Invests in value-added agriculture opportunities for MN farmers,broadband, manufactured housing, & home ownership

The Minnesota Senate passed bipartisan legislation to fund agriculture, rural development, and affordable housing in Minnesota on Tuesday. The comprehensive budget bill places an emphasis on rural broadband expansion, invests in affordable manufactured housing and home ownership, prioritizes value-added agriculture opportunities that directly impact farmers and increases resources for farmer mental health services.

Following the passage of the bill, Senator Mark Johnson (R-East Grand Forks) issued the following statement:

“We know agriculture is a cornerstone of our state’s economy and now we have a bipartisan bill that recognizes that fact. I am very happy the bill includes funding for a soybean crush and biodiesel facility in Crookston that will have a large impact across our district. When we make investments in rural development and our agriculture economy, we’re not just helping Greater Minnesota we’re helping the entire state.”

The bill also invests in the “Dairy Modernization and Innovation” program to help small dairy farms finance the modernization of their farm infrastructure, such as robotic milking equipment, funds the “Dairy Producer Margin Coverage Premium Assistance” program to help dairy farmers with profitability, and increases “dairy development grants” to aid farmers in creating new business plans.

Also, the bill funds the Minnesota Border-to-Border Rural Broadband expansion program at $30 million, a significant increase in the legislature’s appropriation over the last biennium.

As a whole, the bill funds the day-to-day operations of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, and the Border-to-Border Broadband Grant Program. In total, this bill allocates over $258 million in funding, an increase of nearly $4 million over the last two-year budget.

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