A bill promoted by the Land Stewardship Project has passed out of the Minnesota Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee. In Sign the 100% Soil Healthy Farming Petition Today, LSP wrote:
Farmers are on the front lines of the climate crisis – battling extreme weather and changing seasons while also building soil health to sequester carbon and soak up excess water. In developing LSP's Soil Health and Climate Campaign, LSP members were clear: now is the time for landscape-scale transformation.
Our bill, built by farmers from the ground-up, will set a goal to incentivize and provide the resources needed to achieve 100% Soil Healthy Farming:
- 50% of Minnesota farmers implementing soil-healthy practices by 2030.
- 100% of Minnesota farmers implementing soil-healthy practices by 2035.
- 100% of grazable and tillable acres in soil-healthy practices by 2040.
By ensuring soil-healthy practices are profitable from day one through accessible and motivating grants and direct payments, Minnesota's countryside will be abundant with managed rotationally grazed livestock, perennial cropping systems, cover cropping systems, and no-till.
Minnesotans who wish to sign the petition should click here.
The bill was warmly received in its first committee stop Wednesday.
At Session Daily, Nate Gotlieb reports in Costs of soil friendly farming would be defrayed under approved bill:
Minnesota farmers could get funds to defray the costs of planting cover crops, subdivide grazing pastures and implement other practices that improve soil health.
HF701, sponsored by Rep. Todd Lippert (DFL-Northfield), would create the Soil-Healthy Farming Program, which would provide grants and direct payments to farmers who implement such practices.
The bill would also set long-term soil-health goals for Minnesota farmers. Specifically, it would call for at least half of farmers to use soil-healthy practices by 2030 and all of them to use the practices by 2035.
It would set the goal of having the practices used on all the state's tillable and grazeable acreage by 2040.
Lippert said he plans to seek $5.5 million from the General Fund for the program in the 2022-23 biennium.
The bill was approved 11-1 by the House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee Wednesday and referred to the House Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Committee. Its companion, SF1113, is sponsored by Sen. Kent Eken (DFL-Twin Valley) and awaits action by the Senate Agriculture and Rural Development Finance and Policy Committee.
Healthy soil is key to maintaining productive, resilient cropland, reducing erosion and runoff and even preventing carbon from being released into the atmosphere.
Lippert said more farmers would like to experiment with soil friendly practices but can be constrained by costs, noting such practices can often take three to five years to become profitable.
"When money's tight, it's hard to take a short-term risk for a long-term gain," he said.
The bill would allow farmers to receive up to $15,000 in grants, $12,500 in direct payments for cropping practices and $17,500 in direct payments for managed rotational grazing. All totals are lifetime limits. Funding, to be provided through soil and water conservation districts, would be prioritized to socially disadvantaged and small- and mid-sized farmers.
Environmental groups and farmers said they support investing funds to improve soil health, noting the long-term benefits for farmers and ability of soil to sequester carbon and prevent erosion.
Sheila Vanney, assistant director of the Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, said she'd want to ensure her member associations get the funding necessary to implement the bill.
Watch the hearing here:
Bill author Todd Lippert, a Northfield Democrat, tweeted Friday about one benefit of the legislation:
This is why I’m pushing the 100% Soil Healthy Farming bill this year. It makes farmland more resilient and will help MN meet our climate goals. And, it’s good for the farmer’s bottom line too. #SoilHealth #mnleg https://t.co/7CMurRtJxs
— Rep. Todd Lippert (@RepToddLippert) February 19, 2021
The only no vote was cast by Tim Miller, R-Prinsburg. Land Stewardship Project's west central field office is located in Montevideo, Chippewa County. Perhaps some of his constituents might encourage him to support the bill. Contact information here.
Photo: Lac Qui Parle County crop and livestock farmer Luke Peterson testified in favor of the bill on Wednesday.
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