CORN

Farmers 'stuck in the middle' of trade war as experts expect continued uncertainty

Jenny Schlecht — Fri, 04 Apr 2025 22:09:08 GMT

Farmers deal with plenty of uncertainty. For example, the 8 inches of snow that fell on Josh Gackle’s farm in Kulm, North Dakota, on the first days of April. But they’re used to managing that kind of uncertainty.

Adding additional uncertainty into the equation this year has been the back-and-forth from the Trump administration on tariffs that has been going on since early February. President Donald Trump on April 2, announced he would impose a 10% baseline tariff on all imports to the U.S. and higher duties on some of the country's biggest trading partners.

Soybean farmers like Gackle, who serves as chairman of the American Soybean Association, know the cost of tariffs. When Trump’s first administration put tariffs on China, China retaliated with tariffs on a number of American products, including soybeans.

“Now with much broader tariffs with many of our trading partners, it just creates that added uncertainty, with not knowing quite what we’ll see,” Gackle said on April 3.

North Dakota State University Extension held a special edition of its Agricultural Market Situation and Outlook series on Friday afternoon to explain what experts there are watching about tariffs and potential places of impact. Speaker after speaker talked of the uncertainty farmers like Gackle are facing, along with ranchers and agribusinesses in the U.S.

By Thursday, China had responded to Trump’s tariffs by putting an additional 34% tariff on U.S. products. Because of existing tariffs, Frayne Olson, NDSU Extension crops economist, said it appears the effective tariff rate on U.S. soybeans going to China will be more than 60%. While the speakers on the webinar said no one can know what will happen, Olson did have some advice for those with unsold and uncontracted 2024 soybeans.

“I think if you do have some old crop soybeans in the bin, I think that would be something I would be looking pretty seriously” at getting sold, he said.

The USDA’s Prospective Planting report issued on Monday, March 31, already predicted lower soybean acres being planted this spring, and Olson said the tariff situation could shift even more acres out of the crop. But Gackle said it’s too late for most farmers to substantially change their plans in response to the tariff situation.

“Farmers for the most part have their planting plans in place. Seed, chemical, fertilizer, other inputs — most of those decisions have been made,” he said. “At this point, the first week of April, small grains will be going in the ground here shortly, and depending on the weather, corn and soybeans within the next month to six weeks.”

During the 2018-19 trade war, the U.S. Department of Agriculture implemented the Market Facilitation Program to assist farmers and ranchers who saw prices for their goods fall significantly. While those payments “helped fill part of the gap,” Gackle said it was more of a “Band-Aid” for some short-term loss of the trade war.

“We prefer open access to markets, free and fair trade and a price that at least meets our cost of production,” he said. “Our preference is not government payments.”

Unlike during the 2018-19 trade war, North Dakota now has several crush plants on line. But Olson said crush plants only will bid enough to keep necessary soybeans from leaving on a train. Crush capacity and storage capacity are limited.

“It will help but it will be minimal,” he said of the plants.

And on the ethanol side, David Ripplinger, NDSU Extension bioproducts and bioenergy economist, said Canada is the No. 1 customer for the U.S. If Canada retaliates against U.S. ethanol, that could affect the corn market.

The trade war with China in 2018-19 was not just a short-term hit to farmers. China started investing more with Brazil, putting money up for new ports and other infrastructure.

“Of course, Brazil is the No. 1 competitor when it comes to providing that, and these trade disputes with other countries just continue to incentivize folks that we have been trading with to look elsewhere,” Gackle said. He appreciates the Phase One trade deal with China after the 2018-19 dispute, “but … we still haven’t fully recovered what we had there as a market.”

Olson said the longer the tariffs last and the longer supply chains are disrupted, the more likely it is that alternative supply chains — including China buying more soybeans from Brazil than the U.S. — will become more stable and reliable.

“It becomes much more difficult to switch back,” he said.

Inputs and the cost of doing business

During the webinar, Bryon Parman, NDSU Extension agricultural finance specialist, explained the difference between “reciprocal tariffs” and “retaliatory tariffs.” The reciprocal tariffs put on by Trump are limited to what is needed to deal with “perceived unfair or harmful policies” of other countries. Those tariffs will have an impact on things like input costs of products coming into the U.S., like potash and agrochemicals, the majority of which have active ingredients manufactured in full or in part in other countries, as well as steel and aluminum used in equipment and parts.

Retaliatory tariffs refer to tariffs put on by countries in response to another country’s actions. Those, he said, can be “punitive in nature,” and are not limited. The impact of retaliatory tariffs could be felt in demand and thus commodity prices. China’s retaliatory tariffs could have a major impact on soybeans, in particular, but also other crops and livestock. That includes cattle, of which Tim Petry, NDSU Extension livestock economist, said China has been the No. 3 customer for the U.S.

But there are also other forces at work in the export market to China, with China already cutting off U.S. packing plants from shipping there in March as a protective measure for the country’s own beef industry, Petry said.

The tariffs and trade war also could be felt in the economy, with possibilities of recession, inflation rate hikes and other impacts, Parman said.

What happens next will be determined by many factors, the NDSU experts said, with things like the length of time tariffs are in place and other countries' responses playing a role. Right now, Olson said soybeans are a main ag focus. But if other countries put on retaliatory tariffs, that could change. And Petry said the feeder cattle market was limit down on Friday, April 4, and faces an expanded limit on Monday, which could indicate a big shakeup in what has been a hot market.

Adding additional uncertainty is the possibility that the U.S. will put port fees, in some form, on vessels from China. Matt Gammans, NDSU assistant professor of agricultural policy, said depending on how fees are put in place, that could increase the cost of getting agricultural goods exported from the U.S. Petry said that could be a factor on the beef market, where cuts of meat that are unpopular in the U.S. often are sent to other countries. Added shipping costs could make that less profitable. Announcements on those port fees are expected later in April.

Ag groups are working to continue to build and maintain global connections. Farmers, through checkoff programs, have been investing for years in building market access around the globe. Gackle said the American Soybean Association and U.S. Soybean Export Council — along with other commodity groups — will continue to maintain relationships with buyers in other countries and try to prove the U.S.’s reliability as a trading partner.

“We’re hoping that this leads to maybe some bilateral trade deals and other ways U.S. farmers and U.S. ag in general can be part of a positive trade relationship with other countries,” Gackle said. “But we’re — as farmers — somewhat stuck in the middle of bigger political and trade discussions between the United States and a number of other countries.”

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Midwest SAF industry wants to become the world leader in production

Michael Johnson — Mon, 17 Feb 2025 13:30:00 GMT

Sustainable aviation fuel efforts in the upper Midwest are on the move — and there’s no place better prepared in the world than the Midwest to make it work.

That’s according to Jeff Davidman, Delta Air Lines vice president of state and local government affairs. It’s something he believes in so much that he shared the message to thousands of eventgoers between stops at the South Dakota Corn Conference, Minnesota Ag Expo, both in January, and once again at the Northern Corn and Soybean Expo in West Fargo, North Dakota, on Feb. 4. He even made his first appearance at the Minnesota House Agriculture Finance and Policy committee to boost SAF on Feb. 10.

“If you look at a map of the U.S., it really should be led not just in the U.S., but right here in the Midwest, because all the feedstocks that we need to make SAF are right here for soybeans and others,” Davidman said to the crowd of corn and soybean producers and industry members. “We have a strong history, as everybody in this room knows, of producing biofuel.”

Some recent examples of SAF movement in the upper Midwest include:

Delta Air Lines celebrated its first flight using SAF blended with winter camelina on Sept. 25, 2024, at the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. Gevo received $1.5 billion from the Department of Energy in October 2024 for a SAF facility capable of producing about 65 million gallons of SAF per year. That plant is expected to start in 2026. DG Fuels chose Moorhead in October 2024 as the location of a $5 billion SAF plant capable of producing 193 million gallons of zero- or low-CO2 lifecycle emissions SAF per year. Production is expected to begin in 2030.

These actions are happening, according to Davidman, because there is a growing demand for SAF from the airline industry. The demand is there, he said, yet the industry and technology are just beginning. He says the Midwest has the product and is building an infrastructure that other countries are not comparable to.

SAF can be produced through corn, soybeans, cover crops, forestry residue, municipal solid waste and clean hydrogen. SAF, Davidman believes, can help the aviation industry achieve a goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2050 by replacing conventional jet fuel in aircraft and reducing their carbon footprint. That goal of net zero is shared by The Sustainable Aviation Fuel Grand Challenge, a U.S. government-wide approach to working with industry to reduce cost, enhance sustainability, and expand production to achieve 3 billion gallons per year of domestic sustainable aviation fuel production that achieves a minimum of a 50% reduction in life cycle greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional fuel by 2030 and 100% of projected aviation jet fuel use, or 35 billion gallons of annual production, by 2050.

The trouble is

While net-zero emissions is great, and a product that works is key, it’s not without immense cost, at least initially, to build the necessary infrastructure. Low supply, high demand and costly startups mean it’s currently two to five times more expensive than conventional gas to produce. When asked about the likelihood of SAF growing without government funding in these early stages, Davidman said it would be very difficult.

When asked about the affect that tax credits have on this progress, Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association executive director Brian Werner told the Minnesota House Agriculture Policy and Finance committee that tax credits are critical right now. Rolling back tax credits would make it more challenging, but not impossible, to grow SAF production.

Currently, the federal government’s Inflation Reduction Act includes tax credits that came through in 2022 to support SAF production. That credit can vary from 35 cents to $1.75 per gallon, according to the Congressional Research Service. Investments in SAF have also increased due to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Renewable Fuel Standard, state programs and tax credits incentivizing use of the fuel.

A current regulatory freeze by the Trump administration is adding a hiccup to the Inflation Reduction Act’s Clean Fuel Production Credit or 45Z tax credit. Because regulatory guidance from the U.S. Treasury came out just days before President Donald Trump returned to office, and because the Trump administration issued an executive order entitled “Regulatory Freeze Pending Review,” this and many other funding sources are on hold pending a 60-day review.

"Treasury will ultimately need to formally issue a proposed rule to implement 45Z, accept and consider public comment, and issue a final rule," according to Dr. Adam Schubert, a senior associate at Stillwater Associates, a transportation fuels consulting firm. "This process could easily take a year. Until that happens, industry will continue in an uncomfortable state of being unable to confidently quantify the tax credit associated with their current fuel production. This uncertainty may force some producers, primarily smaller producers with weaker balance sheets, to shut down or restrict operations."

The Minnesota Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Tax Credit provides state tax credit to qualifying taxpayers for producing or blending SAF in the state between July 1, 2024, and June 30, 2030. That credit amount equals $1.50 for each gallon of SAF that is both produced in Minnesota or blended with aviation, gasoline, or jet fuel in Minnesota, and sold in Minnesota to a purchaser who certifies that the SAF is for use as fuel in an aircraft departing from an airport in Minnesota.

What that has done is allow production to blossom. In 2022, 25 million gallons of SAF were produced, increasing to 140 million gallons in 2023 and 340 million gallons in 2024, according to Davidman.

But production is still far from Delta’s goal to reach 400 million gallons by 2030 and 35% of their overall use of fuel by 2035. And Delta is one among many in the industry that want to use SAF.

Delta Air Lines alone uses 4 billion gallons of jet fuel annually, with the U.S. airline industry using 30 billion gallons and the world using 50 billion gallons. The U.S. airline industry aims to replace 10% of conventional jet fuel with SAF by 2030, equating to 3 billion gallons.

“So we have a long way to go to get us to where we want to get to,” he said.

While the current blend is 50/50 SAF and conventional jet fuel, Davidman said a Virgin Airlines flight of 100% SAF was successful. He sees the blend rate continuing to increase over time as it becomes more widely used in the industry. When asked about how jet engines respond to the different fuel, he said it makes no difference.

“So what we can do today is we can take 50% sustainable aviation fuel, we can blend it with 50% conventional jet fuel, and that is ASTM certified,” Davidman said. “That is FAA certified. Our planes don't know the difference. Our engines don't know the difference.”

“There is a global race to be first, and I'm excited to say that we at Minnesota today are near the front of the pack,” said Peter Frosch, CEO of Greater MSP, the House ag committee.

Other regions are currently outpacing the Midwest in production of SAF, but that's largely through the use of used cooking oil. Gevo is the global leader of SAF production, producing about 2.5 billion gallons in 2023.

Frosch explained that the Minnesota SAF Hub has helped to develop a strategy for how to create a pathway for more SAF production. The Minnesota SAF Hub is a public, private partnership working towards creating the supply chain needed to create 1 billion gallons of SAF per year in Minnesota.

To continue to push for SAF production in the state, representatives of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, Delta, Minnesota Farmers Union and Minnesota Bio-Fuels Association spoke about how they can work with the Minnesota legislature to continue to grow the industry. Tax credits are part of that equation.

“Minnesota has plenty of feedstocks ready to go,” she said. “We know that we are going to need everything and anything that’s available to meet the demand.”

Andrea Vaubel, deputy commissioner at the Department of Agriculture, urged the committee to focus on legislation that further boosts the sustainable aviation fuel industry, specifically, continuing the tax credits that can bring new investors to the table and build production efforts.

Vaubel noted that the state supported the tax credit effort at $11.6 million previously and Gov. Tim Walz's proposed budget is calling for further investment.

Davidman said tax credits won't be needed longterm, once the infrastructure and market catches up. He adds that SAF is the best bet right now as electricity will not be powering flights anytime soon.

“We are 75 years away from an electric plane that people would want their families to ride on,” Davidman said.

Jacob Shapiro, a geopolitical speaker, was also one of the session speakers at the Northern Corn and Soybean Expo. He pondered if one of Trump’s moves in Europe would be to get them to invest in U.S. SAF. Europe has the greatest demand for SAF yet they want nothing to do with soybean and corn feedstock, Shapiro said. He suggests that if the U.S. could get Europe to use 15-20% of their feedstock SAF in their blends, it could be a major export opportunity.

But he also spoke about the potential for the U.S. to grow domestic use of its agricultural products at a time when markets are changing around the world. He drew a picture of the rise of South America as the low-cost producer of corn and soybeans in the world, offering other nations a cheaper option over U.S. grains. So if the U.S. continues to lose footing to the growing acreage of Brazil, it may be better to build the domestic market.

“If you are looking for the best potential export market in the future for the United States — let it be the United States,” Shapiro said.

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With grit and dedication, Justin Minnaert returned to his South Dakota farm after a life-altering accident

Ariana Schumacher — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 13:00:00 GMT

LAKE COUNTY, S.D. — Farming has always been the dream for Justin Minnaert.

“I have wanted to farm ever since I was a little kid. I was driving tractors before my feet would even touch the floor,” Justin said. “It’s just always been in my nature. There’s nothing else I’ve ever wanted to do. Whenever I would get out of school, I was always calling my dad and seeing where he was at and what I could do to help. It’s just been in my blood from day one.”

However, it's a dream that easily could have been stripped away from Justin.

In July 2020, he and his dad, Kevin, were helping with a Sioux Valley Cycle Club endurance race where their job was to go around and make sure that the course was clear.

It was just like any other day at the racetrack for the father-son pair. They were able to have a little downtime at the track before the races began that day.

“We sat up on top of the hill and talked about what work we had to do for the rest of the week, fences to fix, cows to check, machinery to get ready” Kevin recalled.

While doing the final check of the track at the end of the race, Justin’s life changed forever.

A portion of the event was on the motocross track, which Justin had ridden on hundreds of times. The course was a couple of miles of hilly terrain.

“I went off of a jump that I’ve done so many times, never thought twice about it,” Justin recalled.

Coming off that jump, Justin hit a rain rut on the downhill landing.

“I went over the bars. The bike caught me in the middle of the back and exploded two of my vertebrae. I was paralyzed instantly,” Justin said.

Luckily, Kevin was right behind him.

“I was 30 seconds behind him. I saw him on the ground, and I came up to him right away,” Kevin said. “The first thing he said to me was ‘I’m sorry dad, but I think I’m paralyzed.'”

Not only had Justin broken two vertebrae, leaving him unable to use his legs, he also had broken several ribs and had a collapsed lung.

“So, I was kind of struggling to breathe at the same time, just a cluster of emotions going on at once,” he said.

The paramedics were still at the track and were able to get Justin stabilized and flown to Sanford Hospital.

Is the farming dream shattered?

Farming wasn’t something that Kevin thought Justin would be able to return to.

“When I saw him in the hospital, you know, it’s something that breaks every father’s heart just seeing their son in that much pain,” Kevin said.

However, he didn’t lose hope.

“I had hope, you know, just let him heal up, get him through the whole trauma process,” Kevin said.

When Justin was feeling somewhat better, Kevin had a heart-to-heart conversation with him.

“I asked him, I said, ‘Justin, what do you want to do?’ And he said, ‘Well dad, I want to keep farming,'” Kevin recalled. “And I said, ‘Well in that case, we are going to make it work.’”

The return to the field

Throughout all his recovery, Justin never lost sight of his goal which, in typical farmer fashion, was to be back in the field for harvest in 2020.

“Harvest is my favorite time of the year. I absolutely love being in the combine,” he said. “That was kind of my goal to drive me to help get myself better and get back and trying to find some form of normal after my life-changing event.”

It’s a goal that Justin achieved.

“I made it for corn harvest. We missed bean harvest, but I made it in time for corn harvest,” he said. “Once I got home, there wasn’t a day that we combined that I wasn’t in the combine.”

For the most part, Justin can do most of the things he used to do on the farm; the way he does them has just changed.

“We do the same thing as everybody else. It just takes us a little longer time to get things done,” Kevin said.

The biggest difference that Justin faces is simply getting into the farm equipment. But he has found a way to make it work, thanks to a lift that has been installed on the back of his pickup. The lift is operated by a remote control.

“I can get the lift to pick up off the back, it swings around, and I get out of the driver’s seat on to the seat on the lift, and then it’ll swing me over and it will put me in basically any piece of equipment that I want to run,” Justin said. “I get in the combine, the semi, the skid steer, the tractor.”

He even uses the lift to do odd jobs too, from lifting things to gutting deer.

“Because it has a high lifting capacity for weight, so we’ve used it to pick up blown semi tires and take them to go get fixed or pick up any random thing,” Justin said.

Most of the tractors and combines are operated by hand anyways, so Justin didn’t have to make many adaptions to the equipment. In the planting and grain cart tractors, they have attached levers to the brake pedals so they can be used by hand.

They have a fully automatic semi that they have built hand controls so that Justin can operate it, while still making it accessible for others on the farm to drive as well.

“So, it doesn’t matter if I’m in there or someone else, we can just jump in there and go,” Justin said.

There are very few things that Justin isn’t able to do on the farm.

“I get out of power washing for the most part, so I mean that’s good and bad both,” he said with a smile. “I can help a little bit sometimes.”

Justin has a track chair that can be used for off-roading. It also can stand him upright.

“When I am in it, I can be fully standing if I need to work on something or sometimes, I’ll help a little bit with the power washing, but I tend to run over the hose more than I do anything,” he said.

Kevin is happy with the adaptions that Justin has made on the farm and is excited to have him back at the operation as the third generation.

“It’s just typical proud father,” Kevin said. “It’s wonderful. It’s back to game on that we’ve had since when he graduated from college. He’s by my side, I’m by his side. We do things side by side.”

“Being able to do a lot of these tasks, it just makes me feel like old me,” Justin said. “It just gives me that sense of self back in that I can still do what I loved before, I just have to take a little more time, and I need a little more help to do what I did before, but I can still farm and do what I love.”

Being a light for others in similar situations

Justin has been an inspiration to people around the state. To Justin, he’s just doing what he has always wanted to do.

“People say ‘oh you’re inspiring’ or whatever, but I don’t know, to me, it’s not. To me, I just wanted to come home, and I want to keep doing what I did before,” he said. “My worst days are the days where I’m not doing anything, so I just like to keep moving forward.”

Justin’s goal in sharing his story is to help others.

“I just want to help those that end up in either my situation or a similar situation and just show them that there is, you know, hope after an injury like mine, because those first days, weeks, hours, after having something like this happen, such life altering, it’s dark,” he said.

To parents in similar situations, Kevin offers words of encouragement as well.

“It’s tough. It’s extremely tough,” he said. “You go through a lot of ups and downs, but don’t give up. If he’s willing and you’re willing both to make it work, then do it.”

Through Game Plan 4 Hope, Justin had been connected with another person in a wheelchair, something that really helped him through his recovery.

“Just seeing that person in a chair and kind of having their life together like it truly does give you that hope that like, hey this isn’t going to be the end, we are going to overcome it,” Justin said.

This year, he received the Governor’s award for Outstanding Individual with a Disability.

“I was really blown away,” Justin said. “I had zero idea that I was even nominated for such an award. As I started piecing things together, they told me who it was that nominated me, and they told me some of the other information they had known about different things I had done, and things started clicking, and I was like some family members must have been up to some stuff behind my back that I didn’t know about. They did a really good job of playing shocked.”

It's an achievement Justin says he never would have accomplished alone.

“I’m the one in the chair, but I get to keep doing what I do because of the love of my family and my friends and my community,” he said. “They’ve wrapped their arms around me so graciously, and it makes it so much easier to just continue doing what I love because of them.”

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Harvest turned hazardous: Michigan farmer's quick escape from power line disaster

Ariana Schumacher — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 13:00:00 GMT

MCBAIN, M.I. & BRANDON, S.D. — Sept. 12 was the first day of the corn chopping season at the Lucky 7 Dairy in McBain, Michigan, and easily could’ve been the last for farm owner J.P. Koop.

As the farm crew prepared to kick off the season, they came together for a safety meeting to get a refresher on things to be aware of as they started to chop corn. At the end of that meeting, the crew said a prayer for safety, a prayer that Koop said saved his life.

Then they went out and started to open the corn fields.

At about 1 p.m., Koop was opening a field with the chopper when the driver whose truck he was filling warned him that he was getting close to a high-voltage power line.

That warning didn’t come soon enough.

“As soon as he said that, as quick as I could turn around, I hit the line,” Koop recalled.

Once the chopper made contact with the power line, it essentially welded itself to the chute on the chopper. Within seconds, it had blown the hydraulic cylinder that holds the chute up and started the chopper on fire.

“I looked back, I saw that happen, then I quick look forward and the head of my chopper looked like there was ten welders welding on it from all the sparks and stuff flying out of the head of the chopper,” Koop said.

He had only seconds to figure out what he was going to do next. He started by turning off the chopper. He then opened the door on the chopper and saw that the back tires had already exploded and were on fire and the front tires were also on fire.

“I knew that with the amount of voltage going through there that if the rims came in contact with the ground, at least that’s what I assumed, I would get electrocuted,” he said. “So, I roll it around in my mind for a few split seconds. Do I jump? Is that the safest thing to do? They always say stay with the vehicle, but I knew the vehicle wasn’t going to be safe to be on at all in a matter of seconds.”

Koop assumed there would be a breaker on the power line that would kick off and make it stop. But that is not the case because it was a main transmission line.

So, he decided it was best to get away from the vehicle as quickly as possible.

“I decided to jump. I stood up on the hand railing of the chopper and bent my knees and jumped as hard as I could away from the chopper,” Koop said. “The ground was kind of smoking and before I jumped, it went through my mind, I’m either going to die in the chopper or probably die on the ground.”

The handrail is around 10 feet off of the ground. He thankfully fell forward, but there was still voltage in the ground.

“I jumped and hit the ground, and I could feel power go through my hands and my knees and my feet. I couldn’t really stand up, so I crawled away until I got out of that ripple effect to the power and was able to stand up,” Koop said. “Once I did, I was able to kind of half stumble and run away because I didn’t want the power lines to fall on me.”

Within a matter of 10 to 15 minutes, the chopper was destroyed.

“It burned up so fast and the tanks blew up everything, the cab and everything,” he said.

The heat caused the power line to burn and fall down, which caused it to ground itself out.

Koop was checked out in the ambulance and was told to go to the hospital. His doctors were shocked to discover he had no burns anywhere and the shock only caused a slight effect to his heart, which they were able to get back into rhythm.

The doctors, the power company employees and emergency responders all told Koop he shouldn’t have been able to survive an incident like that.

“It sinks in more everyday how God had protected me through all that and there was a number of things that could have happened that would have taken my life,” Koop said. “But I can see his providence by me sitting here talking to you today.”

A common occurrence

While Koop’s story is an amazing one, power line accidents are a common occurrence.

Terry Ebright, manager of safety at Sioux Valley Energy in Brandon, South Dakota, says that they report power line incidents every month.

“We generally have farmers that get tangled up in the overhead lines, maybe knock a pole over, or at times. Even with our underground equipment, we’ve got green boxes that sit along the edge of the fields, and they’ll get too close to them, they may run them over or just slide it off the pad,” Ebright said. “Believe it or not, a lot of lawnmower incidents out on the farms of people mowing lawns hit a transformer. Zero turns move pretty quickly so they can knock them right off the pad with those too.”

Safety meetings are something both Ebright and Koop say are important to have on the farm.

“Every farmer should have some sort of tailgate conference or a little meeting with either hired men or the members of the family that are going to help on the farm. Have one in the spring before they start planting and have one in the fall before they start their harvest,” Ebright said. “Then maybe take the time once a week, just pull them back together and give them reminders and include the overhead and underground power lines.”

“It’s very important on a farm. There’s a lot of ways to die,” Koop said.

Some of the things that Koop discusses during his crew’s safety meetings include situational awareness, watching the equipment, watching for traffic, understanding that you are operating big equipment and knowing how to position the equipment.

Ebright says that while hazards on the farm like PTO shafts and working in grain bins are often talked about, power lines need to be included in those farm safety conversations.

“The power lines are the ones that we drive by them every day, and we just get accustomed to them being there, and we forget about them,” he said. “I think it’s a real hazard and one that we need to remind the people that are going in and out of the fields of.”

Power line safety

There are several power line safety tips that Ebright would like to remind farmers of this harvest season:

If you’ve purchased any equipment, check the ride heights on them to ensure you will not be hitting power lines. If you do have an incident with a power line, stay in or on the equipment. Do not exit unless someone has given you the OK to do so. However, if the equipment is on fire, you do need to exit. In that case, you should jump clear of the piece of equipment, never touching it and the ground at the same time. Once you jump, hop or shuffle your feet to get away at least 30 feet.

Electrical things to steer clear of include transformers, power lines, underground pedestals and large switch gear, which can cost upwards of $100,000 to replace if they are hit.

“So, there’s also a financial deal here too. You’re going to want to be careful to not damage that equipment, because you’ll be responsible for it financially as well,” Ebright said.

If someone does hit or damage something electrical, Ebright says to call 911. Those dispatchers will get ahold of the area electrical cooperative’s dispatch center.

As for Koop, while he is still shaken up from the incident, he is back in the chopper seat finishing what he started.

“I had to, I had to get back in,” he said. “I was very nervous. Actually yesterday [Sept. 18], we chopped the field that I opened up last week. I knew we were going to have to do it. We drove by that chopper a number of times and just yeah, it was little sweaty palms and watching everything and just being that much more aware of your surroundings."

Koop says following the accident, he and his crew are doing an even better job of communicating with each other during corn chopping and are staying more aware of power lines. In the future, he plans to give a wide space between the crops and the power lines.

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A time for nostalgia and a time to get it done

Michael Johnson — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 10:30:00 GMT

I have a lot of nostalgic memories of growing up on my parents' dairy and crop farm in rural Verndale, Minnesota.

That’s often what has me wanting to go back to it to relive some of those moments in time. It’s important to remember that what I did on the farm may sometimes have been helpful, but was little in the overall operation's day-to-day success. For a farm to succeed takes planning, execution, endless work and the willingness to learn from others and your mistakes. It can be a dangerous place and not every moment will give you warm fuzzy feelings. You can’t simply do things out of nostalgia and hope for success.

Trust me, we’ve figured that out as we ventured into the romantic world of market gardening. You have visions of beautiful displays of vegetables, canned goods, flowers, baked breads and flowing honey. Using no sprays makes us feel good, but I can see how it does not work on larger scales. America’s farmers understand what it takes to feed, fuel and clothe, and it’s not going back to a majestic team of horses to manage your field work.

Our high tunnel has at times been heavy with crops ready to be devoured. Yes, we were able to put that on display at least one day a week for customers to see the best of the best at the local farmers market, but we weren’t inviting them to see the frustrations that we faced in the field.

Our social media posts showed the best of the best, but behind the scenes were hours under the sun pulling weeds, plucking potato bugs, chasing chickens, deterring deer, making sure everyone has enough water, but not too much. The salad greens were at times great, other times bitter. Just when some squash were ready, they were chewed on by a pack of vicious voles. When the grass is cut, weeds pulled and flowers are in bloom, you might for a fainting moment take it in and enjoy it, but just wait a few more moments for the weather to turn nasty and put your hopes in a tizzy. It wasn't always pretty, but we found it was worthwhile.

Now, I still believe farming is romantic. And as much as some in agriculture want you to remove that idea from your brain, please reconsider. The way I see it, there has to be more about farming than just collecting a paycheck. If that’s all it is, then there are far easier ways to make money.

I returned to the family farm now run by my brother and his wife this weekend. I wanted to help with the silage chopping process and had visions of the days when I’d haul silage boxes brimming with fragrant corn silage back to the farm. Instead of a tractor, I drove my brother’s truck back and forth from field to farm. I’ll admit, some of the charm of the chore was lost with the comforts of a pickup truck and the open road. It meant more time dealing with impatient drivers instead of gear jamming down two-track farm trails.

But it made more sense when the field was miles away on rented ground to use the faster mode of transportation. The rest of the process was quite similar, though my brother has broken the sacred code of “only Ford tractors on the farm” by using an AGCO-Allis to chop with. Just kidding. Whatever gets the job done is the right tractor to use, in my book. And it handled the chore well.

Chopping went well. The dryland corn is beautiful this year. Last year, the corn was so crisp from drought it wasn't even appetizing to the deer.

The silage still smells sweet and takes me back to those days when dried corn leaves would float across the farm yard each September, back when we filled the farm’s two concrete silos to the brim in order to feed our young stock and a small group of dairy cows that kept the big barn warm through the coldest days of winter.

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Iowa Utilities Commission issues pipeline permit to Summit Carbon Solutions

Kennedy Tesch — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 16:00:00 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Utilities Commission on Aug. 28 issued a pipeline permit to Summit Carbon Solutions for their proposed 688-mile carbon dioxide pipeline that is slated to cut through 29 Iowa counties to transport liquefied carbon dioxide en route to North Dakota, where it will be permanently sequestered underground.

The IUC found that Summit Carbon Solutions “has substantially complied with the requirements of the IUC’s June 25, 2024, order regarding the company's application for a hazardous liquid pipeline permit.”

In June, the IUC approved Summit’s application for a permit but required the company to submit numerous revised exhibits as compliance filings for the board’s review, prior to the board issuing the permit or Summit Carbon commencing construction. Summit was also granted the right to use eminent domain because the Board found that the public benefits of the pipeline outweigh the public and private costs of the project.

However, several conditions were established during the approval of the application and will be attached to the permit as well, including but not limited to requiring Summit to obtain and maintain at least a $100 million insurance policy, complying with certain construction methods, and ensuring landowners and tenants are compensated for damages that may result from the construction of Summit Carbon’s hazardous liquid pipeline.

As part of another stipulation upon issuing the permit, the project cannot begin construction in the state until it has obtained agency-level approval for a route and sequestration site in North Dakota and a route in South Dakota.

On Aug. 5, Summit Carbon Solutions submitted the compliance filings required by the IUC. The Board said “issuing the permit does not modify the conditions Summit Carbon must establish in order to start construction.”

“The Iowa Utilities Commission issued Summit Carbon Solutions’ base pipeline permit, marking a major milestone for Summit along with farmers and ethanol producers as we seek access to new markets like sustainable aviation fuel by lowering ethanol’s carbon intensity score,” said a spokesperson from Summit Carbon Solutions. “With corn prices below production costs, farmers are facing tough times. This pipeline will grow markets and work with ethanol partners to drive economic growth, supporting the long-term viability of our farmers and rural communities.”

Status of Summit in other states

In 2021, Summit announced proposal plans for their Midwest Carbon Express, a pipeline that would capture carbon dioxide from 57 ethanol plants in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota and carry it to North Dakota, where it would be stored underground.

While Summit is making headway on their proposed pipeline project in Iowa, the South Dakota Supreme Court issued a ruling on Aug. 22 which determined that Summit Carbon Solutions has not proven that it is a common carrier and cannot at this time use eminent domain to survey land. Additionally, the Court ruled that CO2 is not a commodity, unlike what many proponents of the pipeline have long argued.

A spokesperson from Summit told Agweek they will evaluate the South Dakota Supreme Court's decision and "look forward to providing the information requested to the District Court that reaffirms their role as a common carrier, and that CO2 is a commodity."

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is taking comments on a route through Wilkin and Otter Tail counties in Minnesota through Sept. 11. Comments may also be submitted online at https://mn.gov/puc/consumers/public-comments or by email at consumer.puc@state.mn.us. Comments can be mailed to the Consumer Affairs Office Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, 121 7th Place East, Suite 350 St. Paul, MN 55101.

Briefs in the route case were due July 22, and the PSC has not yet released its decision. The North Dakota Industrial Commission will decide on the permit for the sequestration sites.

The state of Nebraska in February 2024 denied Summit's application there, and the company has not begun the reapplication process.

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South Dakota Supreme Court sides with landowners, says Summit Carbon Solutions cannot use eminent domain

Kennedy Tesch — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 21:17:05 GMT

PIERRE, S.D. — The South Dakota Supreme Court unanimously issued a ruling which determined that Summit Carbon Solutions is not a common carrier and cannot use eminent domain to survey land.

This decision, released on Thursday, Aug. 22, is considered a major victory for landowners and those opposed to the proposed pipeline project. The court ruled that Summit is not a common carrier and did not provide evidence to prove that they are a common carrier, and furthermore, that CO2 is not a commodity, unlike what many proponents of the pipeline have long argued.

Ed Fischbach, a farmer near Mellette, South Dakota, and an impacted landowner, helped lead the opposition against Summit and said that without the ability for the company to use eminent domain, the entire project could be off the table considering contingencies surrounding South Dakota put in place by states such as Iowa and North Dakota.

“This validates everything we have been saying since we started this fight over three and a half years ago,” Fischbach said. “The Supreme Court upheld every one of our arguments, totally rejecting all the arguments that all the proponents of this pipeline have been making for the last three and a half years.”

The proposed pipeline would run through 18 counties across South Dakota, and when Summit began surveying on private land without consent, a group of landowners began to push back and filed a lawsuit saying that the company had overstepped its legal abilities on surveys of private land.

The Supreme Court’s ruling also overturns a previous circuit court summary judgment on common carrier issues, saying it was “premature to conclude that SCS is a common carrier, especially where the record before us suggests that CO2 is being shipped and sequestered underground with no apparent productive use.”

Fischbach believes the new ruling will now give grounds for affected landowners to seek justice.

“This decision now opens the door for any landowner that was violated in any invasive surveys they did, to now come back and go after Summit for damages, if they wish,” Fischbach said.

Although the ruling proves a big win for opponents of the pipeline, Jim Eschenbaum, chairman of the South Dakota Property Rights and Local Control Alliance and a Hand County commissioner, said the group will continue to advocate against Referred Law 21, or more commonly known as Senate Bill 201, which would regulate carbon pipelines and require payments to landowners and counties but also would allow South Dakota Public Utilities Commission decisions in pipeline permits to automatically overrule local setback rules.

"Our goal has not changed. Referred Law 21 is still bad legislation that could have future ramifications, no matter how this Supreme Court decision affects Summit Carbon Solutions,” Eschenbaum said. “We are still asking South Dakotans to learn about Referred Law 21, and vote 'no' in November."

Summit Carbon Solutions said they will evaluate the South Dakota Supreme Court's decision and "look forward to providing the information requested to the District Court that reaffirms their role as a common carrier, and that CO2 is a commodity."

“The economic impact of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) on rural America is significant, and will greatly benefit agriculture and farmers,” said a spokesperson for Summit Carbon Solutions in a statement. “We are committed to ensuring that these benefits reach communities across our project footprint as we continue to be a valuable partner in this growing market, and look forward to progressing this project.”

Status of Summit in other states

South Dakota is not the only state for which Summit Carbon Solutions is working to secure permits.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is taking comments on a route through Wilkin and Otter Tail counties in Minnesota through Sept. 11. Comments may also be submitted online at https://mn.gov/puc/consumers/public-comments or by email at consumer.puc@state.mn.us. Comments can be mailed to Consumer Affairs Office Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, 121 7th Place East, Suite 350 St. Paul, MN 55101.

The Iowa Utilities Board on June 25 unanimously approved Summit Carbon Solutions' application to construct, maintain and operate a carbon dioxide pipeline in Iowa. However, the ruling also said Summit cannot begin construction in Iowa until the necessary permits are secured in South Dakota and North Dakota.

In North Dakota, two types of permits are required — one for the construction of the pipeline and the other for the sequestration facility. The state Public Service Commission in August 2023 denied Summit's first attempt at a route permit. The company applied again with a new route and also applied for the sequestration permit. The hearing process is complete for both permits. Briefs in the route case were due July 22, and the PSC has not yet released its decision. The North Dakota Industrial Commission will decide on the permit for the sequestration sites.

The state of Nebraska in February 2024 denied Summit's application there , and the company has not begun the reapplication process.

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Farmers may need to ‘suck it up and sell’ in difficult market outlook, officials say

Michael Johnson — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 16:44:47 GMT

MORGAN, Minn. — Minnesota’s farmers could smile about cooler weather as Minnesota Farmfest kicked off on Tuesday, Aug. 6, even if they had little to smile about related to their marketing options amid what’s been a significant drop in grain prices in 2024.

That negative tone could be felt by CHS grain originator Patti Uhrich, who joked that her title would be more accurate as “therapist” following the more rosy marketing conditions of 2023. She tries to walk producers through these difficult marketing decisions daily in her work.

“It is tough. It is hard for you, it’s hard for us,” Uhrich said.

Farmfest runs from Tuesday, Aug. 6, to Thursday, Aug. 8, at the Gilfillan Estate, 7 miles southeast of Redwood Falls. The show uses 50 acres of land to showcase products, services and technologies from over 500 exhibitors and vendors. Farmfest traditionally features panels and debates on farm policy and political races.

Uhrich offered some marketing tips including having a marketing plan and sticking to that plan. She shared that communication is key between buyers and sellers. She suggested producers take any increase in prices as an opportunity to sell.

“Suck it up and sell,” Ulrich said bluntly to a question about those holding on to 2023 unpriced grain. “I hate to say that, but let it go.”

Some producers may need to sell well below their expectations and below production costs.

“If we see a cash price that is above breakeven or is profitable, we need to take advantage of that,” Uhrich said. “And your risk is low. You know what you are going to get.”

A question from the audience was whether the prices had hit bottom. Uhrich said that, seasonally, that would be the case. She was hopeful that they had.

“Is the low in? We can all hope so,” Uhrich said.

But with an outlook of excellent crops in large parts of the Corn Belt, including estimates of 300 bushel corn in Illinois, it does not look like supply is going to go down very soon.

“We’ve got a lot of supply and we don't have very much demand. I don't know if the low is in there,” she said.

According to a chart Uhrich showed, seasonally, this would be the time prices bottom out.

Safety net security

This year is one in which producers will likely lean into crop insurance for support as many see moisture damage and reduced prices. It was brought up time after time among producers that crop insurance needs to remain strong or be stronger as they look toward a new farm bill. The farm bill is a topic of further discussion Wednesday morning at Farmfest at a panel discussion aptly named “Farm Bill Fatigue.”

Darin Johnson, president of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, said crop insurance support would be vital for farmers like him where he farms in Wells. He said conditions were the worst they’ve been in 25 years for growing due to excessive moisture. It’s going to be a year where marketing decisions are going to be tough for those with remaining stocks.

“We are well below the cost of production in most cases,” Johnson said. He said different marketers are trying to help get grain sold, but he sees plenty of grain remaining in storage as the next harvest is coming into sight.

Poor growing in Minnesota is not putting enough pressure on the market to cause a significant rise in prices, yet. Farmfest organizer and moderator Kent Thiesse posed the question to Uhrich if she felt that the estimated 181.3 bushels per acre for Minnesota was realistic given the poor growing conditions in southern Minnesota.

“I really don’t think it’s realistic,” she said. She felt growing troubles go well beyond Minnesota this year.

If yield estimates are reduced, it’s unlikely to be seen until USDA’s January report, Uhrich explained.

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US ag exports shrinking: Officials search for answers amid $20 billion deficit

Brooks Johnson / Star Tribune — Sun, 10 Mar 2024 12:28:00 GMT

When Land O'Lakes CEO Beth Ford urged the Biden administration to help boost ag exports last fall, the country was headed for its worst agricultural trade deficit on record.

It got worse.

The U.S. imported $20 billion more in agricultural goods than it exported last year, a striking reversal from a longstanding trade surplus as the fallout from President Trump's trade war with China continues to hurt American farmers. Brazil continues to gain market share selling corn and soybeans to China, and global trade alliances shifted during years of supply chain troubles.

Pandemic disruption may be partly to blame for the lost exports, but the trade war caused lasting damage to America's trade relationships.

"In addition to the loss of billions suffered by American farmers and higher food prices in China, the trade war has altered production and trade structure of soybean and other agricultural products," according to a 2022 review in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs. Minnesota produced $4.3 billion of soybeans last year.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts an even larger trade deficit this year — $30 billion — as exports fall and imports continue to climb.

"Alarm bells are going off," said Tina May, Land O'Lakes chief of staff.

Ford, a member of the President's Export Council that advises the executive branch on international trade, pitched four ideas backed by dozens of ag trade groups to rejuvenate exports.

"In total, the food and agriculture sector exports about 20% of production," she told the council in November. "This proposal puts us in position to reclaim and retain our lead. These recommendations focus on a continuation of the United States' leadership amid a dynamic and disrupted global environment."

The export council unanimously approved the four recommendations, which includes greater federal collaboration to encourage domestic production of crop inputs like fertilizers; creation of an ag trade agenda aimed at expanding promotion of various goods while eliminating tariffs and trade barriers; enforce existing trade agreements and improve the process for resolving disputes; and to lead on international sustainability and climate efforts that emphasize "voluntary, incentive-based programs."

May spoke with the Star Tribune about the importance of boosting farm and food exports. The conversation was edited for length.

Q: The U.S. agricultural trade deficit exploded last year. What happened?

A: Put simply, we imported more than we exported. Ag trade has been plateauing. For the first time in the last 10 years, we have an ag trade deficit, and it's now topping over $30 billion.

Some of this stems from supply chain challenges during (the COVID-19 pandemic), when some of the supply chains got reset. And what you see is some trading partners stepping in where they didn't historically. So for example, the United States lost our status as the top exporter on a couple of big commodities to China. Brazil overtook us, and that is going to be hard to get back.

Q: What is so important about making sure we export more than we import?

A: One in four rows of corn, one in three rows of soybeans, 18% of domestic milk production and 27% of pork production is exported. And 95% of consumers are outside of the United States. That's fundamentally why this issue is so important: So United States farmers have market access for the goods that they may grow.

Q: The plan has some pretty high-level policy priorities. Can you give an example or two of what this can look like in practice?

A: This allows USDA to have a bigger seat at the table when it comes to talking about trade, negotiating trade deals. And we felt like that was critically important. Now, USDA has done a good job, they've taken steps where they can on trade promotion. But some of this is around the edges. We need both Congress and the administration to work together on market access for agriculture.

One of the things that is a bit of a bright spot is how the Minnesota delegation is working together on this issue. It's very bipartisan.

There are a couple of trade promotions included in the farm bill — we need to get the farm bill done.

Q: When it comes to Land O'Lakes, how much of your business depends on international trade? And what members and parts of the cooperative are most impacted?

A: It's about market access for all growers. If you talk to local co-ops, they're constantly thinking about export markets. You've got local co-ops that built infrastructure to get commodities to the export market, to get grain to the river for barge, to build a shuttle loader to get 111 rail cars to a port to get on a ship. It matters more than folks think.

For Land O'Lakes we don't invest in infrastructure like that, like CHS does, for example. But for us, it's about positioning our farmer-owner-members to allow them to have that market access. Land O'Lakes was started in 1921 by 100 farmers that got together here in the Upper Midwest, for the purpose of market access to population centers on the East Coast. You know, here we are 102 years later, and it's the same issue.

Q: Food prices are top of mind for most consumers coming off some pretty wild inflation. How does trade policy affect the cost of food at the grocery store?

A: Both imports and exports, it all matters so much, and we saw during COVID how those supply chains getting reset impacted everything — and how these additional costs go into the price of food on the shelf.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar had our trade ambassador in Minnesota for the State Fair, and they talked about inflation while eating corn dogs and how trade was so important to that.

Q: Anything else to add?

A: The importance of this issue is in national security. Some of those trading partners have really shifted in the past couple of years, which is why this deficit is increasing and so important. With the United States now not being the largest trading partner to some of these countries, who is? And what does that mean for relationships globally? And if we're not stepping in, it's leaving the playing field open for another country or another actor to step in and provide that economic opportunity to that country. And what does that mean more broadly?

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Vilsack, Walz express confidence EPA will issue emergency E15 waiver for 2024

Noah Fish — Wed, 06 Mar 2024 18:31:21 GMT

USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz have expressed confidence that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will issue an emergency waiver to allow E15 to remain available this summer.

Vilsack discussed the USDA’s ongoing efforts with regard to sustainable aviation fuel during a Feb. 28 congressional hearing, and Walz spoke with Agweek on March 1.

Vilsack spoke on the likelihood of an emergency waiver by the EPA before the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, during a hearing that was focused on USDA oversight and the upcoming Farm Bill.

The ag secretary said he is "confident" that the EPA will issue an emergency waiver allowing E15 sales to continue nationwide this summer, and that he expects that waiver to be released in April.

“I am pretty sure they will have the resources and the data necessary to make the decision and have the decision stick,” Vilsack said of the emergency waiver.

Emergency waivers for E15 sales were implemented by the EPA for the 2022 and 2023 summer seasons.

When questioned by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, on USDA's advocacy for sustainable aviation fuels, Vilsack said the USDA has two priorities.

The first is to advocate for a tax credit that allows for a broad range of feedstocks, including traditional feedstocks that are used to make biofuels, to qualify for the tax credits and incentives through the Inflation Reduction Act.

The second priority, Vilsack said, is for USDA to provide the logistics behind the availability of the feedstock and for the supply chain, and how to accelerate the adoption and commercialization of sustainable aviation fuel.

“Part of my responsibility is to articulate the need, the science behind that,” Vilsack said.

He said the agency has been "successful" in getting the GREET (Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy Use in Technologies) model incopororated in that process, but USDA won't release that updated model for a few weeks.

During the Feb. 28 hearing, Vilsack said the U.S. set a goal to produce 36 billion gallons of sustainable aviation fuel.

“We have to accelerate dramatically the commercialization and availability,” Vilsack said of SAF. “We have to figure out the tools we can use at USDA, our loan programs and so forth, to try to accelerate that.”

Nearly two years ago, several Midwestern governors filed petitions with the EPA requesting that the agency remove the 1-psi Reid vapor pressure waiver for summer gasoline-ethanol blended fuels, which would effectively allow E15 to be sold year-round within their states.

On Feb. 22, the EPA issued its final rule that will allow E15 to be sold year-round in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin beginning in 2025. The rule was met with a mix of approval and disappointment by the ethanol industry, upset by the delay in implementation. North Dakota was originally part of that group of governors filing the petition but later opted out.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz called the EPA rule a "win" but said there was more work to be done. He said he was disappointed by the delay to 2025 and would push for the White House to release an emergency waiver for the summer.

"It's just smart," he said of the EPA approving a 2024 waiver. "We're part of the solution, and our advanced biofuels are a key piece of markets and tackling the environmental challenges."

The governor said Minnesota is a leader in E15, and the U.S. has the potential to be a leader in sustainable aviation fuel.

"It's our ethanol industry that has made us global leading on sustainable aviation fuel — the next leap as we go forward," Walz said. "So the sooner we can get that in permanently, I think the better for consumers, better for producers, better for a move towards more sustainable fuels."

The EPA is required by statute to respond to petitions for an emergency waiver within 90 days, but it took the agency two years to release an action on the Midwest E15 requests.

"I do think they'll issue some of these waivers, and I think the states like us here, who have led on this, and have the capacity to do it, and are ready to go — we'll certainly be advocating for it," Walz said. "The emergency waivers are a fix in the meantime, but I wish they would have just done this for 2024."

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