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The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) has announced the recipients of its 2024 Noxious Weed and Invasive Plant Grant. Eleven projects totaling $150,000 were awarded though the grant.

The money awarded to cities, counties, townships, conservation districts, and tribal nations will be used to purchase equipment and supplies, conduct mapping, outreach activities, and hire private applicators to manage noxious weeds.

Noxious weeds are plants that have the potential or are known to be harmful to human or animal health, the environment, public roads, crops, livestock, or other property. There are currently 57 plants on Minnesota’s Noxious Weed List.

Grant projects were awarded up to $15,000 to be spent in one year to support local activity.

The MDA has awarded over $1,500,000 since 2017 to local municipalities and tribal nations for projects that focus on noxious weeds throughout the state.

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Media Contact
Brittany Raveill, MDA Communications
651-201-6131
Brittany.Raveill@state.mn.us

Ahead of the planting season, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is reminding farmers of proper storage guidelines for bulk fertilizer.

Bulk liquid fertilizer can contaminate soil, surface water, and groundwater if a storage tank or pipe leaks. Dry fertilizer can also leach into the environment if it is placed on the ground and mixes with snow and rain.

To limit the risk of environmental impacts, liquid fertilizer tanks must be inside a containment system that will hold any spills. This is called secondary containment. Dry fertilizer must be stored on an impervious surface and in a roofed area that will protect its contents from the elements. There may be other requirements depending on the location of the stored dry fertilizer.

Farmers storing any amount of dry bulk fertilizer on the farm must get an MDA bulk storage permit. Farmers must also get an MDA permit if they’re storing more than 6,000 gallons of liquid fertilizer.

The storage permit application must include drawings for secondary containment. An application, along with a $100 fee, must be submitted prior to the start of construction or storage of any dry fertilizer or more than 6,000 gallons of liquid fertilizer. The permit application can be found on the MDA website.

Failing to comply with bulk fertilizer storage requirements may result in further enforcement actions by the MDA. Contamination from a release may also result in a costly environmental cleanup that could be averted when liquid bulk fertilizer tanks or dry fertilizer is in an MDA permitted containment. As a reminder, a release of fertilizer into the environment is an incident that must be immediately reported to the Minnesota Duty Officer at 1-800-422-0798. 

For more information on bulk storage and permits, contact Matthew Parins at 651-201-6587 or Matthew.Parins@state.mn.us.

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Media Contact
Allen Sommerfeld, MDA Communications
651-201-6185
Allen.Sommerfeld@state.mn.us

Minnesota educators looking for summer professional development opportunities are encouraged to register for Minnesota Ag in the Classroom’s (MAITC) Summer Teacher Tours. The tours, taking place this June and July, will provide participants with the chance to acquire new agricultural skills and knowledge to bring back to their classrooms.

“Whether you consider yourself an ag novice or expert, our Summer Teacher Tours offer unique hands-on experiences to learn more about this important Minnesota industry,” said MAITC education specialist Sue Knott. “Each tour highlights different examples of agriculture in action that educators can use to help teach their students core concepts in science, social studies, language arts, math, and nutrition in fresh ways.”

This summer’s tours include:

• The Hands that Feed Us (Mankato, MN; June 18): Discover the journey your food takes from farm to plate by learning directly from the hands that feed us: farmers. On this tour, you will have the opportunity to tour and connect with those who are growing and raising food for not only their local communities, but the world.
• Orchard to Market (White Bear Lake, MN; July 9): Follow the journey of locally grown apples and learn about how this tasty fruit is researched, grown, and made into delicious products in the Twin Cities. Participants will get a behind-the-scenes look at Pine Tree Apple Orchard, BIX Produce Co., and Bailey Nurseries.
• Farm, Fiber, and Fabrication (Bemidji, MN; July 22): This tour will provide an immersive look at the fabrication and manufacturing processes that have ties to many ag businesses; how fibers like wool are used to create garments, blankets and more; and how local farms carry out their production and conservation efforts.

Tours are open to any Minnesota K-12 educator, regardless of previous agriculture knowledge or experience. The deadline to register is June 1, 2024, though early bird pricing is currently available through April 15.

For further details on each tour and to register, visit MAITC’s Summer Teacher Tour web page. MAITC is a partnership between the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the MAITC Foundation that seeks to increase agricultural literacy through K-12 education.

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Media Contact
Logan Schumacher, MDA Communications
651-201-6193
Logan.Schumacher@state.mn.us

Those wanting to grow and process hemp in Minnesota in 2024 must apply for a license with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) by April 30. To date, about 113 people have applied for an MDA license. A license from the MDA is required for individuals and businesses.

Applications must be submitted by April 30, 2024, and a license is valid for the 2024 calendar year.

The application can be found on the MDA website. Along with the online form, first-time applicants and authorized representatives need to submit fingerprints and pass a criminal background check. These licenses are for growing and processing industrial hemp only. The hemp grower or processor application is not for the growth or sale of adult-use or medical cannabis. The application is also not intended for the sale of hemp-derived cannabinoid products. Adult-use cannabis information can be found on the Office of Cannabis Management website. Information related to medical cannabis and hemp-derived cannabinoid products can be found at the Minnesota Department of Health website.

Growers and processors need to be aware of the following for 2024:

• All authorized representatives designated by the applicant must pass a criminal history background check prior to the issuance of a license.
• Every lot of hemp grown requires pre-harvest THC regulatory testing. Each official regulatory sample collected by the MDA will cost $100.
• The MDA licenses processors that handle raw hemp and initially process it by extraction, decortication, devitalization, crushing, or packaging, and the department will continue random inspections of processor locations.
• License fees will remain the same. The minimum cost of a grower license is $400. A processing license is a minimum of $500.

Questions about the MDA’s Industrial Hemp Program should be sent to hemp.mda@state.mn.us or 651-201-6600.

Background

Industrial hemp and marijuana are both types of the same plant, Cannabis sativa. They differ by the concentration level of the psychoactive compound tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) within the plant. Hemp has less than 0.3% THC, and levels above that are considered marijuana.

Minnesota operated under a hemp pilot program from 2016-2020. In 2021, the program began operating under a new, federally approved state plan that governs production and regulation.

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Media Contact
Brittany Raveill, MDA Communications
651-201-6131
Brittany.Raveill@state.mn.us