News

Minnesota Senate passes Agriculture and Rural Broadband budget bill

The Minnesota Senate has passed its Agriculture and Rural Broadband budget bill.

Senate Ag Committee Chair Aric Putnam tells Brownfield the legislation cleared on a 58 to 7 vote.

“I wanted to get to 60 (yes votes) because that would’ve been a slam dunk, but I’m still really happy with the bipartisan and problem-focused support that we got on the bill. So it’s pretty great to get it done.”

Several farm groups in the state criticized the ag budget targets after they came in below Governor Walz’s original proposal, but Putnam says there is a lot more money compared to the past two years.

“The most expensive things in the bill are the Grain Indemnity Fund and the Dairy with an I fund. Both of those are ways of giving farmers some stability and some security with their investment and their business.”

Putnam expects the House to pass its ag budget bill early next week and says all ag legislation should be done before May.