Both the Minnesota House of Representatives and the Minnesota Senate experienced membership changes this week. Representative David Gottfried (DFL-Shoreview) was sworn in on Monday, tying the House 67-67. Senator Justin Eichorn (R-Grand Rapids) resigned his seat on Thursday, leaving the Senate 34-32 in Democratic control. Governor Walz has not yet called a special election.

Minnesota Farm Bureau’s Day on the Hill was a huge success, with over 170 members from across the state convening at the State Capitol to meet with their local lawmakers. Thank you to everyone who showed up and made the day possible.

On Monday, Governor Walz signed SF 1552 (Kupec; Anderson, P. H.) into law, which relaxes financial reporting requirements for small grain buyers. The House and Senate Agriculture Committees heard a potpourri of legislation this week, some of which are highlighted below. In the next two weeks, legislators will begin to assemble their budget proposals for each committee.

Bills this week:

HF 363 (Jacob)/SF 1296 (Drazkowski) - Minnesota agricultural water quality certification program credit for certain acres establishment and appropriation.

Summary: Establishes a $5 per acre incentive for farms in the Karst region that enroll in the Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program.

Position: Support as amended.

To our members: Minnesota’s Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program has been a successful voluntary initiative that recognizes and rewards farmers for implementing conservation practices that protect our state’s water resources. This credit would financially assist farmers who wish to further adopt conservation practices or become ag water quality certified achieve those goals.

Action taken by MFBF: Provided verbal testimony in support of the bill.

Status: Passed the House Taxes Committee as amended and sent to the Legacy Committee on 03/19/2025. Passed the Senate Taxes Committee as amended and sent to the Environment Committee on 03/05/2025.

 

HF 969 (Nelson)/SF 1604 (Putnam) - Sales and use tax exemption provided for farm fencing and equipment.

Summary: Exempts fencing and related supplies and materials from sales and use tax.

Position: Support as written.

To our members: This bill would provide direct financial relief to farmers. There is a precedent for exempting fencing, as fencing purchased for Cervidae farms is already exempt from sales and use tax.

Status: Laid over in the House Taxes Committee on 03/19/2025. Laid over in the Senate Taxes Committee on 03/12/2025.

 

HF 1409 (Harder)/SF 245 (Weber) - Qualified relatives expansion for special agricultural homestead.

Summary: Adds grandparents, uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, first cousins, and stepfamily as eligible to actively farm an unoccupied property under the special ag homestead.

Position: Support as amended.

To our members: Family farms and ranches take many different shapes, including involvement of extended family and stepfamily. This change to the special ag homestead recognizes that and ensures that the homestead status will not be lost simply because the property is being farmed by a non-linear family member.

Action taken by MFBF: Provided verbal testimony in support of the legislation.

Status: Laid over as amended in House Taxes Committee on 03/19/2025. Laid over in Senate Taxes Committee on 01/22/2025.

 

HF 1680 (Davids)/SF 960 (Putnam) - Agricultural riparian buffer property tax exemption establishment, taxing jurisdictions reimbursement requirement, and appropriation.

Summary: Exempts buffer strips from property taxes and reimburses local property tax jurisdictions.

Position: Support as amended.

To our members: Minnesota is 99.8% compliant with the buffer law. Despite this, counties still receive funds from the state to enforce the buffer law. Given that there is essentially full compliance, we support repurposing enforcement dollars to reimburse farmers for following this mandate.

Action taken by MFBF: Signed on to a letter of support with other agricultural organizations.

Status: Laid over as amended in the Senate Taxes Committee on 03/18/2025. Laid over in the House Taxes Committee

 

HF 1704 (Anderson, P. H.)/SF 1866 (Westrom) - Department of Agriculture, the Board of Animal Health, the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute, and the Office of Broadband Development budget established.

Summary: Sets the agriculture budget for the next two years with an increase of $18 million above base funding. In line with MFBF’s priority issues, the bill contains funding increases for the Board of Animal Health, wolf and elk depredation payments, Minnesota Agricultural Education and Leadership Council grants, and Farm Business Management grants. Within the AGRI program, there are increases for biofuel infrastructure grants and meat processing.

Position: Support as amended.

To our members: The agriculture budget comprises merely 0.5 percent of the entire state budget while accounting for a disproportionate amount of the state’s economic activity. With Minnesota’s tight fiscal situation, we will not balance the budget by cutting agriculture programs. This budget bill recognizes and respects that.

Action taken by MFBF: Provided verbal testimony in support of many provisions in the bill.

Status: Laid over as amended in the House Ways and Means Committee on 03/17/2025. Introduced in the Senate and referred to the Agriculture Committee on 02/27/2025.

 

HF 2316 (Anderson, P. H.)/SF 2772 (Rasmusson) - Special agricultural homestead requirements modifications.

Summary: Allows property owners with special agricultural homestead status to live in a county that borders the county in which the property is located.

Position: Support as written.

To our members: Special ag homestead helps keep farms and ranches in the family when the owner moves off the property. In many cases, farmers must move off the farm to be closer to medical care as they age. This bill would provide greater flexibility than current law, which allows them to move three townships away from the property.

Status: Laid over in the House Taxes Committee on 03/19/2025. Introduced in the Senate and referred to the Taxes Committee on 03/20/2025.

 

SF 1419 (Putnam)/HF 1626 (Vang) - Agricultural assets owners available credit cap elimination provision.

Summary: Removes the cap on the amount of funding available for the Beginning Farmer Tax Credit.

Position: Support as written.

To our members: The Beginning Farmer Tax Credit helps new farmers access land, equipment, livestock, and other assets needed to build a successful farm business. Lifting the cap on total funding would ensure no new farmers are turned away from the program as has happened over the last two years.

Action taken by MFBF: Signed onto a letter of support with other agricultural organizations.

Status: Laid over in the Senate Agriculture Committee on 03/21/2025. Introduced in the House and referred to the Taxes Committee on 02/24/2025.

 

SF 1540 (Putnam)/HF 979 (Anderson, P. H.) - Board of Animal Health appropriation.

Summary: Appropriates funds to the Board of Animal Health to carry out the Board’s statutory duties.

Position: Support as written.

To our members: With the constant and ever evolving threats of avian influenza and other animal diseases, the Board of Animal Health needs robust financial support for personnel and resources to ensure that Minnesota’s agricultural industry remains prepared in the face of animal health challenges.

Action taken by MFBF: Provided verbal testimony in support of the bill.

Status: Laid over in the Senate Agriculture Committee on 03/21/2025. Passed the House Agriculture Committee and sent to the Ways and Means Committee on 02/26/2025.