A Big Crowd At Buffer Meeting In Owatonna

Last Saturday the Steele County Farmers Union, along with the Steele County Corn and Soybean Growers, sponsored a meeting on Gov. Mark Dayton's buffer proposal. Commissioner of Agriculture Dave Frederickson, DNR officials, and state representatives and senators were there to listen to what farmers and citizens thought of the proposal. There is a law on the books requiring a buffer strip of one rod, or 16 feet, 6 inches, along all public ditches, rivers and streams. Private ditches are not included in the current law.

Dayton's proposal was to increase the buffer strip to 50 feet on all drainage ditches, rivers and creeks in Minnesota. I have seen estimates saying that will take about 125,000 acres out of production in Minnesota. The majority of farmers at the meeting were in favor of buffer strips, but the 50-foot one-size-fits-all was not very popular. In some areas, a 50-foot buffer strip might not be enough, and in others it would not need to be 50 feet. One farmer said water would have to run uphill to get to into his drainage ditch.

While there is a buffer bill moving through the Minnesota Legislature, there are a lot of details to be worked out before it could pass.