House Ag Committee sends amended omnibus agriculture finance bill to Ways and Means after 7-6 votes

The Minnesota House Committee on Agriculture Finance and Policy on March 12 adopted a series of amendments to House File 17-04 (DE3 as amended) and, following roll-call votes, re‑referred the bill to the House Committee on Ways and Means by a 7-6 margin.

Representative Anderson, sponsor of the bill, moved the measure and described several amendments the committee adopted during the meeting. Key changes recorded in the committee transcript include:

- A1 (technical): Reinserted language giving priority to producers with annual sales under $100,000 for certain specialty crops; Representative Anderson said the change “reinsserts a language that goes back to last year's bill that gives priority to those that have annual sales under 100,000 and produce certain specialty crops.”

- A4 (technical): Clean-up language related to the Forever Green Initiative.

- A5 (AGRI eligible uses): Added an eligible use to the AGRI grant program to support emerging…