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Committee reviews multiple Department of Agriculture bills and budget; debate centers on fee increases and program changes
Summary
The committee considered a package of Department of Agriculture bills and the agency’s budget change items, including proposed grain license and inspection fee increases, modifications to loan and livestock statutes, and several grant and program changes; amendments were adopted and bills were held over for possible inclusion.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) presented multiple statutory changes and budget change items during the March 24 Senate Agriculture Committee hearing, prompting extended discussion about program design, fee changes and how the agency will fund its activities.
Committee staff and MDA officials walked members through a spreadsheet of revised governor recommendations, which included: a recommended transfer of $4 million to the Ag Emergency account (one‑time); operating adjustments to the Board of Animal Health; a recommended reduction of $3 million to a green‑fertilizer grant program; and assorted changes to Soil Health financial assistance and administrative staffing. The spreadsheet also listed net general‑fund impacts: a $3 million savings in FY2025 and $5,547,000 in new spending in FY2627 (sic in spreadsheet) and $2,288,000 in FY2829 (as presented by the department).
On the statutory side, MDA staff summarized changes across multiple programs: renaming and modifying the Good Food Access program to the Food Retail Improvement and Development Program; updates to the Agriculture Best Management Practices loan program and clean‑water fund appropriations; adjustments to eligibility and maximums for various MDA loan programs (beginning farmer loans, livestock expansion loans, farm opportunity loans); and a suite of seed‑potato and food‑licensing technical updates. The bill package would also add a new milk‑marketer license and set minimum loan sizes of $50,000 for several loan programs.
The proposed update to grain buyer licensing and inspection fees drew the most sustained controversy. Nick Malnowski of MDA described a simplified fee structure in the proposal: a flat $500 fee for grain buying, $300 for grain storage and an inspection fee that scales with capacity; the department projected additional revenue of roughly $900,000 in each of the 26/27 and 28/29 biennia and total grain program revenue rising toward $1 million. Laura Lemke, executive director of the Minnesota Grain and Feed Association, opposed the size of the increase and said many facilities would see license and inspection costs rise 40–250%; she warned that some licensees might seek federal warehouse licensure if the state fees were larger than federal alternatives.
Committee members asked detailed operational questions about fee scales, the number of licensees that would see increases or decreases, the potential for reduced financial‑statement audit requirements for smaller licensees and the effect of other statutory changes that ease audit requirements. MDA staff said about two‑thirds of licensees would see increases of less than $1,000 under the proposal, while roughly 33 of the licensed entities would see a reduction in licensing costs; they said the largest facilities would experience the most significant absolute increases.
On two agency‑sponsored bills the committee moved amendments on the record: an A1 amendment to Senate File 2610 was adopted by voice vote and the committee adopted an A2 amendment to Senate File 2611; both underlying bills were then laid over for possible inclusion. Senate File 2458 (MDA budget bill) as amended was also laid over for possible inclusion.
