On Monday, the Minnesota House of Representatives passed a bill that will promote soil health improvements, pollinator protection, cover
crop development, and new opportunities for farmers market vendors. The bill includes investments in small meat cutters and processors, support for hunger relief, financial assistance to emerging farmers, and more.
The bill will fund grants to develop continuous living cover crops and cropping systems – which are soil and water-friendly – including Kernza. It also includes more than $24 million for soil health research to assist farmers who want to do more to protect the environment.
Representative Todd Lippert, who was a key sponsor of the bill, said on the House floor as it was being considered, that promoting healthy soil practices will benefit Minnesota farmers, no matter what the weather brings.
“Protecting soil from erosion. Helping more water to infiltrate our soil. Helping reduce flooding in communities. And helping to reduce the need for irrigation in times of drought. While it’s cold and wet here, where farmers are having trouble getting out in the soil, my hometown in Northwest Iowa is seeing dust storms right now. And soil health practice will help in both times of drought and in times of flooding.”
The bill continues efforts to boost opportunities for small meat and poultry processors and create new career pathways in the field with funding for meat processing facility grants, MinnState meat cutting programs and other secondary career and technical education programs. And, to help prevent the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease and protect Minnesota’s wild deer population, the bill includes a moratorium on new white-tailed deer farms.
Hillmann comments on district budget reductions
Northfield Superintendent of Schools Dr. Matt Hillmann has made his first comments on the proposed budget reductions to be implemented
over the next two school years, after officially presenting them to the school board on Monday night.
Hillmann said the district budget is being reduced for the first time in a decade for two fundamental reasons. The first is because the district expects enrollment to decline by about 400 students over the next 8-10 years.
“Seventy percent of our budget is based on the number of students that are enrolled in our schools,” he said, referencing the funding that the district receives from the state every year. “A smaller enrollment number means less money.”
The other reason the budget must be cut, he said, also has to do with the funding coming from the state.
“For thirty years,” Hillmann said at the meeting on Monday night, “The amount of funding provided by the State of Minnesota has failed to keep up with inflation. And just to use an example of how low down the priority list education funding has fallen, last year, the legislature increased the general formula by 2.45%, and called it an historic increase. But 2.45% wouldn’t keep up with inflation in a normal year, much less a year when inflation is at 8%.
“Education in the state has been chronically underfunded.”
He went on to say that if the state would fulfill its promise of funding Special Education for the state’s school districts, which would cost $781 million in a year when there is a record $9 billion budget surplus, $5 million dollars would come to the district, and could erase the $4.5 million in reductions being made right now.
Hillmann said cutting a school budget is never easy. The board heard from several residents of the district who were advocating for programs and teachers that they do not want to lose. He said he would be “far more upset” if nobody had come to the meeting to advocate. It shows how engaged the community is in the education of its young people, and that sets the Northfield School District apart.
“I deeply regret that we have to take these actions. It is hurtful, frankly, but we’ve managed our money as well as we can for as long as we can, and we’ve done very well. But we have to take these actions now with a sense of urgency, so we avoid having a financial emergency. We are the custodians of this gem of a school district, and we are going to make sure that it is sustainable moving forward.”
The district will conduct a forum on Tuesday from 5:30-8:30 at the Northfield Middle School for further public comment.
Jeff Johnson’s full conversation with Dr. Matt Hillmann can be heard here
Historical Society will sell Archer House Bricks to help Scriver Building upkeep.
The Northfield Historical Society will begin selling the bricks that once made up the front façade of the Archer House on Saturday. The
proceeds from the sale of what was once Northfield’s highest profile historical building will go toward the restoration and upkeep of what is probably Northfield’s most significant historical building: the Scriver Building.
Cathy Osterman, the Historical Society Executive Director, said each of the bricks for sale bears the familiar red paint that was a standout feature of the Archer House. She said they have half size and full size bricks priced at $10 and $20 respectively. They will also sell bundles of three bricks for $50, and seven bricks for $100.
Osterman expressed her gratitude to Rebound Partners approaching the Historical Society and offering to donate the bricks.
“They approached us,” she said. “It was their idea to turn this into a fundraiser, and we are so grateful for that.”
The funds raised will help the Historical Society to keep the Scriver Building in good condition. The building is not only the location of the Historical Society Museum, archives and offices, but it is also, of course, home to the bank that the James-Younger Gang tried to rob in 1876. Osterman said that they recently brought in an architectural firm to do a condition assessment of the building. The firm found that not only are historical buildings difficult to keep up, simply due to the age of the building and the propensity of systems that are more than 100 years old to wind down, but they are expensive to fix as well.
“It is mind-blowing how much there is to do, and how much needs to be done to keep that building as the showpiece and the center [of the Historic Downtown District] and making sure that it’s here for the next twenty generations.”
Osterman said at this point, they will not be able to reserve bricks for sale later, nor will they be able to ship them right now. They will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis.
The sale will begin on Saturday morning and run from 9-4.
Rich Larson is the KYMN News Director. Contact him at rich@kymnradio.net
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