Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Funds to fight avian flu bolstered as omnibus agriculture bill is approved

Efforts to help Minnesota’s turkey growers fight the spread of avian flu were given a boost Tuesday evening as the House Agriculture Finance Committee provided additional funding that would go to fight the disease before approving the omnibus agriculture finance bill.

HF1437, as amended, would appropriate more than $76 million during the upcoming biennium for a number of programs including new grants to encourage production of biofuels and urban agriculture development zones, and a new ombudsman in the Department of Agriculture to help citizens with the permitting process and other issues they may have.

The bill now moves to the House Ways and Means Committee, where it is scheduled to be heard Thursday.

Several of the dozen amendments offered dealt with the flu outbreak that has swept through the state over the last several weeks causing farmers to destroy more than 1 million birds as they work to curb the damage.

H1437A1, successfully offered by Rep. Dale Lueck (R-Aitkin), would increase funding for the Board of Animal to cover its costs related to fighting the outbreak, and H1437A17, successfully offered by Rep. Rick Hansen (DFL-South St. Paul), would appropriate $1.2 million “for rapid response to poultry and livestock disease.”

Committee Chair Rep. Rod Hamilton (R-Mountain Lake), sponsor of HF1437, thanked all of those who worked on the bill, which currently has no Senate companion, but acknowledged work remains.

“We’ve still got a ways to go,” Hamilton said. “I realize that.”

[READ MORE: What’s in the bill? Session Daily coverage of HF1437]


Related Articles


Priority Dailies

House passes tax package that includes rebate checks, $1 billion in new revenues
Rep. Aisha Gomez and House Majority Leader Jamie Long talk during a break in the May 20 debate on HF1938, the tax finance and policy bill. (Photo by Catherine Davis) Is it the largest tax cut in Minnesota history? Or the biggest tax hike the state has ever experienced? Could it be both? That’s the crux of the debate about the conference ...
House passes finalized cannabis legalization bill, sends it to Senate
A supporter of cannabis legalization demonstrates in front of the Capitol in 2021. The House repassed a bill to legalize recreational cannabis, as amended in conference committee, May 18 and sent HF100 to the Senate. (House Photography file photo) The House gave the green light to adult-use recreational cannabis Thursday. “The day has finally arrived. Today is the day that we are going to vote here in the House for th...

Minnesota House on Twitter