KIMT
By Brandon Cote
MANTORVILLE, Minn. - The Minnesota Farmers Union hosted a lunch meeting in Dodge county to go over the upcoming 2023 Farm Bill with Sen. Klobuchar in attendance.
Farmers said the push for more electric vehicles in the farming industry is increasing land costs due to relying more on wind and solar energy. Klobuchar is in support of providing smaller wind and solar energy options on farmers’ own lands, so they do not have to rely on large farms.
Klobuchar says having a bill that incorporates a focus on rural farming development will help beginning farmers.
"There's a lot of good things in the Farm Bill. These farmers know from crop insurance to helping with Avian flu, making sure we got a good dairy and sugar programs. There are always things we can do better and that's why I do these meetings all over the country,” said Klobuchar.
The Minnesota Farmers Union believes the monopolization in the farming industry is a problem that needs to be addressed in the bill. They say four companies control eight-five percent of the beef packaging industry.
"The worst part is in the beef packing industry, two of them are owned by foreign companies so a lot of the profits that the company was making is going overseas. It wasn't going back into our downtown main streets supporting our rural communities."