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Midwest State Ag Department leaders talk farm bill timing

The Midwest Association of State Departments of Agriculture is having its annual meeting in Minneapolis this week.

Minnesota Department of Ag Commissioner Thom Petersen tells Brownfield the farm bill is a pressing issue.

“Time is running tight. I think after the debt ceiling agreement we kind of had some hope that we could be done by September 30th, but I think you just start looking at all the time (so) there’s a lot of talk about an extension. There seems to be, you know not opposition to that, that (it) might be a good idea.”

He says the farm bill is very important to state ag departments.

“For example in Minnesota we get about 12 to 13 percent of our budget from the farm bill that we put back out to farmers and help us run programs.”

Petersen says the drought and Proposition 12 are other big topics at this week’s meeting.

MASDA is comprised of the Commissioners, Secretaries, and Directors of Agriculture from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.