One of the highlights for the first day of MN Ag Expo was a legislative panel featuring the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate agriculture committees. When asked about legislative priorities, Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Aric Putnam said funding for the Rural Finance Authority needs to be renewed. “It is incredibly important,” said Putnam. “There is an infinitesimal rate of default on RFA loans.” There is one major hurdle. “It counts against the state’s overall debt ceiling so we’re going to have to politically negotiate to make the RFA extension as large as possible without compromising the regular general obligation bonds and the politics that gets that passed.”
