The Minnesota House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee has approved a drought assistance package. This bill is sponsored by Chairman Mike Sundin and includes $5 million for grants and direct assistance and another $5 million for the Rural Finance Authority’s revolving loan program. Clearwater farmer Liz Dwyer testified, saying her family’s small organic produce operation lost $100,000 this past year due to the drought. “As demoralizing as that is I thought we were in the same boat as every farmer around us, but as I watched dozens of new center-pivots go into commodity fields around us, I realized many of our neighbors have been made whole by crop insurance.” Representative Paul Anderson is the lead Republican on the committee and took issue with Dwyer’s testimony. “Let’s say a farmer has insurance up to 80 percent, that leaves the top 20 percent gone and that usually represents the profit for the year,” said Anderson. “To say that crop insurance whole last year, in my opinion, is not an accurate statement.” The next stop for the drought relief bill is the House Ways and Means Committee.
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