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Animal health takes center stage as pork producers meet with Minnesota legislators

The Minnesota Pork Producers Association has several policy objectives as it prepares for an annual visit to St. Paul.

Association board director Vince Baack says the Day on the Hill helps to establish relationships with elected officials.

“With those legislators that are certainly friendly toward agriculture, and with those legislators that don’t have a lot of background with it.”

He tells Brownfield animal health will be a focal point.

“The fact that we want to protect the health of our pigs, which is critical to both us as pig farmers and to our food supply. We’re really working to get some potential regulatory reform, regulations are always a big deal to pork producers, particularly as it relates to permitting, new sites, water use, and things of that sort.”

And Baack says tax conformity is another priority.

“There are some things that the state of Minnesota does from a tax side that don’t necessarily coincide or align with things we’ve done on the national side.”

He says Section 179 depreciation is an example.

Minnesota Pork’s Day on the Hill is scheduled for March 11^th.