Key Provisions:
Farm to School Funding Increase
Earlier this year, the USDA cut the federal $650 million Local Food for Schools program. The program provided funding for states to purchase food from local farmers and distribute it to schools and childcare programs. For fiscal year 2025, Minnesota had been awarded roughly $13.3 million to purchase food for schools – these funds will no longer be available.
Senate DFLers know that our littlest eaters depend on early care meals for a huge percentage of their nutritional uptake. To address this Trump-imposed federal cut, the Ag budget increases the Farm to School and Early Care Program by $550K in FY 26-27 and $864K in FY 28-29. This funding (above the base) will help to ensure that all Minnesota children, regardless of their care setting, can receive support to access fresh, locally sourced food.
Limiting the Spread of Avian Influenza
It has never been more important to fund avian influenza prevention measures following the continued spread in animals across the United States more than a year after the first human case was detected. To address this immediate need, the Ag budget provides a $1.5 M transfer to the state’s Ag Emergency Account. The budget additionally provides a one-time $75k increase for MDA’s Protect Grant specifically for Avian Influenza.
Addressing Food Insecurity
Earlier this year, the USDA cut the federal Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program. USDA data shows that more than 100 Minnesota farmers and food producers participated in this program. This cut will significantly reduce the amount of food coming into Minnesota, as the $4.7 million that Minnesota had been awarded in 2025 to cover food for food banks will no longer be available.
To address the urgent need, the Ag budget provides the following.
- Creates a state level Local Food Purchasing Assistance (LFPA) Program and funds the program at $700k per year. The program will help farmers build markets and provide to food to food shelves around the state.
- Provides $1 M per year in funding for milk purchases to Minnesota food shelves.
Farm Safety Health & Wellness
Funding for farmer mental health has never been more critical with the continued impact of commodity prices, the bird flu on livestock, the impact of severe weather, and the recent tariffs and federal funding cuts. The Ag Budget addresses this need by providing $300,000 in the next two biennium in funding to MDA for mental health outreach and support and farm safety grants and outreach.
Soil & Groundwater Health
Adopting soil health practices often requires expensive and specific pieces of equipment, creating a need for a cost share opportunity to offset those costs. The 2025 Ag budget maintains funding for MDA’s Soil Health Equipment Grants – which is a grant program that provides cost-share for the purchase and retrofit of soil health equipment. The Ag budget additionally funds an evaluation of the Olmstead County Soil Health Program – which is a program to examine how to manage the land in sensitive areas introduced to contaminations like nitrate-nitrogen in the groundwater system.
Ag Land Access
Access to land is one of the biggest challenges for young farmers. To address this challenge, the Ag budget provides $500k in additional funding for MDA’s Down Payment Assistance Grants, along with a change that will allow up to $20k per eligible farmer purchasing their first farm.
Meat Processing
The budget includes $1.5 million in additional state funding for meat inspection. The budget also includes $100k additional funding for MDA’s AGRI Meat, Poultry, Egg, and Milk Processing Grant. This grant helps with the start-up, modernization, or expansion of meat, poultry, egg, and milk processing businesses. Processing bottlenecks in the wake of the pandemic highlighted the need for this support in the food supply chain.
Other Ag budget highlights include:
- $500k in additional funding for Farm Business Management (FBM).
- $350k in additional funding for wolf and elk depredation.
- Modernization of the outdated food licensing system at MDA.
- Provides funding for prion research at the University of Minnesota.
- Creates a competitive grant program for agricultural related organizations – i.e. AGRI Works.
- Creates a biofertilizer efficiency program.
- Increases funding to the MN Ag Education Leadership Council
- Provides funding for County Ag Inspectors
- Provides funding for the First District Association.
- Funds MDA’s Biofuels Infrastructure Grant and also expands eligibility to retail petroleum dispensing sites from 10 to 20.
- Changes to Minnesota’s Cottage Food licensing laws.
Did not pass:
Prohibiting the Declawing of Cats
42 countries and Maryland, New York, Virginia, and Massachusetts have banned declawing. The Ag Budget as it left the senate included a policy provision that prohibited surgical claw removal, declawing, and tendonectomy on cats except in certain circumstances.
The full provision did not make the final Ag deal. However, the agreement did include a requirement for the Board of Veterinary Medicine to consult with veterinarians and submit recommendations on the prohibition of cat declawing to the Legislature by February 1, 2026.