org/blog-msga/msga-secretary-hosting-mike-bloomberg-at-wells-farm/
If one follows that link, one of the paragraphs has changed:
Bloomberg is expected to arrive at the Johnson family farm in Faribault County Wednesday afternoon for a tour of Johnson’s operation, followed by a roundtable discussion with Darin, his wife, Rachel; father, Charlie; uncle, Scott; and MSGA Executive Director Joe Smentek. Mayor Bloomberg and the Johnson family, who also run a flourishing seed business, will discuss the agriculture economy, renewable fuels, health care options, improving rural broadband access and other farm policy priorities heading into the 2020 primary season.
Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council CEO Tom Slunecka is no longer listed as a participant.
When we read the blog post when it was tweeted by the MSGA, we raised a question on Twitter:
Nice picture of host and #mn01 congressman Jim Hagedorn on this post. Something tells me @MikeBloomberg isn't from around here. Are check-off grants used for this publicity? https://t.co/5QaK0NtyX3
— Sally Jo Sorensen (@sallyjos) January 7, 2020
That led to this exchange:
I noticed that when I first read this blog post, "Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council CEO Tom Slunecka" was participating in the roundtable. That's the check-off folks, right? Version w/vSlunecka is preserved online elsewhere. Screengrab pic.twitter.com/qRCP0rHFQH
— Sally Jo Sorensen (@sallyjos) January 8, 2020
We wondered about Slunecka's participation as we recalled information about the two organizations contained in our earlier post, More than Dayton induced fantods: is soybean grower's mid-life crisis worse than she thinks?.
We have to hand it to the MSGA to bring Bloomberg to the Johnson Farms of Wells rather than to the organization's president's spread in Traverse County, Minnesota, and Roberts County, South Dakota. Brian Arola reported in 2017's Johnson continues family’s farming tradition:
Conservation is an equally important consideration. Johnson said the farm established buffers before they were mandatory, created grass waterways to prevent erosion, and now uses predictive modeling platforms to help cut down on the amount of fertilizer used for farming.
“We used to work with gallons,” he said of the modeling technology. “Now we work with ounces.”
The enforcement of buffer laws were not a mid-life crisis for Johnson.
Other information about Johnson Farms of Wells
In addition to the Mankato Free Press story, Johnson Farms received other favorable attention in 2017. It was Faribault County's University of Minnesota Farm Family of the Year:
The extended families of brothers Scott and Charlie Johnson co-operate Johnson Family Farms. Charlie and Scott’s grandfather started the farm in the early 1900s. The farm was passed down to Scott and Charlie’s father, Bob, and eventually to the brothers. Now the tradition of passing on the farm to the next generation is continuing as Darin and Amber have established their careers at Johnson Farms.
In addition to their farming business the Johnson families run a Dekalb/Asgrow/Mycogen/Stine seed dealership and a trucking company. The families also sell precision planting equipment and Meridian seed tenders.
The Charles and Deb Johnson family includes daughter Nicki and her husband, Paul Dambowy, and their children, Brennen and Lola; son Darin, his wife, Rachel, and their kids, Tyra, Lexi and Aaron; and daughter Missy, and her husband, Brad Roux, and their children, Esme and Emmett.
The Scott and Linda Johnson family includes their daughter Amber and her husband, Andy Cords, along with their children, Kylin, Kenlie and Regan; daughter, Lindsay and her friend Jordan Drager.
Charlie Johnson is board chairman of CFS Cooperative; Scott serves as president of Benco Electric. Darin is a board member of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association and Amber is President of the Wells Area Chamber of Commerce. The Johnson families support their local FFA chapters.
The farm also received a tidy sum in Market Facilitation Payments (Trump trade war bailouts for farmers), which prompted a state representative to point out that Mr. Bloomberg might wish to expand his horizons about life in rural Minnesota beyond a visit to a soybean farm:
“to visit a farm and see what life is like in rural America.” $431,355 The well off and well connected always get access to power. Maybe A better stop for Bloomberg at Albert Lea hospital: https://t.co/ogbd4Uxk1N
— Rep. Rick Hansen (@reprickhansen) January 8, 2020
Representative Hansen, who serves a district in suburban Dakota County, but who also farms with his brother on the family acreage in Fillmore and Freeborn, as well as marketing furniture crafted by Harmony-area Amish carpenters, has a point.
Rural hospitals are closing--and the cost of health insurance is vexing, as the New Ulm Journal recently reported in coverage of a farm crisis meeting. We hear the same concerns from our farmers friends in Minnesota.
UPDATE, 1036 p.m.: Mike Dorning reported in December's Trump’s $28 Billion Trade War Bailout Is Overpaying Farmers in Bloomberg news:
President Donald Trump’s $28 billion farm bailout may be paying many growers more than the trade war with China has cost them.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s calculations overshot the impact of the trade conflict on American soybean prices, according to six academic studies, a conclusion that is likely to add to criticism that the bailout has generated distortions and inequalities in the farm economy.
“It’s clear that the payment rates overstated the damage suffered by soybean growers,” said Joseph Glauber, the USDA’s former chief economist who published a review of the research in late November. “Based on what the studies show, the damages were about half that.”
The academic research has focused on soybeans in part because the crop has been the most visible target of Chinese retaliation and overall received the most trade aid. But the method the department used to calculate trade losses also likely overstates the conflict’s financial impact on most other farm products, though for a few commodities it may understate the true impact, Glauber, now a senior fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute, said in an interview.
The divergence doesn’t necessarily mean a bonanza for American farmers, who are being financially squeezed on other fronts, including a global commodity glut that is depressing prices and a year of wild weather that is damaging crop yields. Also, the trade conflict risks long-term loss of market share for U.S. producers as overseas customers build relationships with replacement suppliers. Neither the academic nor the USDA estimates take potential future market losses into account. . .. [end update]
And while few of our readers are invited to the Bloomberg seminar at the Johnson Farm, farmers might consider attending a meeting with their peers. The Redwood Falls Gazette reports in [Land Stewardship Project] to host farm crisis forum in Granite Falls Jan. 9:
As the farm financial crisis deepens in rural communities, the Land Stewardship Project (LSP) is offering special workshops and forums for farmers and rural communities, including one this coming Thursday (Jan. 9) from 5:30-8:30 p.m., at the Kilowatt Center in Granite Falls.
The event is free, but RSVPs are appreciated for planning purposes.
To reserve a spot, request childcare or for more information, contact LSP’s Scott DeMuth at (320) 269-2105 or [email protected].
Farmers in Minnesota and across the country are facing an economic crisis that is entering its sixth year.
For the forum, LSP will be bringing together farmers, community members and a resource panel.
Farmers leaving this meeting will have a stronger network to support them through this crisis, and community participants will help identify potential opportunities to come together and create a vision for their communities.
The event will include a light meal and time for attendees to network and talk to other participants.
This will be followed with a presentation by farmers and community members, a panel of resource people, and a Q & A. Each of the panelists will bring relevant information and advice for farm families who are making important short- and long-term decisions.
Panelists will include Stephen Carpenter of Farmers’ Legal Action Group (FLAG), Farm Business Management instructor Kami Schoenfeld and Minnesota Farm advocate Ruth Ann Karty.
“It is important for farmers to know that they are not alone and they don’t have to try to solve all of their problems by themselves,” said Connie Dykes of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s farm advocates program. “There are people they can talk to for help and forums like this can help them find out what resources exist.”
Photo: Snow-Covered Road and Farms in Rural Minnesota, by Tony Webster. Copyright © 2018 Tony Webster; used via the Wikimedia Commons; originally posted on Flickr.
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