Contact:

Jill Krueger Senior Staff Attorney Farmers' Legal Action Group, Inc. (651) 223-5400

Roger Grugel Saint Cloud Area Legal Services 1-888-360-2889

Farm Bill Information Meeting for Central Minnesota's Family Farmers

ST. PAUL, MINN. — The new Farm Bill will be on the agenda Monday, October 20, in Little Falls when lawyers from the Minnesota Family Farm Law Project sponsor a Family Farmer community meeting in Little Falls.

The evening's agenda will include information on disaster assistance programs, conservation programs, farm commodity programs, new protections for livestock farmers, opportunities for beginning farmers, and opportunities for farmers interested in transitioning to organic farming methods. It will also include information about farmer-lender mediation and an overview of the legal services that are available to family farmers in Central Minnesota.

"The fact is, farm families often have trouble finding accurate, detailed legal information," said Jill Krueger, an attorney at Farmers' Legal Action Group, Inc. (FLAG), one of the project's members. "That's especially true when we have a new Farm Bill. These meetings are a great opportunity to talk with farmers about changes in federal farm programs and also begin to address individual legal questions."

The gathering is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Monday, October 20, in the offices of the Initiative Foundation at 405 First Street S.E. in Little Falls. A grant from the foundation helped make the meeting possible. Pre-registration is not required.
The Minnesota Family Farm Law Project is a consortium of legal aid offices across the state that focus on the legal needs of family farmers. The Little Falls-area work is led by Roger Grugel of Saint Cloud Area Legal Services. For more information, see www.mnfamilyfarmlawproject.org or call 1-888-360-2889.

Farmers' Legal Action Group, Inc. (FLAG) is a 22-year-old nonprofit law center dedicated to providing legal services to family farmers and their rural communities in order to help keep family farmers on the land. For more information, see www.flaginc.org or call 1-877-860-4349.

The Initiative Foundation serves the 14 counties and 160 hometowns that comprise central Minnesota. Created in 1986 by a partnership of local people and The McKnight Foundation, the foundation is one of six Minnesota Initiative Foundations working to make Minnesota outside the metropolitan area stronger and more prosperous.