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Proposed checkoff would help research efforts Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Agri News staff writer
ST. PAUL -- A new 40 cent per ton checkoff fee is one of the proposals being considered as a result of the work done by the Ag Nutrient Task Force.
The checkoff would be charged by any business selling fertilizer to Minnesota producers and would be refundable. An estimated $800,000 to $850,000 would be raised annually, with the entire amount dedicated to research, said Rep. Al Juhnke, DFL-Willmar. The fee would amount to about 4 cents per acre for the average farmer. Juhnke said the investment would be returned in the information gained during the research.
The research information will be reported publicly, he said.
The bill, HF3441, is the result of several hours of meetings held since the last session adjourned. The No. 1 conclusion of the group was that additional funding was needed for research and education, said Randy Kramer, who chaired the group. The group represented corn, soybean, potato, sugar beet, wheat growers, crop production retailers, Minnesota Farm Bureau and Minnesota Farmers Union, the Minnesota Grain and Feed Association and the Minnesota Irrigators Association. The bill would also establish a Minnesota Agricultural Fertilizer Research and Education Council to review applications and select projects to fund. Hopefully, the money could be paired with other checkoff funding to further the research, Juhnke said.
Kevin Doyle of Agriliance, president of Minnesota Crop Production Retailers, said it's vital to get more money for research to take to private industry or the University of Minnesota. |
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