More than $1 million boost proposed for farm business management programs

In the not-so-distant past, farm kids were likely to follow in the footsteps of their parents by taking over the farm when mom and dad retired.

When that time came, the offspring had likely spent many years learning the business.

That’s not so common anymore, Keith Olander said during a presentation to the House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee Monday.

Olander, executive director of the Northern Agricultural Center of Excellence, said nearly 30% of farmers today have less than 10 years’ experience. And these new farmers need a unique set of business management skills to succeed in a difficult profession.

To give these farmers a helping hand, Rep. Nathan Nelson (R-Hinckley), himself a livestock producer, sponsors HF653 that would boost funding from $4.5 million to $6 million in the 2026-27 biennium for the Minnesota Agricultural Education Leadership Council for distribution to farm business management programs.

Funding shall be prioritized “for faculty with expertise in farm transition planning, rural mental health, and growing specialty crops in urban areas.”

The committee laid HF653 over for consideration in its budget bill.

Legislatively established in 1997, the council is designed to develop and promote secondary and postsecondary agricultural education programs. It is housed at the University of Minnesota.

Hannah Bernhardt raises grass-fed beef and lamb and pastured pork on 160 acres of pasture outside Finlayson in northeastern Minnesota.

She is grateful to receive one-on-one farm business management services through the council.

“I was in my third year of farming, hobbling together my records and notebooks and spreadsheets,” she said. “As a beginner, I know I would not have understood the value, or felt I could afford farm business management. At the end of my very first meeting with a farm financial advisor at my farm, I felt a huge sense of relief about my finances and the decisions I was making.”