The Minnesota House of Representatives on May 17, 2025, adopted the conference committee report on House File 2446, an agriculture budget and policy bill, and repassed the measure as amended by conference by a vote of 130 to 4.

The conference report keeps funding for the Board of Animal Health and the ag emergency account, provides money for county agricultural inspectors and meat inspection, expands local food purchasing programs, and includes fee increases for grain licenses and food handling. Representative Tony Anderson (Pope), the bill author, said the bill "kept the programs and we kept the heart of the bill" despite target reductions and some nonnegotiable fee increases.

Supporters on both sides described the package as bipartisan and focused on sustaining Minnesota’s livestock and food-processing systems and on worker protections. Representative Leon Hansen (Dakota), a committee co-chair, described the measure as a ‘‘hybrid’’ that reflects changing agricultural culture and said it makes grant programs competitive through a new AgriWorks program. Representative Kristin Godfrey (Ramsey) highlighted targeted buys to offset federal cuts, saying the bill includes "$6,800,000 over the next four years to local food purchasing assistance programs and milk distribution programs" and an additional "$1,200,000 in funding to farm-to-school and early care programs." Godfrey also said the bill provides "$1,500,000 to test for avian flu," with half earmarked for testing workers in the supply chain.

Other provisions members mentioned include increased compensation for wolf and elk depredation, funding to maintain Minnesota’s milk processing capacity, meat inspection funding, county noxious-weed enforcement, and a $75,000 soil-health study for Olmsted County to explore nitrate reduction strategies. Representative Burkel (Roseau) and Representative Van Binsbergen both urged support, citing rural economic impacts; Representative Roach highlighted a provision enabling cottage food bakers to ship products.

Representative Anderson moved adoption of the conference report on HF 2446. With no further amendments offered on the floor, the clerk recorded 130 ayes and 4 nays and announced the bill repassed as amended by conference.

The conference report incorporates some policy changes proposed by the Senate, and it reduces the bill’s overall target roughly in half from the version previously leaving the House, according to the bill author. The bill text also contains fee increases for grain licenses and food handling that the author described as "nonnegotiable" in conference.

Members who spoke during the debate urged that the bill’s mix of supports—animal health funding, worker protections tied to potential avian influenza outbreaks, and local-food investments—address both production and supply-chain needs. Several speakers noted that while the bill does not restore all federal cuts, it aims to mitigate the impact on school and food-bank purchasing programs.

The bill will proceed under the caption agreed to by the House as repassed by conference.