The Minnesota Senate on Tuesday approved a comprehensive, bipartisan agriculture budget bill to support Minnesota agriculture and rural development. The legislation is focused on helping Minnesota farmers while spurring innovation in the agriculture industry. 

“The Senate’s budget strengthens our commitment to core priorities in agriculture, higher education, energy, and commerce,” said Senator Carla Nelson (R-Rochester). “The reason these bills gained bipartisan support is that we made an attempt to strike a broad balance and work across the aisle. These aren’t partisan issues; it’s about doing what is best for Minnesotans.”

The budget will help promote Minnesota’s own homegrown fuels, like E-15, by providing grant money to improve Minnesota’s biofuel infrastructure, allowing more gas stations to install the equipment to dispense biofuels. The legislation also responds to fix vulnerabilities in our Ag sector supply chains that were exposed during the pandemic. The bill makes critical investments in meat processors which will help provide more jobs, improve our processing efficiency, and provide more purchasing options for consumers. 

The bill allows for increased outreach to emerging farmers and provides translation services to cottage food producers. Additionally, the comprehensive budget agreement provides farm safety grants and mental health funding, provides investments to continue battling noxious weeds, gives additional resources to boost international trade, and allows for greater funding of farm-to-school programming.  

The Senate passed the Agriculture budget on a bipartisan, 63-3 vote. The House of Representatives passed the same bill on Saturday. The legislation now awaits the Governor’s signature to be enacted into law.