Minnesota grown account transfer increase provision

A bill for an act

relating to agriculture; increasing the transfer to the Minnesota grown account;

amending Laws 2025, chapter 34, article 1, section 6.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Laws 2025, chapter 34, article 1, section 6, is amended to read:

Sec. 6.
TRANSFERS.

(a) The commissioner of agriculture, in consultation with the commissioner of

management and budget, must transfer $1,500,000 in fiscal year 2026 from the general fund

to the agricultural emergency account established under Minnesota Statutes, section
17.041
.

(b) Of the amount transferred to the agricultural emergency account under Minnesota

Statutes, section
17.041
, up to $750,000 may be used for the following purposes:

(1) to test milk, milk products, poultry products, and pet food before retail sale for the

presence of avian influenza;

(2) to transfer money to the commissioner of health for biomonitoring for the presence

of avian influenza in agricultural workers, farm workers, and poultry or livestock processing

employees who volunteer to participate; and

(3) to transfer money to the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota to develop

rapid testing, quantification, and human exposure risk assessment models for avian influenza

in urban wastewater treatment processes, drinking water treatment processes, and public

and private wells.

Prior to using or transferring money under this paragraph, the commissioner of agriculture

must communicate the intended use and the estimated amount of money to the chairs and

ranking minority members of the house of representatives and senate committees with

jurisdiction over agriculture finance.

(c) The commissioner of agriculture, in consultation with the commissioner of

management and budget, must transfer $100,000 in fiscal year 2026 and $100,000 in fiscal

year 2027 from the general fund to the pollinator research account established under

Minnesota Statutes, section
18B.051
. The commissioner of management and budget must

include a transfer of $100,000 each year from the general fund to the pollinator research

account established under Minnesota Statutes, section
18B.051
, in each forecast prepared

under Minnesota Statutes, section
16A.103
, from the effective date of this section through

the February 2027 forecast.

(d) The commissioner of agriculture, in consultation with the commissioner of

management and budget, must transfer $186,000 in fiscal year 2026 and
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$186,000
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$261,000
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in fiscal year 2027 from the general fund to the Minnesota grown account under Minnesota

Statutes, section
17.102, subdivision 4
. The transferred money may be used as grants for

Minnesota grown promotion under Minnesota Statutes, section
17.102
. Notwithstanding

Minnesota Statutes, section
16A.28
, the appropriations encumbered under contract on or

before June 30, 2027, for Minnesota grown grants in this paragraph are available until June

30, 2029. The commissioner of management and budget must include a transfer of
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$186,000
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$261,000
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each year from the general fund to the Minnesota grown account established under

Minnesota Statutes, section
17.102, subdivision 4
, in each forecast prepared under Minnesota

Statutes, section
16A.103
, from the effective date of this section through the February 2027

forecast.

(e) The commissioner of agriculture, in consultation with the commissioner of

management and budget, must transfer $10,677,000 in fiscal year 2026 and $10,677,000 in

fiscal year 2027 from the general fund to the agriculture research, education, extension, and

technology transfer account under Minnesota Statutes, section
41A.14, subdivision 3
, for

purposes of the agriculture research, education, extension, and technology transfer grant

program under Minnesota Statutes, section
41A.14
. The commissioner of agriculture shall

transfer money each year to the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota for purposes

of Minnesota Statutes, section
41A.14, subdivision 1
, clauses (1) and (2), and must

supplement and not supplant existing sources and levels of funding. The commissioner may

use up to one percent of this transfer for costs incurred to administer this program. Of the

amount transferred for the agriculture research, education, extension, and technology transfer

grant program under Minnesota Statutes, section
41A.14
:

(1) $600,000 in fiscal year 2026 and $600,000 in fiscal year 2027 are for the Minnesota

Agricultural Experiment Station's agriculture rapid response fund under Minnesota Statutes,

section
41A.14, subdivision 1
, clause (2);

(2) up to $1,000,000 in fiscal year 2026 and up to $1,000,000 in fiscal year 2027 are for

research on avian influenza, salmonella, and other turkey related diseases and disease

prevention measures;

(3) $2,500,000 in fiscal year 2026 and $2,500,000 in fiscal year 2027 are for grants to

the Minnesota Agricultural Education Leadership Council to enhance agricultural education

with priority given to Farm Business Management challenge grants. This allocation is

$2,250,000 in fiscal year 2028 and each year thereafter;

(4) $350,000 in fiscal year 2026 and $350,000 in fiscal year 2027 are for potato research;

(5) $802,000 in fiscal year 2026 and $802,000 in fiscal year 2027 are to fund the Forever

Green Initiative and protect Minnesota's natural resources while increasing the efficiency,

profitability, and productivity of Minnesota farmers by incorporating perennial and winter

annual crops into existing agricultural practices. By February 1 each year, the dean of the

College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences must submit a report to the

chairs and ranking minority members of the legislative committees with jurisdiction over

agriculture finance and policy and higher education detailing uses of the money in this

clause, including administrative costs, and the achievements this money contributed to;

(6) $200,000 in fiscal year 2026 and $200,000 in fiscal year 2027 are for research on

natural stands of wild rice;

(7) $250,000 in fiscal year 2026 and $250,000 in fiscal year 2027 are for the cultivated

wild rice forward selection project at the North Central Research and Outreach Center,

including a tenure track or research associate plant scientist;

(8) $290,000 in fiscal year 2026 is for the Board of Regents of the University of

Minnesota for purposes of research on crop contamination and exposure to prions deposited

by animals infected with chronic wasting disease. This is a onetime allocation; and

(9) $75,000 in fiscal year 2026 and $75,000 in fiscal year 2027 are for grants to the

Southwest Minnesota State University Foundation to support the Minnesota Agriculture

and Rural Leadership program. This is a onetime allocation.

The commissioner of management and budget must include a transfer of $10,352,000 each

year from the general fund to the agriculture research, education, extension, and technology

transfer account under Minnesota Statutes, section
41A.14, subdivision 3
, in each forecast

prepared under Minnesota Statutes, section
16A.103
, from the effective date of this section

through the February 2027 forecast.

(f) The commissioner of agriculture, in consultation with the commissioner of

management and budget, must transfer $1,425,000 in fiscal year 2026 and $1,425,000 in

fiscal year 2027 from the general fund to the agricultural and environmental revolving loan

account established under Minnesota Statutes, section
17.117, subdivision 5a
, for low-interest

or no-interest loans issued through the agriculture best management practices loan program

under Minnesota Statutes, section
17.117
. The commissioner of management and budget

must include a transfer of $1,425,000 each year from the general fund to the agricultural

and environmental revolving loan account under Minnesota Statutes, section
17.117,

subdivision 5a
, in each forecast prepared under Minnesota Statutes, section
16A.103
, from

the effective date of this section through the February 2027 forecast.

(g) The commissioner of agriculture, in consultation with the commissioner of

management and budget, must transfer $500,000 in fiscal year 2026 from the grain indemnity

account under Minnesota Statutes, section
223.24, subdivision 1
, in the agricultural fund

to the grain buyers and storage account under Minnesota Statutes, section
232.22, subdivision

3
, in the agricultural fund.

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EFFECTIVE DATE.

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This section is effective the day following final enactment.

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