Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Agriculture Dairy Processing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee hears bill to add milk processing facilities to agricultural processing sales‑tax exemption
Summary
Senate File 2849 would expand an existing agricultural processing materials sales‑tax exemption to include milk processing facilities. Industry witnesses said the change could attract large processing plants and boost farm-level milk sales and jobs; the committee laid the bill over.
Senate File 2849, presented to the Taxes Committee April 24, 2025 on behalf of Senator Westrom, would expand the statutory definition of agricultural processing facility materials to include milk processing facilities so that qualifying projects could receive an existing sales‑tax exemption. The committee heard testimony from dairy industry representatives and laid the bill over.
Lucas Sjostrom, executive director of the Minnesota Milk Producers Association, told senators the change is a longstanding request of the industry and could make Minnesota more competitive in attracting large-scale dairy processors. He cited recent multi-hundred‑million‑dollar facilities elsewhere and said a new large plant could require 3–9 million additional pounds of milk per day, translating to hundreds of millions in added farm milk sales annually.
Sjostrom said a $100 million processing plant typically creates a minimum of about 40 direct processing jobs, with larger facilities generating many more jobs in processing, logistics and marketing. He told the committee Minnesota has about 77 dairy plants compared with hundreds in some neighboring states and that expanding the exemption would “send the right signal” to prospective investors.
Senators discussed the scope of the exemption and the policy tradeoffs of granting sales‑tax relief to large private investments. Senate File 2849 was laid over for further consideration.
