By a vote of 111-20, the Minnesota House on Saturday approved an omnibus finance package that provides an additional $10 million for agricultural aspects of the state’s budget for the next two years.
State Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, is the lead Republican on the House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee. He said he’s especially pleased the $139 million bill includes $6 million for biofuel infrastructure grants to help facilitate the equipment upgrades necessary to handle the E15 ethanol blend of fuel.
Retail and distributors of petroleum products will be able to apply for the grants to install new tanks and pumps that are compatible with up to E25 blends.
“This funding will be helpful to building out our infrastructure for expanded use of biofuels,” Anderson said in a news release. “We hear a lot about using more electric cars to improve air quality in the future, but biofuels can have a much more immediate impact and this appropriation to aid in the transition will be helpful in that regard.”
The agriculture bill also appropriates $2.9 million to supplement the Agricultural Best Management Practices Loan program, which helps farmers implement practices on their land to improve soil and water quality. Another $1.2 million is provided for capital equipment replacement in the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s plant protection and disease management labs.
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Funding also is featured for mental health specialists, farm safety grants, livestock processing and meat science, Second Harvest Heartland food banks, urban and youth agriculture grants, and farm-to-school programs.
A measure in the bill also continues biennial base spending of $700,000 for the Office of Broadband to help facilitate the appropriation of federal funds provided to expand broadband infrastructure to underserved and unserved portions of Minnesota.
