Eliminating ‘unnecessary’ reporting requirement would help farmers

Farmers who hold agricultural land in revocable trusts would no longer have to file, under threat of criminal penalty, what backers of a bill call an unnecessary report.

HF22, sponsored by Rep. Dennis Smith (R-Maple Grove), was passed 129-0 by the House Monday. It now goes to the Senate, where Sen. Scott Newman (R-Hutchinson) is sponsor.

Many farmers are unaware of the requirement currently in statute, Smith said.

The Minnesota Corporate Farm Law requires corporate entities that own farmland to file annual reports that help alert the state to potential land contamination. But unlike other forms of corporate ownership, revocable trusts don’t protect individuals who set them up (and are beneficiaries) from liability.

A fiscal note estimates that 3,600 revocable trusts would be exempted under the bill.