(Left to right: Gary Wertish – MN Farmer’s Union President, U-S Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Thom Petersen – MN Ag Secretary, Dan Glessing – Minnesota Farm Bureau President
(Photo: Kendell Kubasch – KRWC Radio News)
U-S Senator Amy Klobuchar was the headline speaker among numerous other Minnesota ag leaders at an ag forum in Howard Lake Tuesday morning.
Some 60 local farmers, business leaders and industry officials met with a panel at Munson Lakes Nutrition in Howard Lake to hear discussion on tariffs, the Farm Bill, and more.
Among the panel members was Minnesota Secretary of Agriculture Thom Peterson who told KRWC Radio News that grass roots meetings such as these are crucial for keeping the heartland connected with the centers of power…
“I think it’s so important of the ranking member of the Senate Ag Committee make it out to Howard Lake to hear from people first hand. I’ve been doing this for 25-plus years and it’s always amazing that what you hear in this room and in the co-op, you’ll hear two weeks later on the senate floor and in committee.”
Peterson says there are currently a lot of ag-related issues in play in Minnesota and throughout the country…
“You know avian influenza is a big issue right now, we’re making sure we’re prepared for that. We do have a lot of commercial turkey flocks in this area….and anything that we can do to add value to agriculture right now. A report just came out last week that we had the lowest farm income in 2024, 21-thousand dollars, so we’re continuing to boost our bio-fuels, our livestock market, and try to do everything we can to boost that farm income up.”
Minnesota Ag Secretary Thom Peterson. More from Tuesday’s ag forum in Howard Lake in KRWC News throughout the week.
Audio in this story courtesy Kendell Kubasch / KRWC Radio.
