Last Tuesday the Agriculture Policy Committee heard presentations on sustainable and organic agriculture, its importance today, and how it has moved from being a marketing and operating niche into the mainstream of agriculture.
The policy committee passed four bills that provide funding for:
–sustainable agriculture demonstration grants,
–organic certification cost-share assistance,
–organic research and education at the University of Minnesota, and
–my bill to provide funds for the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture to continue work in support of alternative practices in Livestock farming.
Farmers like Dave and Florence Minar of Cedar Summit Farms in New Prague benefit from this kind of research.