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As we head into the heat of summer, there are many hot-topicissues related to agriculture and rural communities that are likely to be important factors for voters as they listen to debates and analyze candidate viewpoints for the upcoming U.S. congressional elections in Minnesota, as well as for electing other state and local candidates. These issues will also be a focal point of the candidate forums and the other feature forums scheduled each day at Farmfest on August 5, 6 and 7. The forums will be held in the forum tent on the Farmfest site, located 7 miles southeast of Redwood Falls, MN on State Highway 67. The forum schedule for 2008 has a heavy emphasis on national and state agriculture policy issues and toward strengthening the rural economy in Minnesota. It will also feature a special forum on the current food vs. fuel debate.

Farmfest Candidate Forums

• The U.S. Senate candidate’s forum on agriculture and rural issues is the feature forum on Tuesday, August 5, at 10:30 a.m. Incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman (R) and challengers Al Franken (D), Dean Barkley (I) and Steve Williams (I) will participate in the forum. A panel of agriculture reporters for radio and newspaper will pose questions to the candidates on a variety of issues affecting agriculture and rural communities.

• The congressional candidate’s forum on agriculture and rural issues is the afternoon forum on Tuesday, August 5 at 1:30 p.m. Incumbent Rep. Collin Peterson (D) from the seventh district and Tim Walz (D) from the first district will be joined by candidates Brian Davis (R) and Dick Day (R) from the first district, Steve Sarvi (D) from the second district, Elwyn Tinklenberg (D) from the sixth district and Glen Menze (R) from the seventh district. Questions on a wide range of agriculture policy and rural issues will be asked by a panel of agriculture leaders from various agriculture organizations and commodity groups.

Following are the broad-issue topics that the candidate’s forums will focus on:

• The new farm bill: Good ideas, implementation and needed revisions.
• Renewable energy development and policies (RFS, import tariffs, etc.)
• How to best address rapidly rising fuel and food costs that are affecting everybody
• WTO Negotiations, NAFTA, CAFTA, and other trade agreements
• Addressing issues facing the U.S. livestock industry. (Low profits, COOL, etc.)
• The increasing federal budget deficit vs. the need for more spending on federal programs
• Rural development issues: How to strengthen rural communities
• Future development of biotechnology in the agriculture industry
• The impact of federal environmental regulations on production agriculture
• Revisions needed in current rural and agriculture policy

Another special feature on the first day of Farmfest, Tuesday, August 5, will be a Keynote address by Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, which is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. The Minnesota Department of Agriculture and Minnesota Board of Animal Health will be hosting a special forum on Tuesday, August 5, at 9:00 a.m., titled: Understanding Minnesota’s T.B. Regulations and Testing Requirements.