Dairy meets hustle, bustle of St. Paul

ST. PAUL, Minn. — As dairy farmers traded their barn clothes for dress clothes, they were welcomed to St. Paul for the Minnesota Milk Producers Association’s annual Dairy Day at the Capitol, a day of learning, meetings and discussion about Minnesota dairy concerns, laws and regulations.

Among these dairy farmers was Dean Smith, a new board member with MMPA. Smith owns and operates D&D Dairy, milking about 1,200 cows near Rushford with his brothers, Greg and Randy.

“I’ll be a pro voice for dairy and ag in general to see what other options are out there and talk to different farms,” Smith said. “The board members are from all over the state, so it’s not just my area.”

Lucas Sjostrom, MMPA executive director, led one group of dairy advocates. Sjostrom grew up on a dairy farm, attended the University of Minnesota and has been active in dairy promotion and dairy policy for more than 15 years.

“We need to be here in this setting once a year at least and many others,” Sjostrom said. “I come back throughout the year. Dairy is an important part of Minnesota agriculture, so if we’re not here in person, that’s not seen.”

While several MMPA groups met with various state representatives and senators, Smith and Sjostrom had the opportunity to meet with Reps. Krista Knudsen, Mike Wiener, Shane Mekeland, Tom O’Driscoll and Greg Davids, and Sen. Nick Frentz.

The discussion and MMPA’s priorities consisted of better workplace management, the Dairy Assistance, Investment and Relief Initiative program for Dairy Margin Coverage rebates, the future of the farm bill, feedlot rules and regulations, infrastructure investments, and agriculture research and education funding.

“Another thing is telling people what the current state of dairy is,” Sjostrom said. “We have some profitability ahead, but reminding them that it’s very easy for us, as a commodity business, to go from a profit to a loss if they add new taxes and fees.”

Funding for environmental projects, mainly digesters, to provide better opportunities for farms and funding for agriculture education for kindergarten through 12th grade was also a part of the discussion throughout the day.

“We dictate our policy based on what our members told us,” Sjostrom said. “Our members have been telling us with phone calls and emails what their problems are and what their opportunities are. The biggest thing right now is the earned sick and safe time law.”

Sjostrom said the law can be challenging for farmers to comply with it. MMPA is advocating to get farmers exempt from the law. MMPA is also working on protecting dairy farmers from the proposed Family and Medical Leave Act due to the law’s additional paperwork and cost to farms. Dairy farmers present at the capitol gave voice to challenges and concerns these new laws and regulations could have on them.

“It’s just important to remind legislators that we’re here and remind them that sometimes when they write a law or an agency writes a rule, it can affect us in ways that they don’t see,” Sjostrom said. “By having a presence here, we become their first phone call before they do something.”

Smith agreed.

“(It’s important) just to get to know your representatives, see if you can make any connections and at least make your voice heard a little bit,” Smith said. “I didn’t quite realize how you have to lobby for everything you try to get.”

Smith said it is important for those connections to be made, even if they are not with a representative for someone’s district because many people share concerns and issues throughout the industry.

“I think (our attendance at the Capitol will) have some impact,” Smith said. “Lucas Sjostrom is a good voice out there to lobby for dairy. We have to keep trying because that’s the way it works.”

Making the effort to educate lawmakers is well worth the effort Sjostrom said.

“As we heard in one meeting, stopping things before they start is probably the biggest thing we do— translating how an idea will impact our farm,” he said. “Rather than always trying to invent something new, most of the time we’re stopping something new from happening.”