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Members and Alternates: Dan Benson, Gary Prescher, Kevin Kruise, Grant Anderson, Ryan Kelbrandts, Steve Commerford, Mark Bloomquist, Bryce Nelson, Bob Lindeman, Dan Schmitt, Keith Allen, Jeff Kosek*, David Kee, Mark Jossund

Others: Dan Kaiser, Paul McDivitt, Jack Wilcox, Tamara Benjamin, Jeff Coulter, Jeff Vetsch, Mike Schmitt, Carl Rosen, Matt Wiebers, Fabian Fernandez

MDA staff: Margaret Wagner, Russ Derickson

Bruce Montgomery opened the meeting at 9:03am with a quick review of new AFREC project proposal that were received by the due date of Nov. 23 

• 20 projects – 15 continuation projects and 5 new projects with a funding request total of $1.07 million
• Reviewed meeting with Tom Petersen, Commissioner of Agriculture:
  • Petersen says AFREC will have our work cut for us
  • There is plenty of time (2 legislative sessions) to get AFREC reauthorized
  • He suggested AFREC membership groups ask for a legislative hearing in 2023
  • He suggested a AFREC report like MDA’s 2015 report be completed again
  • He liked idea of support letters from commodity groups
  • He suggested showing the water quality perspective for urban legislators along with demonstrated value
  • AFREC can be an urban-rural issue not necessarily a political issue

Project presentations by:  Jeff Coulter, Carl Rosen, Matt Weibers, and Dan Kaiser

Margaret Wagner updated the Council on the latest available dollars for possible allocation at the January grant selection meeting.  The current AFREC balance is $1,229,858.

Project presentations by:  Jeff Vetsch, Fabian Fernandez, Mkie Schmitt

Grant Anderson – led a discussion on AFREC reauthorization

• Grant gave his legislative reauthorization perspective from meeting with Petersen
  • suggested either AFREC or commodity groups request legislative update hearings
  • suggested each AFREC member group have internal discussion on their comfort level regarding reauthorization
  • suggested creating support letter from each member group
• Self-imposed fee shouldn’t be political issue
• Tonnage fee vs percentage of fertilizer sales to fund AFREC (CA only state with % based funding)
• Keep AFREC language the same – easier to pass
• Ask legislature to fund additional research beyond AFREC collected fees with budget surplus
• We need to lean on each member group lobbyist to help with AFREC reauthorization
• Which year legislative session should AFREC move for reauthorization?
• Be careful about what you ask for – things can blow up in your face if it goes awry
• Don’t stir the pot too much
• AFREC tonnage fee has been flat since the start in 2008
• The legislature likes public-private collaborations
• Suggest to legislature to fund parallel research funding to complement existing AFREC research (manure was given as an example – it is related to fertility but is not commercial fertilizer)              

Motion by Steve Commerford , second by Mark Jossund “…. to direct the ROC (Bruce Montgomery) to create an AFREC legislative report similar to one created by the MDA in 2015.”  - Motion passed.

Motion by Keith Allen, second by Ryan Kelbrant “…to grant ex officio AFREC membership to the North Harvest Bean Council”.  Motion passed*.

Meeting adjourned by acclamation by AFREC Chair Grant Anderson at 4:29 pm

If you exclusively process wild game (no other meat or poultry processing) as an individual you may not need a license or permit to operate, provided you meet all of the following criteria:

1. You do not own any other meat, poultry, or food business subject to licensing under the Minnesota Consolidated Food Licensing Law.
2. You handle only raw wild game products and do no preparation beyond cutting, grinding, and packaging.
3. You return all products directly to the owners/hunters (no sales or donations), and you label all products “NOT FOR SALE.”
4. You process no more than 200 deer in a calendar year, or have $20,000 or less in receipts for wild game processing services in a calendar year, whichever is greater.

A wild game processor who does not meet all the above criteria will need to obtain a food handler’s license and custom exempt processing permit issued by the MDA Meat Inspection Program. For more information, go to Custom Exempt Meat Processing or contact the Dairy and Meat Inspection Division at 651-201-6300.

Wild game processors who do meet the exemption criteria are highly encouraged to register with the MDA. By registering, the MDA will acknowledge the processor's exempt license status, which will assist MDA staff with investigations if complaints or other information are received about a wild game processor.

Prior to August 2020, wild game processing facility and operational requirements were similar to those applied to meat products that could be sold, requiring wild game processors to maintain retail food code HACCP plans and meet other requirements intended for meat processed for sale. However, because wild game products can only be processed and returned to the owner of the animal, and are not allowed to be sold, wild game processing operations are more similar to traditional custom exempt processing operations. For this reason, wild game processing was moved under the same regulatory oversight as custom exempt processing, as is appropriate for the level of food safety risk associated with this type of operation. In August 2021, the law was further revised to exempt small scale wild game processors who have no other food handling operations from the requirement to be licensed and permitted as custom exempt processors.

Wild game products may not be sold and must be labeled “NOT FOR SALE,” regardless of whether the products come from licensed or license-exempt processors. These products may not be used in any way in a food facility because they are not processed under continuous inspection.