REDWOOD FALLS -- Western Minnesota voters have a choice between a powerful U.S. House Agriculture Committee chairman and a second-time challenger who thinks a recently enacted farm bill falls short.
Republican challenger Glen Menze said on Tuesday that the farm bill, which sets federal agriculture policy for years, did not have enough specific "risk management" provisions such as crop insurance for farmers. The omissions are especially hard on small farmers, he said.
However, he was in the minority of Democrats and Republicans who spoke at a FarmFest forum. Most other congressional candidates praised the farm bill.
Menze's opponent, Democratic U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson, was a major author of the legislation as ag committee chairman. Peterson presented the farm bill as a compromise that treats Minnesota farmers well.
The forum came at FarmFest, an annual southwestern Minnesota gathering of farmers and agri-businessmen. Western Minnesota's 7th Congressional District and southern Minnesota's 1st district were the only ones in which all major candidates appeared.
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After the forum, Menze said he and Peterson have several differences. Among them are Peterson's inclusion of cotton and rice subsidies in the new farm bill. Peterson said he doesn't think southern farmers would agree with Menze that he was easy on them.
Peterson, who was top Democrat on the committee before his party took over control and he rose to the top, told about 800 in the FarmFest audience that he has begun to make changes in farm policy after southerners ran the committee for years.
The chairman said he is particularly proud of sugar and dairy provisions in the bill because they give producers of those products more protection than they used to have.
Menze said he probably would have opposed the farm bill in the Agriculture Committee, but reluctantly voted for it when it reached a full House vote.
A new law setting renewable fuel standards is good for farmers, Peterson said.
"We in the Congress have the responsibility of getting us off oil," he added.
To do that, he said, Congress needs to consider a variety of measures, including increasing nuclear power, drilling off-shore oil and continuing to increase aid to those producing renewable energy such as wind power.
Menze called for a national requirement that 10 percent of gasoline be plant-based ethanol. Minnesota was the first state to require that, but most states do not have such a rule.
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All on the panel favored more conservation work and opposed a bill written by U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar, D-Minn., to clean the country's water.
"I am totally opposed to the clean-water bill and will do everything I can to stop it," Peterson said because as written it would hurt farmers. "We certainly don't need any more regulations."
Peterson's comment was noteworthy because Oberstar is chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the dispute sets up a fight between two powerful Minnesota congressmen.
Farmers fear Oberstar's bill would too strictly regulate what they can do with water.
