Sen. Tina Smith Visits Native Wise Farm Ahead in Her Efforts to Create a “Native Farm Bill”

SAWYER, Minn. — Sen. Tina Smith visited a local farm during her efforts to create a “Native Farm Bill.”

Native Wise Farm in Sawyer produces a variety of crops, from wild rice, hemp, vegetables, and much more. The farm is also home to 12 plains bison.

Sen. Smith talked to the owners about their operation to gather information for the “Native Farm Bill”, which looks address the needs of native and tribal producers.

“It’s great to be here and hear firsthand how this operation works and how the programs of the farm can be helpful to small operations like this and the farm bill, which we’re working to reauthorize right now is a 1.4 trillion dollar bill, it’s a huge bipartisan effort,” said Sen. Smith.

Owner of the farm David Wise says he hopes the farm bill will protect local farming in comparison to mass production.

“I think it’s important to keep that connection with the land locally and during the pandemic I never thought about that more, when it was hard to find you know and how important it is for us to be able to produce our own local food,” said Wise.

Native Wise has food in multiple stores in the Northland, as well as CBD products.

The farm is known for their wild rice, but bison products have also become popular.