歪歪漫画

ST. PAUL 鈥� Both sides of the Minnesota House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee worked through the weekend in an effort to nail down a bill they then passed unanimously to the House Ways and Means committee on Wednesday, April 9.

Co-chair Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, said the agriculture committee was lucky that both the Republican and Democratic caucus leadership could agree on a budget target of $17 million over the current budget amount. The committee was able to come in at that amount.

鈥淗opefully, we can keep a positive target in conferencing with the Senate,鈥� he said.

Hansen said the two parties were able to agree on items that included joint priorities. Co-chair Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, and Hansen repeatedly thanked staff and the committee members for working together to bring this bill forward.

鈥淲hat we have today is a compromise between both sides, both parties and a lot of good things in the bill,鈥� Anderson said.

All told, the House bill proposes a $172.29 million appropriation from the general fund that funds the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Board of Animal Health, Agriculture Utilization and Research Institute and broadband development.

By comparison, Gov. Tim Walz鈥檚 budget proposal requests $157.3 million in general fund appropriations, a difference of about $15 million.

The House is seeking $147.9 million for the Department of Agriculture, while the governor proposed $133.3 million.

For the Board of Animal Health, the governor proposes $13.2 million and the House proposes $13.5 million.

The governor and House propose identical transfers of $4 million to the ag emergency account, which supports response to animal health emergencies such as avian influenza outbreaks.

Both the House and the governor propose cutting $300,000 appropriated for a Climate Implementation Coordinator. Other significant cuts include canceling $500,000 from the Dairy Assistance, Investment, Relief Initiative program and removal of $3 million from the green fertilizer program.

Some of the larger appropriations proposed include:

• $3.1 million for fiscal years 2026-2027 for assistance, a project in Litchfield.
• $2 million for Farm to 歪歪漫画 and Early Care.
• $2 million for Local Food Purchasing Assistance program.
• $1.7 million for the state meat inspection program for fiscal years 2026-2027 and 2028-2029.
• $1.5 million for county ag inspectors.
• $1.217 million for biofertilizer innovation and efficiency for 2026-2027 and increasing to $2.1 million for 2028-2029.
• $560,000 added to elk crop damage compensation for 2026-2027 and 2028-2029 fiscal years.

Related to avian influenza and disease:

• $4 million transfer from the general fund in fiscal year 2026 to the agricultural emergency account.
• $450,000 for poultry farmers to purchase lasers or devices to prevent infection.

In public testimony, Department of Ag commissioner Thom Petersen shared his support for what is in the bill but made note of some items that did not make it in, including provisions for his department's food licensing modernization and grain buyers and storage license fee updates.

The grain buyers and storage license fees have not seen updates in 20 years, Petersen said.

He said not supporting these fee increases or receiving general fund dollars will lead to a cut in services.

鈥淲e are going to see layoffs,鈥� Petersen said. Those layoffs would lead to delays in services.

Courtesy / Minnesota House of Representatives

Laura Schreiber, Land Stewardship Project government relations director, shared appreciation for seeing the farmland increase from $15,000 to $20,000. She mentioned the desire to see the timeline for the use of that funding extended from six months to a year.

Derek Ellis, an urban farmer, also brought up that desire in his testimony. He shared how it would be helpful in securing land, which can often take significant time and resources.

Anderson made note of this request as one he would like to work on, and Hansen said he would be willing to work with Anderson on possible inclusion as this bill moves forward.