Ag panel’s $172 million funding bill advances to Ways and Means committee

After studying its omnibus finance and policy bill for two days, the House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee put the finishing touches on its proposed budget-setting legislation Wednesday.

The committee took public testimony, adopted the delete-all amendment (along with two technical amendments) to HF2446 and approved it, sending it to the House Ways and Means Committee.

Committee Co-chairs Rep. Paul Anderson (R-Starbuck), the bill sponsor, and Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul) expressed bittersweet feelings about the bill, saying that while it does a lot to boost agriculture throughout the state, this difficult budget year also means that many worthy programs will have to make do with less.

[MORE: Ag committee unveils $172 million funding bill for upcoming biennium]

What’s in the bill?

The omnibus finance bill calls for a $172.29 million General Fund appropriation to fund the Agriculture Department and several other associated state agencies under the committee’s purview. Of the total, $168.79 million would be new funding and $3.5 million would be revenue adjustments/carryforward funds.

The total amount represents a $17 million increase over the department’s current budget and matches the 2026-27 biennial budget target given to the committee by House leadership.

The breakdown of the $172.29 million funding for the biennium is:

• $147.93 million to the Department of Agriculture;
• $13.53 million to the Board of Animal Health;
• $8.82 million to the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute; and
• $2 million to the Office of Broadband Development to increase high-speed Internet access across the state.

[MORE: View the spreadsheet]

There would also be two cancelations of previously appropriated amounts: A $3 million cancelation of a fiscal year 2024 appropriation to the green fertilizer program; and a $500,000 cancelation of a fiscal year 2025 appropriation to the Dairy Assistance, Investment, Relief Initiative.

The bill calls for a $4 million transfer from the General Fund in fiscal year 2026 to the agricultural emergency account to prevent the spread of avian influenza.

Public testimony

Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen spoke of several things he liked about the bill, including $4 million to replenish the agricultural emergency account and $1.15 million to reimburse farmers for crop and property losses caused by wolf and elk.

But he also lamented the shortfall his department would likely need to deal with for the next two years.

“We are going to see layoffs,” he said, and increased wait time for permits and inspections would increase significantly.

He specifically spoke against the decision to not include policy language that would have given the department authority to raise grain buyers and storage license fees for the first time in two decades. Without it, Petersen said the department would need to reduce staff and reduce services.

[MORE: Written testimony on HF2446]

Carly Griffith, water program director at the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, expressed disappointment that a $7 million ask for nitrate private well mitigation and private drinking water well repair and reconstruction in southeast Minnesota is not included.

Money given to this mitigation program for the current biennium has been very successful in helping hundreds of families clear their wells of hazardous nitrates, thus significantly lowering their risk for dangerous cancers and blood disorders. Without new money, more than 9,200 people in southeast Minnesota remain at risk of these deadly disorders, she said.