Agriculture in the Era of an Urban Legislature

By Myron Just

While the rural-to-urban shift in population has been occurring steadily for decades, only in recent years has the trend began to manifest itself in state politics.

After the U.S. census takes a head count every 10 years, each state must then reapportion its legislature to recognize the population shift that has taken place. In N.D., we now know that over half of the state’s population lives near the eastern border. Two-thirds of people in Minnesota live in the Twin Cities area, and the ten-county metro area is projected to grow by another million people over the next 20 years.

How do these demographic shifts affect the makeup of the legislature, political power, agricultural legislation and state budgets?

While North Dakota is technically more urban from a population standpoint, in many respects it is still a rural state, and urban lawmakers’ views reflect that.  Agriculture is still highly respected, and there is great concern by legislators in areas such as Grand Forks and Fargo about rural issues. Indeed, many urban legislators in N.D. are only one generation removed from a farm or rural area, and many still consider the rural area they grew up in as home.

Rick Berg is a realtor from Fargo, and majority leader in the N.D. House. He grew up in Hettinger, where his father was a veterinarian. Berg has represented his Fargo district for many years and is an NDSU agricultural economics graduate.  With NDSU in his legislative backyard, he is naturally a strong supporter of agricultural research efforts.

“We wouldn’t be where we are today with the scientific and technological advances we’ve had without research,” he says, citing the increased scab resistance of the NDSU-developed hard red spring wheat variety Alsen as a good example of results from state-supported research.  

Berg says it is important that N.D. continues to support research for developing seed advancements and new uses for farm commodities, as well as technologies to identify, track, and trace systems in our food supply.  Food safety is an issue that’s important for all consumers, rural and urban, he says.

Sen. Ray Holmberg, a retired Grand Forks teacher, grew up on a farm in Traill County. As chair of the N.D. Senate Appropriations Committee, he sees a good working relationship among rural and urban legislators, and strong support for both research and capital improvements in agriculture, as far as budgets will allow. “Rural North Dakota has a lot of friends on both sides of the aisle at the capital,” he says.

In his 17 years as a legislator, Sen. Tim Mathern, Fargo, says the rural to urban shift has raised a host of issues, from economic development to delivering services like health and education. “The good news of Fargo growth is often coming at the expense of rural areas,” says Mathern, who works in social services for the Catholic Church, and grew up on a farm near Edgeley, ND.

Mathern believes the influence of agribusiness at the legislature has increased over the years. He points to a heightened battle between corporate agricultural interests and family farm interests. He also sees more division between bigger farms and smaller farms. “The quandary of biotech and GMO has added a lot of tension on agriculture issues and is viewed skeptically by many,” he says.

Rep. Eliot Glassheim, a New York native, has represented Grand Forks in both the legislature and the Grand Forks City Council for many years. In a poll Glassheim conducted among his constituents a couple of years ago, he says he was a bit surprised by the number of people in his urban district who rated agriculture as very important. “Although Grand Forks is an urban, commercial and university center, most people still feel pretty close to agriculture,” he says.

Still, Glassheim says his constituents have come to scrutinize agriculture and food issues more closely over the years. “Consumers are not only concerned about the overall health of rural areas but also about the distribution of government support to large farms,” he says.

After examining agriculture and rural issues in Europe last summer, Glassheim believes there is increasing opportunity for farmers in N.D. to capitalize on agri-tourism.  The often heated debate about out-of-state hunting last year illustrates how important the issue has already become.

“Tourism is already nearly outpacing agriculture in revenue in North Dakota,” he says. He feels urban consumers like him are increasingly willing to pay for vacation and education opportunities to learn more about farming, food production and rural lifestyle. “The increasing interest by out-of-state visitors in hunting, birding, hiking and other outdoor activities is a good indication of that,” he says.

More Removed from Ag in MN
There are rural connections to top leadership posts in the Minnesota Legislature. Speaker of the House Steve Sviggum, for example, is a farmer from Kenyon, and the Senate Majority Leader, Dean Johnson, is a pastor and national guard general from Willmar, who is proud of his farm roots in southeastern Minn.

Nevertheless, Twin Cities metro legislators as a whole are far more removed from agriculture than urban legislators in N.D., although many say they have learned a great deal about agriculture since coming to the legislature.

Sen. Chuck Wiger, who represents a North St. Paul district, is one example. In his private life, he is a corporate attorney for Minnesota Life, and says he had never been on a farm before he came to the legislature eight years ago. Serving in the senate has given him a much broader perspective on the importance of agricultural issues, he says, and as a city person, he says he has grown in his understanding of greater Minnesota.

Wiger says he is contacted frequently by individuals and groups about environmental issues. Lake owners are concerned about water quality, others are concerned about feedlot or fertilizer runoff issues. “In this day and age, people just expect clean air and clean water,” he says. Wiger sits next to a farmer senator in the senate chamber, and he says that has been a real educational experience for him.

Sen. Linda Scheid, a Brooklyn Park attorney, is another urban lawmaker with no ag background. Urban legislators rarely sit on the agriculture committees, she points out, and like city dwellers as a whole, tend to take agriculture, food, fiber and all of its products and byproducts for granted. “We forget how important agriculture is to us all,” she says.  The metro area senator says legislative hearings in outstate Minnesota have been helpful in learning more about rural issues.

Scheid says serving on the Minnesota Agriculture Education Leadership Council was a real eye opener for her. She says she is a real supporter of Agriculture in the Classroom programs. “We need to see agriculture as part of our future and how important things like research, transportation and education are to all of us,” she says.

Morrie Lanning, a first-term representative in the Minnesota House and former longtime mayor of Moorhead, is no stranger to public service and public issues. Lanning is also a long time administrator at Concordia College in Moorhead.

“I have always felt throughout my personal and professional life that agriculture is the foundation of the regional economy,” he says.

Lanning believes there is a need for better communication on rural and urban issues, as well as other issues, and a need for more coalition building. “We need better two-way communication in order to understand each other better, and overcome some of the ‘us versus them’ attitude that sometimes overtakes important issues,” Lanning says.

Agriculture doesn’t get quite as much attention at the state capitol in St. Paul as it used to. Nevertheless, Lanning is pleased with the support ethanol, agricultural research and value-added ag research and projects got in an extremely tight budget situation in St. Paul last year.

Minnesota, even with the metro and greater Minnesota differences, is still one state, he points out, and most legislators try to look at it that way.

Changing Legislative Landscape
Bruce Kleven is an attorney and lobbyist for several Minnesota farm groups, including the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers.  He has been a voice on legislative issues affecting agriculture for over a dozen years at the capitol in St. Paul.

“The legislature is definitely much more urban, and there are fewer rural legislators than when I started working on legislative issues,” he says. Ironically, there are currently a few more younger and active farmers serving in the Minnesota Legislature, but because of the population shift and reapportionment, outstate lawmakers don’t chair as many committees as they used to, Kleven says.

As Minnesota has become more urban, consumer and food issues have received more attention, he says. Issues like food safety, antibiotic use in livestock production, fertilizer and chemicals in crop production, biotechnology, odor issues and livestock permitting are increasingly debated at the legislature.

“There are increasingly vocal folks at the legislature who do not see farmers as stewards of the land, but as polluters and a conservation problem,” Kleven says.

There has been a proliferation of activist and advocacy groups, rural and urban, in recent years, and it often divides agriculture, according to Kleven. Examples he cites are some of the differences that arise between big and small farmers and conventional versus niche agriculture. “They are all part of the modern scene in agriculture and the debate on the issues at the capitol,” Kleven says.

The 2004 Legislative Session
The N.D.Legislature meets every other year, skipping a session during election years. The Minnesota Legislature meets annually, and the 2004 legislative session began at noon on Feb 3.  Even-year sessions historically tend to be shorter than odd-year sessions, says Kleven.  In recent years that has not been the case, but by most accounts, it appears that this will be a short session for several reasons.

Kleven points out that a projected budget shortfall will mean little opportunity for supplemental spending bills. Without spending bills on the table, legislators will not be haggling for weeks in conference committees over budget items. As well, House Republicans got much of their general party agenda passed during Governor Pawlenty’s first year in office, and with the entire Minnesota House up for re-election this year, many Representatives will want to get out of St. Paul to begin the campaign season.