It's unusual for us to get a flurry of emails about a single committee hearing, but readers and pollinator activists have been busy bees about a hearing this afternoon.
Readers can watch the hearing livestream on HTV2 here or on YouTube here at 1:00 p.m.
Or watch it here in the embedded streaming YouTube (we'll replace the livestream with the Youtube archive after the hearing is over)
Here's the video archive of the committee hearing:
Today at 1:00 p.m., the Minnesota House Agriculture Finance and Policy committee will hear four bills related to ag chemicals:
HF670(Morrison)
Chlorpyrifos sale, use, and application banned; product recall and collection efforts required; and money transferred.
HF766(Hansen)
Additional seed label information required, certain seed uses prohibited, and product stewardship required for corn and soybean seed coated or treated with neonicotinoid pesticide.HF1450(Hansen)
Dicamba herbicide gross sale fee increased, and dicamba compensation program established.
HF408(Hansen)
Pollinator lethal insecticide fee increased, and fee revenue allocated to pollinator research.
Pollinator champion, state representative Rick Hansen, DFL-S. St. Paul, is author of three bills (dicamba is an herbicide, not an insecticide), while Kelly Morrison, DFL-Deephaven, introduced the fourth. Morrison was the author of legislation that created the wildly successful Lawns to Legumes program; Hansen led the effort to have the rusty-patched bumble bee designated the state bee.
Hansen tweeted in Sunday:
Tomorrow is Protect Pollinators 🐝🐝🐝Day at the #mnleg https://t.co/MxCFMIqORO. #savethebees #pollinators
— Rep. Rick Hansen (@reprickhansen) March 21, 2021
Judging from the agenda for the meeting, both pollinator protectors and beekeepers will face off with agrichemical heavyweights. Go to the committee page to read
Here's a couple of sample letters submitted by pro-pollinator groups. From the Minnesota Environmental Partnership:
Minnesota Environmental Partnership Letter uploaded by Sally Jo Sorensen on Scribd
From the Pollinator Friendly Alliance:
Pollinator Friendly Alliance uploaded by Sally Jo Sorensen on Scribd
From the Pesticide Action Network:
Pesticide Action Network uploaded by Sally Jo Sorensen on Scribd
Land Stewardship Project supports all four bills, from the position of how they will bolster soil health:
Land Stewardship Project support of House File 670 (Morrison), House File 766 (Hansen), House File 1450 (H... uploaded by Sally Jo Sorensen on Scribd
Here's the Ag Groups Opposition Letter to all four bills:
Ag groups opposition letter uploaded by Sally Jo Sorensen on Scribd
Looks like they're taking it personally.
Photo: Minnesota's state bee, the rusty-patched bumble bee, an endangered species. We personally think it's a bad idea to poison the many creatures at the bottom of the food chain.
If you appreciate Bluestem Prairie, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the paypal subscription button.
Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.
NEW: I'm now on Venmo for those who prefer to use this service: @Sally-Sorensen-6
Comments