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Lawmakers pass Minnesota Agriculture Budget

Minnesota legislators have approved an agriculture budget for the next two years that includes several Minnesota Farmers Union priorities.

MFU government relations director Stu Lourey tells Brownfield the ag spending bill passed in the Senate by a vote of 63-3 following House passage over the weekend and now awaits Governor Walz’s signature.

“We’re really glad to see a number of new and substantial investments in farmers and in agriculture in Minnesota.”

He says the ag budget includes support for small and mid-scale meat processing.

“To address the bottleneck in slaughter experienced by small producers, and to also build a more resilient system so that farmers can rely on more local processors and not have to just count on the ‘Big 4’ meatpackers.”

Lourey says there’s also $6 million aimed at building out biofuels infrastructure and strong funding for land access and transition to assist emerging farmers.

The legislature is in special session and lawmakers have until June 30^th to complete a state budget and avoid a government shutdown.