University of Minnesota details GREET program, Forever Green breeding work; DOE awards $10 million for winter oilseed research

University of Minnesota leaders told the House Ag Finance and Policy Committee that the state’s recurring GREET investment has funded faculty and extension hires and helped translate research into farm-level practices, and that a Forever Green project has received a $10 million federal award to advance winter oilseed research.

Dean Brian Buren of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS) said GREET — Agricultural Research, Education, Extension and Technology Transfer — was created to “support productivity and agricultural growth through research, education [and] extension” and to move university discoveries into use on farms. He described GREET as a roughly 10‑year initiative and said the state’s recurring investment since 2015 totals about $39,000,000.

GREET funding, Buren said, has supported a cohort of new researchers and extension educators: “There’s 21 CFANS faculty, 5 College of Vet Med faculty, and 9 Extension Educators,” he told the committee. Those hires have, he said, leveraged sponsored awards (more than 364 on the university’s accounting) and private and federal grants that multiply the state investment.

Why this matters: Committee members were shown how GREET-funded researchers are working on problems farmers face statewide — herbicide‑resistant weeds, nutrient cycling, soil health, veterinary and animal‑disease research, and greenhouse‑gas mitigation tied to feed and management. Buren told members the program has produced both research outcomes and increased grant capture that flows back into state research facilities and extension work.

Mitch Hunter, co‑director of the Forever Green Initiative at the University of Minnesota, described Forever Green’s mission to develop winter annuals and perennial cash crops that keep land covered year‑round while producing marketable outputs. “The goal is to improve our soil and water quality by keeping that cropland covered all year round,” Hunter said, adding that the program uses plant breeding, market development and on‑farm piloting.

Hunter told the committee Forever Green receives a recurring state contribution of approximately $802,000 per year via the GREET appropriation and that the initiative raised more than $13,000,000 in 2024 in additional grant and private funds. He said breeding and management work is underway for crops including Kernza (perennial grain), perennial cereal rye, pennycress, hazelnuts and winter pea.

A central example: winter camelina. Hunter said about 2,000 acres were planted last winter across Minnesota and North Dakota and that harvested grain was processed in West Fargo by Cargill, with a portion refined into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) delivered to Minneapolis‑Saint Paul International Airport. Hunter announced: “We are the recipient of a $10,000,000 award from the Department of Energy. That’s going to fuel our research for the next six years and allow us to nail down a lot of the agronomic questions.” He told lawmakers the DOE award will fund five research sites ranging from central North Dakota to southern Minnesota, produce multi‑year datasets, and conduct targeted agronomy to improve establishment and cropping sequences (for example, planting soybeans after a winter oilseed harvest).

Committee members asked about markets and byproducts. Hunter said camelina meal is a high‑protein byproduct analogous to canola meal and that the team is working with feed and processing partners (he cited Cargill) on regulatory approvals and commercialization pathways. He also described an ECO program administered with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and funded by the Clean Water Fund that provides farmer support, technical assistance and de‑risking payments; Hunter said ECO enrolled about 3,000 acres last winter and enrollment rose this winter.

Buren and Hunter emphasized that GREET’s recurring human‑infrastructure funding (faculty and extension positions) is the program’s core, while nonrecurring rapid‑response funds help the university address emergent animal‑ and crop‑health problems such as avian influenza or sudden weed shifts.

What’s next: the university said the DOE funding will support a six‑year program of agronomic trials and on‑farm piloting to inform crop insurance, input management and market scale‑up. Hunter said Forever Green is assembling a public‑private coalition and plans to develop a roadmap for scaling winter camelina toward a goal of much larger acreage. No committee actions or appropriations were taken at the hearing.

Ending: Committee materials and university presenters framed GREET and Forever Green as long‑term research and commercialization efforts that combine breeding, extension and market development to produce new cropping options and environmental benefits for Minnesota agriculture.