On Wednesday the Senate Agriculture Committee moved forward with a significant proposal to help Minnesota Farmers. The $10 million bill will go a long way to help farmers devastated by last year’s drought and invest in preparations to combat future challenges.
“Last year was a difficult time for many of our livestock and specialty crop farmers, given the drought conditions in many areas around the state,” Chief Author and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Senator Torrey Westrom said. “These grants will provide help to livestock farmers to get them through this spring and into a new growing season. It will also help prepare us against impending animal disease outbreaks.”
The drought relief bill, S.F. 3479, appropriates $6.5 million for grants of up to $5,000 for livestock and specialty crop farmers located in counties that were designated as a primary natural disaster area by the USDA between July 20 and December 31, 2021. It’s estimated to cover all or parts of 67 Minnesota counties. Grants are to be awarded on a first-come, first-served, non-competitive basis. Further, the bill includes $1.5 million to the Rural Finance Authority (RFA) to reimburse them for drought relief loans that they have already processed or are currently processing.
In addition to the urgent need for drought relief, Minnesota farmers are facing impending animal disease threats from African Swine Fever (ASF) and highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). This week, HPAI was detected in a commercial poultry facility just south of the Minnesota border. In order to prevent an agricultural disaster, this package includes $1 million for the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (VDL) at the University of Minnesota to purchase equipment to test for avian influenza, African Swine Fever, chronic wasting disease (CWD), and other animal diseases. The bill also “unlocks” $428,000 that is currently in the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Emergency Account in order to purchase poultry drinking water tests for HIPAI. Lastly, $500,000 is included for transfer into the account for further animal disease testing and response.
The House companion bill, H.F. 3420, is being debated on the House floor later today. The bills are expected to end up in a conference committee to work out their differences.