Minnesota Soybean Growers Association (MSGA) President Michael Petefish and MSGA Director of Public Affairs Joe Smentek testified before the Minnesota House Agriculture Policy Committee Thursday on the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s (MDA) proposed Nitrogen (N) fertilizer rule.

Petefish told committee members MSGA would like MDA to rewrite the rule to properly determine the sources of N in the groundwater. This would involve using properly designed and designated monitoring wells. In addition, he said MDA needs to determine the source for the N in the groundwater and change the definition of “nitrogen fertilizer” to bring it more in line with the Groundwater Protection Act.

“Minnesota is a large and diverse state with a greatly changing climate. The average rainfall in the state has increased in many areas in the past twenty years,” Petefish testified. “We have great concern that placing more of the N in the spring will lead to more conflict with rain events that wash away the N from fields. This is a waste of resources for the farmers involved and also a water quality problem Minnesota’s farmers are attempting to prevent.”

Read Petefish’s full testimony here: MSGA Petefish testimony.