Governor Pawlenty visits New Ulm, Sleepy Eye

Molnau steps

up at dairy

celebration

By FRITZ BUSCH

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- The mood was light at the start of the WCCO "Good Morning Minnesota" radio show Friday morning at the Hub Club Dairy Celebration in German Park.

Fun facts on cows was the first topic. The first question was how many glasses of milk could come from a cow during its lifetime?

Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau said 750,000. Agriculture Commissioner Gene Hugoson answered 1,000,000. Gov. Tim Pawlenty said the answer was 20,000.

"Somebody in the metro area gave us this question," Pawlenty said.

He said cows don't have an upper row of teeth in their mouths.

"No, and they're blind, but they have a keen sense of smell," Molnau said.

Hugoson said a product surplus and keen competition has kept milk prices low for a long time.

"Dairy farming is tough, demanding lots of time," Hugoson said.

Molnau agreed. She should know something about it. She and her husband milked Guernsey cows for 26 years. Now they grow 1,350 acres of corn and soybeans north of New Ulm.

Princess Kay of the Milky Way Sarah Olson of Hutchinson and Minnesota Beef Queen Rachel Wolf of Morris promoted their products at the event. Wolf explained that beef is very safe to eat if it is irradiated.

Rep. Brad Finstad (R-New Ulm) told Pawlenty that he kept busy over the last legislative session with lots of late nights and hard work. He literally ran out of the Capital when the last session ended, as his wife was about to deliver a baby.

Finstad said among the things he learned was the way people manipulated facts and figures to promote their cause.

Searles dairy farmers Kerry and Steve Hoffman were interviewed by the governor. It was noted that the average age of Brown County farmers is 58.

"We like farming and its lifestyle," Kerry said. "We hope our two kids farm too."

Steve Hoffman said he is considering expanding his farm with EQUIP funding for better manure control.

"We haven't had any big problems yet," Hoffman said. "We need help to grow and prosper."

During a question and answer session, New Ulm dentist Ken Windschitl told the governor he would win the cow milking contest if he could squeeze a cow's utters like he did the the last Legislature.

Gwen Peters of New Ulm asked Pawlenty if he was in favor of helping the Minnesota Twins build a new stadium?

"If there's a way to do it without dipping into the general fund," Pawlenty said. "There may be a creative way to do it."

Associated Milk Producers Inc. Manager Mark Furth called dairy farmers the "best of the best" on the radio show.

"The free market isn't real kind to them as individuals, but coops like AMPI can help," Furth said.

Pawlenty met with the media after the radio program. Regarding the health care tax set to increase by one-third to 2 percent as of January 2004, Pawlenty said the increase was done by a previous Legislature to ensure health care access to the needy.

The governor said he will soon call the owner of Firmenich Inc., a Swiss firm that is considering building a flagship plant in New Ulm or New Jersey.

"It would be great to get a plant like that with good paying jobs in this area," Pawlenty said.

October is the application deadline for tax-free economic zones in Minnesota. Zones will be chosen late this year, the governor said.

Molnau, Hugoson and other dairy officials toured the AMPI plant after the radio show. Butter plant supervisor John Russell said the plant -- that runs 24 hours a day -- packed more than 100 million pounds of butter last year for hundreds of labels.

The plant employs 150-160 full-time employees and adds more during peak demand periods between September and December. Butter is packed into containers of many sizes and shipped around the country and sometimes overseas.

Plant manager Bill Swan said 10 percent of the butter in America comes from the New Ulm plant. A refrigerated section of the plant contains 2 million pounds of finished product that is produced weekly.