The Minnesota House Ag Committee met Monday to consider House File 80, legislation proposing an extension for the farmer-lender mediation period of an additional 60 days. University of Minnesota Extension Statewide Mediation Coordinator Mary Nell Preisler showed support for the Farmer-Lender Mediation Act extension from 90 days to 150 days, partly due to the COVID pandemic. “I’ve been doing this since 1986 and 90 days has never been long enough. However, if we have an agreement before 90 days, we can stop the mediation. We really haven’t run into this issue before, but the pandemic brought it to a head we’ve never had enough time.” The committee laid the bill over for possible future inclusion. Last year, the committee took similar action to get farmers through the pandemic. The Minnesota House Ag Committee also heard from the Rural Finance Authority Supervisor Matt McDevitt on ag loan activity during the hearing.
News Categories
Latest RRFN Podcasts
Subscribe to RRFN
Get a weekly digest from RRFN to stay up-to-date on all the latest news in agriculture.