Legislative update: MCGA continues advocacy for corn farmers

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By Amanda Bilek, Senior Public Policy Director

We have reached the halfway point in the Minnesota legislative session, and there are just a couple of weeks until the Legislature reaches a key committee deadline for passing finance bills out of the committee of jurisdiction. One of the main objectives to be completed is to finalize a new two-year state budget. Governor Walz announced his proposed budget late last month and recently updated his budget proposal following a budget forecast projecting a budget surplus of $17.5 billion. Earlier today, Governor Walz and House and Senate leadership announced joint budget targets that committees will use to assemble finance bills funding state agency operations and other policy priorities that require appropriations. The joint budget target for agriculture is $48 million. The base budget for agriculture is $138.8 million.  

The Minnesota Corn Growers Association has been hard at work the first few months of session establishing connections and building relationships with new members of the DFL majority. We have focused our efforts on committee members of the agriculture and environment committees in each body, in addition to legislative leadership and other key committee chairs. We also have been working on proactive funding programs at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) that would help support corn farmers.  

Biofuels Infrastructure proposes to continue a grant program at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture with additional resources (SF 1246, Kubec and HF 1474, Frederick) for grants to fuel retail locations to replace or upgrade infrastructure to offer higher biofuel blends. The House and Senate bills both received hearings last month in the Senate Agriculture and House Agriculture committees. The Senate bill was amended to propose $6 million per year in infrastructure grant funding. MCGA President Richard Syverson offered testimony in both committees. You can watch the Senate hearing here and the House hearing here. We hope both committees will include funding in their respective omnibus finance bills later this month. Governor Walz has proposed $4.5 million per year in his budget proposal for fiscal years 2024 and 2025. 

Soil health equipment grants proposes an ongoing program at MDA to offer grants or other financial assistance to Minnesota farmers for the purchase or retrofit of equipment needed to implement a variety of soil health practices (SF 1245 Gustafson and HF 1316 Pursell). The bill was amended in each committee to fund the program with $10 million in one-time funding and $2 million per year ongoing. MCGA First Vice President Dana Allen-Tully offered supportive testimony in the Senate Agriculture Committee, which you can watch here, and a coalition of groups submitted a letter of support to the House Agriculture committee when the bill was heard last month.  

As with any legislative session, there are always bills introduced that require us to play defense, and most of those proposals have centered on maintaining farmers’ access to federally approved and reviewed crop protection tools. 

• Require a formal verification of need prior to using a pesticide-treated seed (HF 2472, Hansen, R.). This would add a significant burden for Minnesota farmers and flies in the face of regulatory approval from EPA and the delegated authority from EPA to the MDA to regulate pesticides and fertilizer. Video from the hearing is available here.
• Regulate the disposal of treated seed (HF 1317, Hansen, R.). Minnesota already has guidance on unused/unsold treated seed disposal, and we think several provisions of the bill are unnecessary and duplicative. MCGA submitted written testimony opposing HF 1317 and HF 2472, as discussed above. Video from the hearing is available here.
• Create and maintain a list of all drainage projects in Minnesota (HF 2354, Pursell). This would make it more difficult to complete drainage projects in the state, including improvement projects. MCGA developed and organized a letter of written opposition (see page 8) from several agriculture groups. Video from the hearing is available here.
• Require monitoring and testing for treated seed and PFAS at Minnesota biofuel facilities (HF 2761, Hansen, R.). This is unnecessary as no ethanol plants process treated seed as feedstock. If they ever proposed doing so, they would need a new permit from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA).  MCGA partnered with the Minnesota Biofuels Association to testify in opposition to this bill, and MCGA submitted written testimony in opposition. Video from the hearing is available here. 

So far, none of these proposals have received a Senate hearing, and we will be working hard to ensure they are not included in the final conference committee agreement.

The next two weeks at the Legislature are a critical time when committees will assemble their omnibus finance bills and then the Legislature will take a break in early April before retuning on April 11 to pass various bills off the floor and appoint conference committees to work out the differences. MCGA will continue to advocate for our members and Minnesota corn farmers to ensure their interests are represented.