Published: March 13, 2008 11:54 am            

Land Minds: Get out the vote for checkoffs

Originally published in the March 7, 2008, print edition.

March brings the anticipation of the upcoming growing season, but it also brings business that needs to be tended to prior to getting the planter rolling — research and promotion council elections.

If you want to have a say in how your checkoff dollars are spent, then you had better cast a ballot for the candidates for the research and promotion councils across the state.

This spring the research and promotion councils of barley, beef, corn, soybean and wheat are each having elections in the following districts.

Barley: District 3

Beef: Districts 1, 4, 5, 7 and 8

Corn: Districts 7, 8 and 9, plus one open position in the combined districts 1, 2 and 4

Soybean: Districts 4, 7 and 8, plus one open position in the combined districts 1, 2 and 3, and one open position in the combined districts 5 and 6

Wheat: Districts 1, 2 and 3

Contact the respective research and promotion council office for specifics on the geographic area of the respective districts.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture administers the elections each March. For the most part, if you voted last year, you should have received or will be receiving a ballot this year.

In the case of the Minnesota Beef Promotion and Research Council, voting in last year’s election doesn’t guarantee you will receive a ballot this year.

According to Ron Eustice, Minnesota Beef Council executive director, the MBC attempted to get a more-qualified list of eligible voters for the beef elections.

“We had huge numbers on the list and we didn’t really have a way to update the list,” Eustice said. The list in hand still contained the names of people who no longer raise cattle or have even passed away.

In January dairy and beef producers on the list received a mailing which included a post card to return if they were indeed actively producing beef cattle. If they returned the card, they would then receive a ballot in March. (Dairy producers are eligible to vote in the state Beef Promotion and Research Council elections since dairy producers also sell some stock as beef animals. “About half of the beef sold in the state comes from dairy cattle,” Eustice said.

“We sent out 7,000 to 8,000 and got 800 to 1,000 back.”

Eligible producers who did not return the ballot-request card in January are out of luck for voting in this year’s election. They can call the MBC at (952) 854-6980 to receive a ballot for next year’s election.

Ballots for this year’s election are to be sent out by the MDA on March 19, and the results should be finalized by April 21.

The successful candidates will serve three-year terms directing the investment of their research and promotion council’s checkoff programs.

So if you want to get warmed up for the November presidential election, why not cast a ballot for something that directly can impact you as a producer.

Going the extra mile (or 5)

The following is a tale of going for what you want. Luella Hermanson of rural Blue Earth shared with me this story that took place in October.

She said how a neighbor came down the road with a sheep ram. “He said ‘I’m bringing your sheep ram,’” Hermanson related. “I told him I don’t have one. When I called the ram, he came to me.”

Hermanson does not have a ram, but she does have a flock of ewes.

She got a pail of corn, the ram came for it and Luella was able to get the ram in the barn to eat and drink.

She was able to track down the rightful owner of the ram, and then discovered the extent to which the ram went to finding the lady sheep. After the ram got out, he traveled 1 mile east, then south, then east, then south, then west and finally again south for a total of 5 miles, all the time keeping his eye on the prize — Hermanson’s ewe sheep.

Hermanson’s ewe flock was in the pasture by the road in southern Faribault County and the ram knew what he wanted.

As Hermanson noted in her retelling the story, this isn’t a lot different than what humans do: “Male men look for female women, and so do sheep.”

        

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