Minnesota agriculture is set up for success after a unique legislative session that saw an evenly divided House of Representatives and. split Senate. On May 23, Governor Walz signed the Agriculture and Broadband Development Policy and Finance Bill and the Legacy Finance Bill into law. The Ag Bill funds the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA), Minnesota Board of Animal Health and the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute, while the Legacy Bill makes major investments in our soil and water resources.
Likely because of the expected federal broadband funding (BEAD), there isn’t a lot of mention of broadband (outside of the committee name) but there is a mention of expanded access to weather information and to optimize use of that information, farmers will want precision ag equipment, software and the broadband to access it in the fields…
The Minnesota Ag Weather Network will continue its expansion with more funding. Soybean growers across the state will have access to real-time weather information as we build the network across central and southern Minnesota.