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Dille's legislation aims to curb sprawling development Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Agri News staff writer
ST. PAUL -- Sprawling development across the countryside spurred Sen. Steve Dille to propose legislation to concentrate development in or near cities.
Dille's President Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Bill to Preserve Agricultural, Forest, Wildlife and Open Space Land passed as part of this year's ag policy bill.
The bill creates a task force to study state and local policies related to land preservation. It requires a county adopting or updating a comprehensive plan to consider adopting goals for the preservation of agricultural, forest, wildlife and open space land and minimizing development in sensitive shoreland areas.
Dille said he had to make four compromises to get the bill passed. He had to make the bill more permissive, get rid of recommended development priorities, get rid of the livestock development policy and add a task force to study the issue.
Loss of open space is a national problem. Two acres of farmland are lost per day in the United States, Dille said.
Minnesota lost 2.3 million acres of farmland in the last 14 years, he said, which is one-fifteenth of the total.
"In another 200 years, there won't be any farmland left in the state if this keeps up," Dille said.
Some counties have already adopted land use plans that seek to minimize sprawl, he said, citing McLeod County. The county passed an ordinance that included two very good things, Dille said. It allows development in city limits and within two miles of the city. And the shoreland of environmental lakes is protected at a distance of 1,000 feet. About 15 lakes are in this category in the county, he said.
Existing homes or farmsteads can be rebuilt, but no new building will be allowed, he said.
Other provisions of the ag policy bill:
• The bill takes up to $100,000 from the dairy development and profitability enhancement and dairy business planning grants to fund marketing, business planning and educational efforts to assist all livestock operations located within the bovine tuberculosis modified accredited zone.
"It's in everyone's best interest to give a helping hand so we can eradicate this disease," said Bob Lefebvre, executive director of the Minnesota Milk Producers Association. "It makes sense, it really does, to eradicate TB as fast as possible."
The dairy development teams will continue, but will have to sacrifice for the good of the whole industry over the long-term, Lefebvre said. The dairy industry will also contribute about 25 percent of the funds from the new assessment to fund TB eradication efforts.
• The maximum allowable somatic cell count for raw goat milk is 1,500,000 cells per milliliter. This issue needed to be resolved as there are more goats in the state, said Rep. Al Juhnke, DFL-Willmar.
The industry is growing and raising and milking goats is a niche market opportunity for people who have small farms, said Minnesota Farmers Union president Doug Peterson.
• Animal chiropractic standards were adopted and training and oversight was spelled out. It took some time for veterinarians and chiropractors to agree on the language, Juhnke said. In the end, a veterinarian will have to refer an animal to a chiropractor, but this can be done via letter or telephone call. Rest assured, a licensed chiropractor who does animal chiropractic treatment and human treatment in the same building is required to have separate rooms and separate equipment.
• Annual collections of waste pesticides will resume in counties, with a record keeping requirement. This issue will probably be back next year, said Chris Radatz, Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation public policy director.
• Language was crafted that if an ethanol plant is no longer producing ethanol on a commercial scale at the location for which the entity qualified for producer payments, it will no longer receive ethanol subsidies.
• A retailer is not responsible for people who put an ethanol blend other than 10 percent or 85 percent into their fuel tank.
What didn't make it:
• A provision allowing industrial hemp to be grown in Minnesota. Hemp is a perfect fit for the renewable paper making industry in northern Minnesota, Peterson said. Hemp was also grown for making rope and different fabric during World War II. |
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