Gov. Mark Dayton conferred with department commissioners of agriculture, human services, health, natural resources, pollution control, and water and soil resources and came up with a list of Minnesota priorities for the next Farm Bill.

Those items were detailed in a letter that was sent to Minnesota’s congressional delegation.

“The state of Minnesota would like to see a 2018 Farm Bill that focuses on fostering a robust farm and rural economy, maintaining a strong nutrition title, and prioritizing conservation and water quality programs,” Dayton wrote in the Dec. 19 letter. Priorities included a strong agricultural safety net, updates to the Margin Protection Program for dairy, a new Animal Pest and Disease Prevention Program, investing more in conservation and rural broadband, and maintaining the industrial hemp pilot program.

Dayton noted that agricultural safety net programs, such as crop insurance, agriculture risk coverage and price loss coverage, need to be maintained, and that MPP must be updated. Given the state’s experience with the avian flu outbreak, Dayton said a proactive, multifaceted animal disease program is needed.

“It is important to take a ‘One Health’ approach to this effort, recognizing that the health of humans, animals, and the environment are all interconnected,” he wrote.

Regarding conservation and water quality, Dayton encouraged increasing the Conservation Reserve Program acreage cap to 40 million acres and allowing states to have input on prioritizing program acres, including the possible prioritization of lands that have been converted to water quality buffer strips. He also asked for reduced lag time for valuation of CRP rates to prevent distortions in the land rental market.

He requested preserving the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program and keeping all existing CREP agreements in effect. He also asked to continue funding for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program and the Regional Conservation Partnership Program. The RCPP provides funding for conservation programs such as the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program and could be used to implement the Red River Basin of the North Flood Prevention Plan. He said “Swampbuster” and “Sodsaver” provisions should be carried forward, and that the “perennial crop loophole” should be closed to strengthen Sodsaver.

Acknowledging the value of cover crops, Dayton said the farm bill should encourage farmers to include them in their crop rotations.

“Funding should be made available for research on new cover crops, and for marketing assistance for innovative crops like Kernza and pennycress,” he said.

Funding for rural broadband and the industrial hemp pilot program, for which Minnesota completed its second growing season, should continue, he added.

Nutrition is a top state priority, Dayton said, and programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Emergency Food Assistance Program and the Commodity Supplemental Food Program should remain within the farm bill.

He pointed out that SNAP helped almost 12% of Minnesota's population purchase food during fiscal year 2016. Seventy percent of SNAP recipients in Minnesota are families with children, adults with disabilities, and seniors.

“In order to maintain the effectiveness of SNAP, the state of Minnesota requests no funding cuts, block granting, or changes in work requirements or time limits for able-bodied adults without dependents,” Dayton wrote. “Broad-based categorical eligibility for SNAP and the SNAP Standard Utility Allowance for recipients of federal energy assistance should be maintained.”

He added that funding for Emergency Food Assistance and the Commodity Supplemental Food should remain at current levels.