The Senate Finance Committee this week heard the agriculture omnibus bill, which invests $5 million in our state’s farmers. The bill has a number of important provisions, including funding for equipment for the University of Minnesota’s veterinary diagnostic lab to help combat chronic wasting disease, avian flu, and funding to support emerging African immigrant and refugees and African-American farmers. But with a $9.25 billion surplus we should be investing more in our farmers.
1 in 5 jobs in Minnesota are related to agriculture. Minnesota ranks fifth in the nation in agricultural production, with $17 billion in agricultural sales each year. Our farmers are facing extreme weather and climate change, plant and animal disease, and an uncertain global economy. We should be doing everything we can to support the farmers that feed not only our state but the country, and Senate DFLers will continue to fight to do just that. (SF 4019)
