Editor’s note: Beginning this week, we are using the legislative district number instead of the town the legislator is from. To find your legislative district, go to www.sos.mn.gov/election-administration-campaigns/data-maps/.

On March 17, the Minnesota Senate passed a first agriculture bill. Sen. Rob Kupec’s, DFL-SD4, legislation would clarify eligibility for the Dairy Assistance, Investment, Relief Initiative (DAIRI) program (SF3832), ensuring that new farmers can benefit from the program.

“The Dairy Assistance, Investment, Relief Initiative helps our dairy farmers when the cost of milk goes down and the price of feed goes up. Our dairy farmers are facing a lot of uncertainty right now and we’ve got to support them,” he said of the effort.

MFU shared support for the clarification through its committee path. And—while not a substantial policy change or significant investment in a new program—it’s notable that a closely-divided Senate acted quickly to ensure this long-awaited program could be rolled out effectively. The bill passed unanimously (66-0), demonstrating that agriculture can still be a bright spot of broad bipartisan agreement.

Farmer-Lender Mediation awaits action

Other Senate proposals are potentially close to receiving attention as standalone bills. Sen. Putnam’s bills to extend Minnesota’s Farmer-Lender Mediation (FLM) program (SF3583), fund an additional staff at the FLM program (SF3584), and provide additional bonding authority for Minnesota’s Rural Finance Authority (RFA) (SF1209) are all awaiting action in the Senate Finance Committee.

Together with legislative champions, we’re making the case for early action on these priority bills, including those priorities identified in our first Special Order of Business passed in November at our State Convention.

In the House, Farmer-Lender Mediation has not yet received a vote by the Agriculture Committee, though co-Chair Paul Anderson, R-HD12A, heard the bill on March 9. Rep. Andy Smith, DFL-HD25B, carries both bills to extend and provide additional funding to FLM (HF3692; HF4191).

Bill against vertical integration advances

On Tuesday, the House Agriculture Committee did take action to approve co-Chair Rick Hansen’s, DFL-HD53B, bill that would bar the nation’s largest retailers from buying or signing exclusive contracts with meat processors (HF4080). This hard line against vertical integration among those who have more than $18 billion in grocery sales, would help curtail future anticompetitive practices and otherwise promote competition.

“Preventing massive grocers from amassing even more control of our food system will not reverse the extreme consolidation that already exists in the industry. That said, this bill represents an opportunity to prevent even further monopolization,” wrote MFU President Gary Wertish in a letter to committee members. Another letter signed by Lorentz Meats and others named examples.

“Dominant retail grocers are aggressively moving to vertically integrate entire meat supply chains,” they wrote. “For example, Costco has opened a chicken plant in Fremont, Nebraska, and Walmart has acquired beef processing and slaughter plants in Kansas, Georgia and Nebraska.”

Redwood County Farmers Union member Leon Plaetz, a beef producer, spoke about his experience.

“In the Holstein beef market we are down to only one packer now and that is in Green Bay, Wisconsin,” Plaetz said. “In the last 40 years I have been farming, we have seen one loss after another of beef marketing options. Each time that happens we see a widening of the basis.”

The bill was passed out of committee with bipartisan support.

Local Food Purchasing Assistance bill heard

The House Agriculture Committee also heard Rep. Fue Lee’s, DFL-HD59A, bill to increase funding of the Minnesota Local Food Purchasing Assistance (LFPA) program (HF3693), now called Farm to Food Security.  Applications for this funding cycle are due March 31.

MFU worked hard to establish this state program in 2025 after the USDA cut funding for the federal program. That said, while $3 million was cut, the state was only able to dedicate $700,000 annually.

As a joint letter MFU led stated, “[this new funding] would bring the state appropriation closer to what was cut while also helping to meet the significant demand.”

In 2024, applicants to LFPA requested nearly $5 million.

Waseca County Farmers Union member Dan Zimmerli testified in support of new funding for LFPA based on his experience with the program.

“It’s a true win-win-win for farmers, people who need help with food, and our local economy,” Zimmerli shared.

Unfortunately, the full proposal was voted down based on objections over an author’s amendment to take the funding from the green fertilizer grant program MFU worked hard to establish in 2023. The bill’s author cited that funding had not yet been used and the 10-year appropriation out of the energy budget and that continued funding no longer made sense after the federal government rolled back incentives for green hydrogen.

MFU did not support or advocate for the funding mechanism and has long maintained that agriculture deserves more overall investment. Despite driving as much as a fifth of Minnesota’s economy, state investment totals less than half of one percent of the overall budget.

On Monday, the Senate Agriculture Committee will hear a bill on the LFPA increase, carried by Senator Mary Kunesh, DFL-SD39, (SF3864) and conversations about new funding for the program are certain to continue.

Klobuchar introduces Fertilizer Transparency Act

Speaking of Minnesota-produced fertilizer, on the federal level, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., introduced a pair of bipartisan bills to address the high cost of fertilizer, which has spiked due to the Iran war, tariff threats, and market consolidation. The Fertilizer Transparency Act (Thune-Klobuchar) would create a mandatory price reporting system for fertilizer companies and the Homegrown Fertilizer Act (Klobuchar-Marshall) would establish a grant and loan program to expand domestic production.

“Four multinational companies dominate the market for fertilizer and often leave Minnesota farmers with even fewer options to purchase locally,” said MFU President Wertish in a release. “This is far from a competitive market, which is why I’m glad Sens. Klobuchar and Thune are leading to bring more transparency to the market. This, coupled with Sens. Klobuchar and Marshall’s support for more domestic production, will help create a more resilient system that farmers can count on.”

Walz releases supplemental budget proposal

Back on the state level, Gov. Walz released his supplemental budget proposal, which included few changes for agriculture. That said, on healthcare, he included proposed reforms to administration of the state’s Medicaid program. The proposal would transition Medicaid from being administered through multiple private insurance companies, or managed care organizations (MCO), to a single statewide administrative service organization that would pay providers directly for services delivered to Medicaid beneficiaries. This would also shift county-level administrative functions to the state.

Removing MCOs could save the state money on administrative expenses in the long run as seen in Connecticut which has reduced its Medicaid administrative costs to below three percent compared to the 12.5% in Minnesota. This proposal would also allow Minnesotans receiving Medicaid to access the same provider networks, rates, and billing rules regardless of where they live, while strengthening consistency and program controls. Under Walz’s proposed supplemental budget, the transition would be complete by July 1, 2028.

Walz also proposed raising new revenue by enacting a new tax on large social media platforms, such as Facebook. The tax would scale with the number of users on a platform and would max out at $165,000 plus 50 cents per user. The estimated $244,500 the tax would generate over the next several years would be dedicated to an account managed by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development to fund workforce development initiatives for workers impacted by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Another priority for MFU, the governor proposed extending Minnesota’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Tax Credit, which provides a tax credit for SAF that achieves a lifecycle greenhouse gas reduction of greater than 50 percent. For agriculture, this could create a new market incentive for conservation practices and a drive for new crops, like Winter Camelina.

Gov. Walz did not include addressing the shortfall in Minnesota’s Beginning Farmer Tax Credit, which turned away more than 50 percent of eligible applicants this year due to lack of funding.

Price discrimination bill introduced

Finally, on the federal level, Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., introduced the Fair Prices for Local Businesses Act, legislation that would improve and strengthen the Robinson-Patman Act (RPA). The RPA prohibits price discrimination, which involves charging retailers different prices for the same good, often at the behest of powerful retailers. Earlier this year an unsealed Federal Trade Commission lawsuit against PepsiCo demonstrated how Walmart used its power over Pepsi to inflate prices at competing retailers. The legislation was supported by Small Business Rising, a national coalition of organizations that MFU is a part of. MFU has also led efforts to strengthen Minnesota laws prohibiting price discrimination.

As always, this is just a snapshot of legislative work. If you have questions, thoughts, or concerns about legislative work, reach out to stu@mfu.org or (320) 232-3047.