In this Edition
Note from Executive Director - 2023 Legislative Session Adjourns
Capitol Corner – Minnesota
- Minnesota Legislature Ends Landmark Session by Passing Largest Infrastructure Package in State History
- As Session Ends, Democrats ‘Run the Table’ at Capitol
- While DFL Touts Largest Tax Cut in Minnesota History, Taxes Will Still Rise For Most
- Minnesota Agriculture and Broadband Bill Becomes Law
- State Lawmakers Agree to 'Historic' Environment and Climate Bill
Capitol Corner – Federal
- McCarthy End Game on Debt Ceiling Begins to Come Into Focus
- Debt Ceiling Explained: Why It’s a Struggle in Washington and How the Impasse Could End
- Democrats, Worried About a Biden-McCarthy Deal, Push a Backup Plan to Avoid Default
- Dean Phillips Would Vote to Save McCarthy’s Speakership if the Speaker Exercises ‘Courage’ in Debt Limit Negotiations
- Biden-Harris Administration Announces Availability of $500 Million for Improved Regional Conservation Partnership Program
Industry Related News
- Black Sea Grain Deal Extended for Two Months
- Why Do Corn and Soybean Prices Continue to Plummet?
- Fertilizer Prices Moving in Two Directions
Regulatory Corner
- EPA Approves Chlorpyrifos Returns to Two Companies
- Chlorpyrifos Update from Corteva: Return Policy for In-Channel Inventory
- MDA Reminds Minnesotans to Use Pesticides and Fertilizers with Care
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Note from Executive Director |
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Dear MCPR Members:
The Minnesota Legislature adjourned for the year last night in what many Capitol observers are calling one of the most historic legislative sessions in a generation. As readers will recall, last summer many political prognosticators were predicting a “red wave” to crash not only onto the shores of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes, but throughout the rest of the country. However, after the election dust settled throughout the land it became clear that the only waves experienced in Minnesota were ones that were of the blue persuasion. One surprise that many didn’t expect heading into the elections was the possibility of the DFL taking control of both bodies of the Minnesota Legislature.
After the results of the elections became official last November, the Senate DFL wrested control of the majority from the GOP and took a slim 34-33 majority into the 2023 legislative session. In the House, the GOP made small inroads but did not pick up enough seats to reclaim control over that body resulting in a 70-64 advantage for the DFL-led House of Representatives. With Gov. Tim Walz also easily cruising to his re-election, the table was set for what could have been a once-in a lifetime session for the DFL to advance a host of major finance and policy initiatives that they had vigorously campaigned on during the summer and fall of 2022. When the final gavel was banged at approximately 10:00 p.m. last night, it was very clear that the DFL-led House and Senate didn’t disappoint their party faithful.
Today, as lawmakers head back to their home districts for the upcoming Memorial Day holiday weekend, the Capitol has taken on the aura of a ghost town. With the DFL having successfully navigated the legislative session by passing the components of an upcoming two-year budget, many other policy priorities were also advanced despite a razor-thin one vote majority in the Senate that many thought would prevent some of the more progressive agenda items from being advanced this year. To give you an idea of what the top priorities were for the DFL majorities during the 2023 session, one needed to look no further than a tweet that was widely shared by House Majority Leader Jamie Long (DFL – Minneapolis) and his colleagues on social media yesterday.
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House Majority Leader Jamie Long (DFL – Minneapolis) posted the following picture on social media on Monday, May 22, the last day of the 2023 legislative session. It includes what were the DFL’s top priorities and the caption of his post stated, “In our House Dems caucus room we check off each priority bill as we go. Today, we check the last box! We set out a vision. And we delivered.”
In the final weeks and days of session, lawmakers focused their collective efforts on the passage of omnibus bills that comprise the funding and policy priorities for the DFL-led House of Representatives and State Senate. Bills that fund state agencies were embedded in these larger omnibus bills which continued to be deliberated into the final weekend of session. Some of the last remaining omnibus bills that were brokered included ones dealing with Transportation and Health & Human Services, as well as the vaunted Tax and Bonding Bills. To learn more about the bigger picture areas of the state budget that were advanced by the Legislature, please see the following articles below that encapsulate the details of these pieces of legislation.
As it relates to MCPR and the advocacy we undertook at the legislature this session, the fate of several omnibus bills was also determined over the course of the past few weeks. This includes the Agriculture, Rural Development and Broadband Omnibus Bill, as well as the Environment, Natural Resources, Climate, and Energy Omnibus Bill. As a reminder, previous editions of MCPR enews included dispositions of each bill and how provisions in each one will affect the ag retail sector. To see these previous editions, please go to the following links:
If you have any questions about the recently concluded 2023 legislative session, please contact MCPR Executive Director Patrick Murray at patrick@mcpr-cca.org or (651) 238-0089.
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Patrick Murray
MCPR Executive Director
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Minnesota Legislature Ends Landmark Session by Passing Largest Infrastructure Package in State History
Minnesota lawmakers passed the largest infrastructure package in state history Monday, capping a legislative session where Democrats pushed through some of the most monumental spending and policy changes in a generation.
They sent a $2.6 billion infrastructure package, with $1.5 billion of borrowing and nearly $1.1 billion in cash, to DFL Gov. Tim Walz for his signature. In the final hours of session, legislators signed off on the last piece of the infrastructure deal that directs $300 million to distressed nursing homes and approved a sweeping human services funding bill.
"The investment that we're making here — whether that's in local communities here in the metro area or in greater Minnesota — we are making a significant impact into everybody's lives," said infrastructure bill sponsor Rep. Fue Lee, DFL-Minneapolis. "Whether that's the road that we drive on, the drinking water that we have, or the community centers and the cultural centers that we have around the state."
While the infrastructure bills passed the two chambers with bipartisan support, Republicans continued to raise concerns about the scale of spending in Minnesota's next $72 billion two-year budget. A projected $17.5 billion surplus enabled Democrats to expand state programs and aid in many areas, though much of the money is one-time cash.
"As we congratulate and pat each other on the back for what is an unprecedented, explosive amount of government spending in our state, and now record borrowing, what does this mean for the future of Minnesota?" Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington, asked. "What we are seeing right now in the state of Minnesota is an unprecedented migration of people, wealth and investment out of our state to other communities."
To read more, please see the following link. (Star Tribune)
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As Session Ends, Democrats ‘Run the Table’ at Capitol
Minnesota lawmakers finished a momentous session Monday night by passing the final elements of a new $72 billion two-year state budget and shaking loose a record-setting construction projects package that was stalled for months.
It was a year in which they legalized marijuana, guaranteed abortion access, boosted school aid, cut some taxes while raising others and much more. The all-DFL power structure at the Capitol passed its entire agenda — one that Republicans fought but couldn’t stop.
Debate in the session’s final hours echoed what dominated the early weeks. It centered on abortion, specifically a bill repealing laws around data collection, waiting periods and instructions to doctors — some things already weakened by a state court ruling.
To read more, please see the following link. (MPR News)
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While DFL Touts Largest Tax Cut in Minnesota History, Taxes Will Still Rise For Most
Democrats say their rebate checks, tax credits, and changes in Social Security income taxes represent the largest tax cut in Minnesota history.
However, there are also taxes going up for most Minnesotans.
Because Kim Cunningham lives in Minneapolis she, like every person in the seven-metro county area will face a 1% sales tax hike on Oct. 1. Part of that is for housing, and the rest for transportation.
"As taxes go up, our incomes should go up [laughs], but it doesn't always work that way," Cunningham said.
Increases that will affect everyone in the state include a new gas tax starting Jan. 1 that's linked to inflation. The increase could be 5 cents a gallon by 2027. That would increase the current state gas tax from 28.5 cents to possibly 33.5 cents a gallon.
Another increase – there will be a delivery fee of 50 cents on packages valued at more than $100 starting July 1.
To read more, please see the following link. (CBS News)
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Minnesota Agriculture and Broadband Bill Becomes Law
The Minnesota agriculture and broadband bill has been signed into law. Senate Agriculture Committee chair Aric Putnam joined Governor Walz for a signing ceremony on a farm in northeast Minnesota Thursday and calls it a balanced bill.
“We did a lot of work to help farmers with stability as national security, like the Grain Indemnity Fund or like the DAIRI fund that helps farmers participate in federal price guarantees and stuff like that. We also did a lot of work on sustainability.”
Governor Walz says agriculture is central to Minnesota’s identity and this bipartisan law will empower the state’s farmers, ranchers, and producers to succeed for years in the future.
To read more, please see the following link. (Brownfield News)
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State Lawmakers Agree to 'Historic' Environment and Climate Bill
State lawmakers have reached an agreement on what backers say is a historic environment, energy and climate budget bill that will make transformative investments to help Minnesota combat climate change and move more aggressively toward a carbon-free economy.
The $2 billion package tackles big conservation issues like so-called “forever chemicals,” or PFAS, and chronic wasting disease, while also addressing long-standing environmental justice concerns.
And it invests hundreds of millions of dollars in dozens of initiatives to cut greenhouse gas emissions, from funding for solar panels on schools to electric vehicle rebates.
“This is the most significant environment and climate bill in Minnesota history, both in terms of its investments and its reforms. There are things in here that we have worked on for years,” said Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, who helped negotiate the deal.
To read more, please see the following link. (MPR News)
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McCarthy End Game on Debt Ceiling Begins to Come Into Focus
The prevailing account says Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is walking a tightrope over a shark tank in the debt ceiling talks, sidling precariously between a federal default on one side and the loss of his Speakership on the other. The prevailing account might have it all wrong.
As McCarthy and President Biden race to find common ground on extending the government’s borrowing authority, the Speaker has defied the doubts that came with his arduous path to the gavel, building up trust among his conservative naysayers and creating what appears to be a comfortable space to battle Biden over the terms of the debt ceiling hike.
McCarthy has dragged Biden to the negotiating table, which the president resisted for months. He’s taken any tax cuts — which Democrats have demanded in past debt limit fights — off the table. And the Speaker’s success last month in shepherding a Republican debt-ceiling package through the House — despite a tiny GOP majority — has buoyed even some of his fiercest conservative detractors.
To read more, please see the following link. (The Hill)
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Debt Ceiling Explained: Why It’s a Struggle in Washington and How the Impasse Could End
President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will meet face to face Monday after a weekend of on again, off again negotiations over raising the nation’s debt ceiling and mere days before the government could reach a “hard deadline” and run out of cash to pay its bills.
The two sides are working to reach a budget compromise before June 1, when Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has said the country could default.
McCarthy and Republicans are insisting on spending cuts in exchange for raising the debt limit. Biden has come to the negotiating table after balking for months but says the GOP lawmakers will have to back off their “extreme positions.”
On Sunday evening, negotiators met again and appeared to be narrowing on a 2024 budget year cap that could resolve the standoff. After speaking with Biden by phone as the president traveled home from a trip to Asia, McCarthy sounded somewhat optimistic. But he warned that “there’s no agreement on anything.”
To read more, please see the following link. (Associated Press)
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Democrats, Worried About a Biden-McCarthy Deal, Push a Backup Plan to Avoid Default
Some Democrats on Capitol Hill are growing increasingly worried that President Biden will give into too many demands from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in continuing talks over a deal to avoid a historic debt default.
After a second White House meeting last week, and staff talks in the last couple of days, Biden and McCarthy both expressed optimism that a deal could get done.
"I see the path that we could come to an agreement. And I think we have a structure now and everybody's working hard," McCarthy told reporters.
To read more, please see the following link. (NPR)
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Dean Phillips Would Vote to Save McCarthy’s Speakership if the Speaker Exercises ‘Courage’ in Debt Limit Negotiations
Rep. Dean Phillips is willing to offer House Speaker Kevin McCarthy a lifeline if he is challenged by the right wing of the GOP for agreeing to a debt ceiling deal that could win bipartisan support.
To win the leadership of a narrow Republican majority, McCarthy agreed to change House rules to allow anyone to challenge his speakership at any time, a procedure known as a “motion to vacate the chair.” That has left McCarthy vulnerable to a revolt by the right flank of his party over a debt agreement with Senate Democrats and the White House. The GOP has 222 to 213 majority in the chamber.
A member of the bipartisan Problem Solver’s caucus, Phillips, D-3rd District, is among a group of centrist Democrats who have signaled to McCarthy they would vote to retain him as Speaker if there is a full House vote on ousting the California Republican.
“I am among those having discussions with fellow Democrats willing to place principle over politics if our counterparts are willing to do the same thing,” Phillips said. “That means protecting Speaker McCarthy from his extreme MAGA members if a demonstration of courage results in an attempt to remove him.”
To read more, please see the following link. (MinnPost)
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Biden-Harris Administration Announces Availability of $500 Million for Improved Regional Conservation Partnership Program
The Biden-Harris Administration recently announced the availability of $500 million in funding to advance partner-driven solutions to conservation on agricultural land through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP). RCPP leverages a voluntary approach to conservation that expands the reach of conservation efforts and climate-smart agriculture through public-private partnerships.
“The Regional Conservation Partnership Program leverages the collective power and resources of public-private partnerships to deliver meaningful results for agriculture and conservation,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
“Thanks to the additional resources unlocked by the Inflation Reduction Act, as well as the improvements being made to the program, more farmers, ranchers, and foresters than ever before will be able to access and deploy conservation and climate-smart practices that will combat the climate crisis, enhance water and soil quality, protect vulnerable wildlife habitat, and more.”
To read more, please see the following link. (USDA)
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Black Sea Grain Deal Extended for Two Months
The Ukraine Black Sea grain deal has been extended for two more months, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said last week, one day before Russia could have quit the pact over obstacles to its grain and fertilizer exports.
The flow of ships through the corridor had been grinding to a halt during the last few days with the deal apparently set to expire last Thursday.
Earlier in the week, the last remaining ship registered to travel through the corridor had left a Ukrainian port. U.N. data showed the DSM Capella had left the Ukrainian port of Chornomorsk carrying 30,000 tonnes of corn and was on its way to Turkey.
To read more, please see the following link. (Farm Journal)
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Why Do Corn and Soybean Prices Continue to Plummet?
It may seem like years ago, but it was just last June that farmers reported selling $8 cash corn and $18 cash soybeans. Today, cash prices look much different, hovering around $5.50 for corn and $13 for soybeans.
There are several factors putting downward pressure on corn and soybean prices, something Arlan Suderman of StoneX Group outlined on U.S. Farm Report.
“Looking at the corn market, we've had a lot of export sales that have been canceled by China,” he says. “We've had some Chinese buyers in our office here over the past couple of weeks. And they point to the cheaper Brazilian supplies and the need to diversify away from the United States where possible, so they're very actively buying that.”
To read more, please see the following link. (AgWeb)
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Fertilizer Prices Moving in Two Directions
Retail fertilizer prices moved in opposite directions the second week of May 2023, according to sellers surveyed by DTN. Half of the fertilizers are higher compared to last month, while the other half is lower. One fertilizer is considerably higher, and another is notably lower. DTN designates a significant move as anything 5% or more.
Urea was 6% higher compared to last month. The nitrogen fertilizer had an average price of $664 per ton, back above $600/ton after one week of being below that level for the first time in a year and a half.
Slightly higher was DAP, MAP and UAN32 looking back to the prior month. DAP had an average price of $828/ton, MAP $826/ton and UAN32 $517/ton. Leading fertilizer prices lower was anhydrous. The nitrogen fertilizer was 9% less expensive compared to last month, and it had an average price of $910/ton.
To read more, please see the following link. (Progressive Farmer by DTN)
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EPA Approves Chlorpyrifos Returns to Two Companies
The EPA granted Corteva Agriscience and Adama US authorization in April to begin receiving returned shipments of chlorpyrifos-based products, after the agency canceled the insecticide's registration.
In an April 19, 2023, memorandum posted to the Federal Register, EPA issued a list of chlorpyrifos products that can be returned to Corteva and Adama. A third chlorpyrifos registrant, Gharda Chemicals International Inc., and 19 agriculture interest groups continue to fight the EPA's decision in a lawsuit pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
"These registrants have provided the agency with information on the anticipated timing and consolidation process and have also agreed to document information on the returned products including product names, EPA registration numbers and amount of product being returned," the agency said in the memo.
To read more, please see the following link. (DTN by Progressive Farmer)
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Chlorpyrifos Update from Corteva: Return Policy for In-Channel Inventory
Corteva recently announced a return process for channel-owned inventory of Corteva Agriscience™ chlorpyrifos brands listed below:
- Cobalt® insecticide
- Cobalt® Advanced insecticide
- Eraser insecticide
- Govern insecticide
- Hatchet insecticide
- Lock-on insecticide
- Lorsban® WSP insecticide
- Lorsban® 15G insecticide
- Lorsban® 4E insecticide
- Lorsban® 75WG insecticide
- Lorsban® Advanced insecticide
- Whirlwind insecticide
- Yuma 4E insecticide
As a reminder, in August 2021 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it would revoke all tolerances for Chlorpyrifos, which establishes the amount of a pesticide that is allowed on food. The Final Rule was effective October 29, 2021, with tolerances for all commodities expiring on February 28, 2022.
Jugs and tote returns will be taken only from distributors. When contacting customer service, please be prepared to provide a contact for each pick up location, gallons of inventory by pack type, and if any partial containers are included in the volume. Partial containers should be visually assessed, and quantity reported to Corteva customer service.
Corteva Agriscience anticipates two major return runs to retrieve totes and jugs from distributors: July and October 2023. Distributors can contact Corteva customer service at any time to report inventory quantities, pack types and pick-up location contacts for package / tank location contacts for bulk. Returns will be completed no later than October 30, 2023.
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MDA Reminds Minnesotans to Use Pesticides and Fertilizers with Care
Spring is here, and many Minnesotans are working on lawns, trees, and gardens. Whether you do it yourself or hire a professional, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) urges the safe use of pesticides and fertilizers on your property by following all label directions.
Pesticide and fertilizer labels specify how to use products safely and effectively. In Minnesota, it is against the law to apply products without following label instructions. The label is the law. State law requires pesticide applicators to be licensed by the MDA to commercially apply pesticides and fertilizers, including weed and feed products. Applicators must know and understand state and federal regulations regarding all aspects of pesticide and fertilizer handling, application, and disposal to be licensed by the MDA.
For information about applicator licenses, call the MDA at 651-201-6615. To report unlicensed applicators, please file a complaint on the MDA website or call 651-201-6333.
To read more, please see the following link. (Minnesota Department of Agriculture)
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Minnesota Crop Production Retailers | P: 763.235.6466
www.mcpr-cca.org
601 Carlson Parkway, Ste 450, Minnetonka, MN 55305
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