Minnesota State Senator Steve Drazkowski (R-Mazeppa) is renewing his push to support southeastern Minnesota farmers with a property tax credit that encourages them to implement conservation practices that protect water quality, countering pressure from federal regulators under President Biden who have stoked fears about nitrate levels in groundwater. The Drazkowski bill, Senate File 1269, received a hearing Wednesday in the Senate Taxes Committee.
“We have a choice: we could beat farmers with a stick or we could offer them a carrot,” Sen. Drazkowski said. “This bill is the carrot — a small incentive to recognize their outstanding work. Farmers have never been better at protecting our water than they are today, yet the EPA and environmental activists have unfairly painted farmers as villains and pushed the state into imposing more regulations. Instead of punishing farmers, this bill rewards farmers for doing the right thing. We trust farmers and we want to partner with them.”
The proposal would provide a $5 per acre property tax credit to farmers whose land is certified under the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program (MAWQCP). The credit applies to agricultural and rural vacant land in Dodge, Fillmore, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Wabasha, and Winona counties — areas where the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has targeted farmers in response to activist complaints about nitrate levels in private wells.
Background: The Biden EPA’s overreach
The bill comes in response to pressure from the federal EPA under President Biden, which issued a directive urging Minnesota to take further action on nitrate levels in groundwater. This followed a push from environmental groups, some of whom previously sued the EPA in an effort to force regulatory action. In response, three Minnesota state agencies — the Department of Agriculture, Department of Health, and Pollution Control Agency — developed a three-phase plan that requires farmers in the region to take additional measures beyond what is already widely considered best agricultural practice.
The Drazkowski bill is backed by key agricultural groups, including the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, Minnesota Farm Bureau, and the Minnesota Farmers Union.
The bill was referred to the Senate Environment, Climate, and Legacy Committee, where it awaits its next hearing.