ST. PAUL – The Minnesota House on Sunday overwhelmingly provided final approval for legislation which Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, said combats infectious diseases in flocks and herds and helps the state’s agriculture industry in general.
Anderson co-chairs the House committee on agriculture and was a part of the joint House-Senate conference committee which prepared the bill (H.F. 2446) for final approval. He said the amount of spending in the finished product is $8 million less than what the House originally proposed, settling in at around $164 million for 2026-27 – a $9 million increase – to fund the agriculture section of Minnesota’s next two-year state budget.
Most notably, the bill provides $115 million to the Department of Agriculture, $13.5 million to the Board of Animal Health, $8.7 million to the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute and $2 million to the Office of Broadband Development. The appropriations include $400,000 for grants to combat the spread of livestock and poultry diseases.
“Minnesota is a powerhouse in agriculture and, overall, this is a good bill that will help the industry and be good for farmers,” Anderson said. “We had to make a few revisions from what the House had previously proposed because the spending total was reduced during the process. I’m particularly pleased we were able to maintain increased funding for the Board of Animal Health to help address outbreaks in our flocks and herds.”
The bill also provides $3 million to help facilitate infrastructure upgrades that are necessary to accommodate dairy production at First District Association in Litchfield.
“First District processes around 40 percent of our state’s dairy production,” Anderson said. “They are facing regulatory hurdles and, if they were forced to reduce production, it would have negative impacts for some 600 farmers in our state and have consequences for Minnesota’s dairy production in general.”
The bill passed 130-4 and was sent to the Senate for final approval before landing on the governor’s desk for enactment.
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