Senate committee hears expansion request for Forever Green, continuous living cover grants as SAF demand grows

Senate File 1220, carried by Sen. Mark Seaburger, was discussed and amended on Feb. 12, 2025, after testifiers described advances in winter oilseeds and perennial grains developed by the University of Minnesota Forever Green Initiative and the value-chain grants that support those crops.

The billand an A-1 amendment adopting a Continuous Living Cover (CLC) value-chain appropriation were approved for committee consideration and laid over. The committee adopted the A-1 amendment on a voice vote, and Seaburger asked that Senate File 1220 be set up as amended for possible inclusion.

Why it matters: Witnesses told the committee that state seed-stage and value-chain funding is helping move crops such as winter camelina, pennycress and Kernza from research plots to farms and processors, with environmental benefits (reduced nitrate loss and erosion) and new markets, including sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

Mitch Hunter, co-director of the University of Minnesota Forever Green Initiative, described the program"an innovation platform developing and improving winter hardy annual and perennial crops to help farmers keep the soil covered all year…