GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — As the Michigan legislature considered two bills designed to protect underground utilities from damage by excavators, Michigan Farm Bureau (MFB) members were digging into policy to protect themselves within the proposed regulations.

Two bills, SB 1083 and 1084, which recently passed the state Senate and now rest in the hands of the House Energy and Technology Committee, would provide new regulatory standards to protect underground utilities. Referred to as the “MISS DIG” bills, the legislation requires farmers to call the MISS DIG Call Center and have underground utility lines marked before tillage work can lawfully be done.

During the Nov. 29 policy development session at MFB’s 93rd Annual Meeting in Grand Rapids, State Policy Development Committee Young Farmer member Chris Creguer explained the legislation calls for farmers to contact MISS DIG “if they are going to perform normal farming practices at any depth below 12 inches in the road right-of-way or below 18 inches in the farm field.

“Currently our policy states 24 inches in the farm field,” he said. “National regulations only set 24 inches as the minimum depth for electric utilities right now. This may not be a realistic, attainable number, but that is the way the policy reads right now.”

Creguer said once farmers have the utility marked by MISS DIG, they would have a ticket for the field that would be valid for three years.

“The largest concern with this policy is that farmers would not be liable for damage in the farm field if they till above the 18 inches,” he said. “They would still be liable for damage in the road right-of-way even if they were tilling shallower than 12 inches in depth.”

Introduced in April by Sen. Mike Nofs (R-Battle Creek), the bills don’t account for farmers’ concerns, according to MFB Legislative Counsel Matt Smego. Almost 500 county Farm Bureau delegates approved policy that supports “regulations to protect both the farmer and the utility from accidents which could cause injury to an individual or interruption of service to a community.”

Smego said the two Senate bills have been improved from their original form, but need additional work and can’t be supported by Farm Bureau in their present form. “The legislation at this point requires anyone who meets the definition of ‘excavating’ to call MISS DIG to get the utility lines marked, with some exceptions,” he said. “That definition of excavation under the bills would exclude normal agricultural practices within a certain depth.”

As currently written, the bills would require farmers to hand-dig and expose buried utility lines across their fields. “The concerns our members have are, first, when do they reasonably need to call, and second, what liability do they have?” Smego said.

With such concerns on their minds, MFB policymakers said they oppose “these practices (normal tillage) being defined as excavating.” They also oppose the bills’ apparent attempt to hold them “liable for damage to any buried utilities” and “landowner, tenant or custom operator(s) being required to contact MISS DIG for normal farm tillage.”

According to Smego, while farmers understand the potential problems striking a buried utility line would cause, they also want balance in the responsibility to protect underground utilities.

“Within the Senate bills, the law would allow a ticket to be open for three years when a farmer calls MISS DIG,” he said. “However it still requires, first, telling the MISS DIG Call Center that this is a farm. Secondly, it still requires hand-digging. It also requires farmers to create a utility line map and maintain a copy of that map detailing any ‘excavation’ for three years.”

Regulations seen as burdensome, regarding wetlands, were also addressed by delegates, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s attempt to redefine “waters of the U.S.” in the Clean Water Act.

During debate over state government policies that have already imposed fines on some Michigan farmers who have improved land to grow crops such as blueberries, delegates approved policy urging the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) to “recognize the section of the Wetlands Protection Act that finds wetlands to be valuable as an agricultural resource for the production of food and fiber, including certain crops which may only be grown on sites developed from wetlands.”

Michigan is the nation’s top blueberry producer. Policymakers also urged “MDEQ to follow the intent of the law and allow crops, such as blueberries, cranberries and wild rice, to be produced in wetland areas without a permit,” and recommended “statewide standards for wetlands determination must be established” and that “permits be issued promptly.” Delegates also opposed “agricultural-zoned productive land being used for manmade wetland restoration.”

A proposal to lift a deer baiting and feeding ban was turned down by the delegation. Although the USDA recently eased restrictions on cattle movement because of bovine tuberculosis, MFB policy development delegates upheld language that states: “MFB opposes artificial baiting and feeding of free-ranging deer. Strengthening fines and penalties for illegal feeding and baiting of wildlife, similar to those for poaching, should be considered.”

Dr. Fred Poston, recently appointed dean of the Michigan State University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, answered concerns about the future of the college.

“What I want to do is get back to where we used to be,” he said. “I can’t do anything about what happened in the last decade, but I’m very interested in where we want to get to.”

Animal agriculture issues continued as policymakers approved dramatically changed policy regarding MSU. Cattle producers had been vocally opposed to MSU’s decision to disperse most of its Hereford herd earlier this year, and questioned the university’s commitment to animal agriculture and its “loss of focus on the land grant mission.”

St. Joseph County Farm Bureau Member Monte Bordner called the dispersal “gross mismanagement” of the farm. He urged fellow members to consider policy that called for changes in the university’s farm management practices. The appointment of Poston was an action the delegation supported as a first step in rebuilding the college. “We applaud the recent appointment” new policy reads, in part. “We look forward to the opportunity to work with the newly appointed dean to address current and emerging needs of Michigan agriculture.”