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Committee considers AGREIT reauthorization with increased support proposed for Farm Business Management instructors
Summary
Senate File 1178 (AGREIT account) was discussed with a focus on expanding support for Farm Business Management (FBM) instruction. Instructors and centers told the committee that FBM provides one-on-one, on-farm financial and transition planning and that expanded funding and the challenge-grant model reduce instructor workload and help maintain
Senate File 1178, the appropriation for the AGRicultural REsearch, education, extension and technology (AGREIT) account, was before the committee Feb. 12, 2025. Committee discussion emphasized a single element of the bill: proposals to expand funding for the Minnesota Farm Business Management (FBM) program and the FBM challenge-grant model.
Keith Olander, who leads a northern Center of Excellence and oversees extension delivery of FBM, told the committee FBM reaches producers across 83 of Minnesotas 87 counties and uses a faculty of roughly 65 instructors who deliver one-on-one on-farm instruction using FinPack/FinBin financial analysis tools. Olander said FBM serves ages 18 to 84 and that about 30% of participants are beginning farmers (under 10 years).
Tina LeBrun, director of the Southern Center of Excellence and a longtime FBM instructor, and Zack Rada, an FBM instructor from Wilmer, described the on-farm, relationship-based nature of the program and told senators that instructors are often the primary nonbiased adviser to farm families. LeBrun said the FBM Challenge Grant provides critical flexibility that supports instructors, colleges and students through accountability measures and matching requirements.
Instructors and Farm Bureau witnesses described current financial pressure on farms: higher input costs and rising breakevens, earlier-than-normal seed-order hesitancy by farmers, and mental-health and succession-planning stresses tied to tight margins. Instructor testimony asserted that FBM improves farm financial decision-making and that students estimate the annual per-farm value of FBM assistance at roughly $17,000 in reduced costs or increased income (instructor-supplied estimate).
Farm Bureau representative Hunter Peterson and multiple instructors urged the committee to fund increased instructor capacity and preserve stable long-term positions to avoid burnout and aid retention. Committee members acknowledged the program's long history and said heightened demand during tighter margin periods increases the need for instructor support. The AGREIT bill was held over for possible inclusion; no final appropriation vote was taken at the hearing.
