Minneapolis, Minn.-Minnesota agriculture finally has its fertilizer research and education council and $600,000 in general fund money for study grants in place of a controversial 40-cent per ton statewide checkoff fee. The recent legislature approved the council after several years of debate, and left it up to the council members still to be selected to figure out the process for awarding the grants. “It’s the hope these dollars will be used as seed or match money for other funding,” Greg Buzicky, director of the state pesticide and fertilizer management division, told Green Markets. Buzicky said there will be a lot of input from the commodity organizations represented on the council, which is scheduled to hold its first meeting in September. He added that retailers also are expected to play a role, but it isn’t clear at this point how much involvement fertilizer manufacturers will have – they may have some input at a later date. “Projects must include an element of outreach to the ag production community. It was obvious the legislators wanted this fund to have a lot of ownership by producers in Minnesota,” Buzicky noted. He said legislators were unable to agree whether the checkoff should be refundable and have decided to leave the matters in the hands of a task force.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain