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University officials and partners highlight Ag research funding and winter camelina pilot as a tool for soil cover and new markets
Summary
University of Minnesota presenters described the Ag research/extension funding stream and the Forever Green Initiative’s work to develop winter camelina as a cover crop and new market crop; partners highlighted supply‑chain needs and a cross‑sector ‘one million acres’ scaling study.
University of Minnesota officials and agricultural partners briefed the House Finance & Policy Committee on state investments in agricultural research, extension and technology transfer (referred to in testimony as the Agreat/"agree" program) and on the Forever Green Initiative’s work to develop continuous living‑cover crops and new markets for oilseeds such as winter camelina.
Presenters from the University said the core capacity funding for the program supports faculty, educators and graduate students across three colleges and funds a rapid‑response pool for emergent problems such as avian influenza. They described the funding as a lever to attract additional federal and private grants and said the state appropriation undergirds long‑term hires and cross‑college research and extension work.
Dr. Lowe Guard, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, framed the work as a One Health effort that protects animal health and the broader food supply, citing diagnostic modernization and field kits used to detect agricultural pathogens. Mitch Hunter, co‑director of the Forever Green Initiative, described efforts to commercialize new crops and cited partnerships—including a collaboration that has enabled a Minnesota supplier to sell camelina kernels into a retail cereal product—as examples of private‑sector market development.
Ariel Kagan of the Minnesota Farmers Union described the "One Mask" (one‑million‑acre) winter camelina scaling study, a cross‑sector effort to map policy, market and farmer‑economic pathways to scale the crop; the study is scheduled for completion in fall 2026. Grower Paul Novotny testified that practical supply‑chain constraints—seed cleaning, short‑term storage and drying—remain barriers for many growers and described how a state‑supported grant helped him acquire a mobile seed cleaner and provide regional cleaning services.
Committee members asked detailed questions about fund flow and governance; Department of Agriculture staff explained that appropriations move into the AG Fund, earn interest that remains dedicated to the program, and that the university typically has a five‑year window to spend contracted grant money once transferred.
Presenters urged continued state support for capacity funding, extension programming and supply‑chain investments to help move pilot crops like winter camelina from research plots into broader commercial production and to realize environmental benefits from more continuous living cover on Minnesota farmland.
