ST. PAUL (KMHL)- The House Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee approved an assistance package for livestock farmers and specialty crop producers harmed by the drought of 2021.
The package includes $5 million worth of grants and other direct financial assistance, as well as an additional $5 million for the Rural Finance Authority’s revolving loan account targeted toward drought relief.
Of that amount, the bill reserves $1 million for livestock producers, $1 million for specialty crop producers, and $500,000 for farmers market vendors who are livestock or specialty crop growers. The bill also requires MDA to do outreach to emerging farmers about the relief programs. The legislation prioritizes farms in counties classified as D4, the United States Department of Agriculture’s most severe drought category, followed by farmers in D3 and D2 counties.
Documents and other information from the hearing will be available on house.leg.state.mn.us
