On Saturday, the Minnesota House passed the omnibus agriculture finance bill on a 111-20 vote. Agriculture Commissioner Thom Petersen says the Minnesota Senate is expected to consider the bill early this week. “It’s been a real bipartisan effort throughout the process. It’s a good bill, where we’ve ended up.” This omnibus ag finance bill funds the operations of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. The bill includes increased funding for emerging farmer outreach and new investments in small-scale meat processing. It also increases investments in the farm advocate program and has a biofuels investment, too. Petersen says time is of the essence in the special session of the Minnesota Legislature, with a budget deadline of June 30. “Some of the bigger bills can take days to draft. We don’t want errors in those bills. Hopefully, lawmakers can come together.”
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