1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to agriculture; providing risk management and 
  1.3             technology development assistance; appropriating 
  1.4             money; amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 
  1.5             17.115, by adding a subdivision. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7                              ARTICLE 1 
  1.8                           RISK MANAGEMENT 
  1.9      Section 1.  [CROP OR REVENUE INSURANCE ASSISTANCE.] 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] (a) The definitions in this 
  1.11  subdivision apply to this section. 
  1.12     (b) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of agriculture. 
  1.13     (c) "Disaster county" means a county that was declared to 
  1.14  be a disaster county by the federal government in 1997 or 1998. 
  1.15     (d) "Farmer" means a natural person residing in Minnesota 
  1.16  who operates a family farm as defined in Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.17  section 500.24, subdivision 2, located wholly or in part in a 
  1.18  disaster county.  "Farmer" also means a resident who is a 
  1.19  shareholder in a family farm corporation or a partner in a 
  1.20  family farm partnership as defined in Minnesota Statutes, 
  1.21  section 500.24, subdivision 2, located wholly or in part in a 
  1.22  disaster county. 
  1.23     Subd. 2.  [PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT.] As soon as possible, but 
  1.24  no later than 30 days after the effective date of this section, 
  1.25  the commissioner shall announce procedures and distribute 
  2.1   application forms for the insurance assistance program in this 
  2.2   section. 
  2.3      Subd. 3.  [ELIGIBILITY.] A farmer is eligible for state 
  2.4   assistance under this section if the crop covered by the 
  2.5   insurance is located in a disaster county and the farmer or the 
  2.6   farmer's revenue insurance or federal crop insurance agent 
  2.7   submits a properly completed application for assistance to the 
  2.8   commissioner on forms provided by the commissioner on or before 
  2.9   July 31, 1999. 
  2.10     Subd. 4.  [REIMBURSEMENT RATE, PRIORITY, AND MAXIMUM 
  2.11  ASSISTANCE.] (a) From funds appropriated for purposes of this 
  2.12  section, the commissioner shall provide reimbursement to an 
  2.13  eligible farmer for 50 percent of premiums and administrative 
  2.14  fees paid for revenue insurance or federal crop insurance on 
  2.15  crops grown in a disaster county for the 1999 growing season.  
  2.16  The maximum reimbursement available to any farmer, or in the 
  2.17  case of a family farm corporation or a family farm partnership, 
  2.18  to the family farm corporation or partnership, is $4,000. 
  2.19     (b) Properly completed applications for revenue insurance 
  2.20  or federal crop insurance assistance take priority in the order 
  2.21  in which they are received by the commissioner. 
  2.22     (c) The farmer must be listed as the payee, or one of the 
  2.23  payees, on the reimbursement check. 
  2.24     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATIONS.] 
  2.25     Subdivision 1.  [REVENUE INSURANCE OR FEDERAL CROP 
  2.26  INSURANCE ASSISTANCE.] $8,800,000 is appropriated to the 
  2.27  commissioner of agriculture for purposes of section 1 from the 
  2.28  budget reserve and cash flow account under Minnesota Statutes, 
  2.29  section 16A.152.  Up to $....... of this appropriation is 
  2.30  available for necessary program administration costs of the 
  2.31  department of agriculture.  
  2.32     Subd. 2.  [CROP DISEASE RESEARCH.] $1,600,000 is 
  2.33  appropriated from the general fund to the University of 
  2.34  Minnesota agricultural experiment station for research into 
  2.35  wheat and barley scab, soybean mold, and other crop diseases. 
  2.36     Subd. 3.  [ALTERNATIVE CROPS.] $1,000,000 is appropriated 
  3.1   from the general fund to the Agricultural Utilization Research 
  3.2   Institute to provide technical assistance and grants to 
  3.3   producers to move towards producing alternative crops.  
  3.4   Technical assistance and grants under this program must be 
  3.5   coordinated with programs of the department of agriculture. 
  3.6      Subd. 4.  [MARKETING TRAINING.] $2,000,000 is appropriated 
  3.7   from the general fund to the Agricultural Utilization Research 
  3.8   Institute to provide technical assistance and grants to 
  3.9   producers for farm-to-market initiatives including livestock 
  3.10  processing cooperatives and for initial project assessments and 
  3.11  feasibility studies.  Technical assistance and grants under this 
  3.12  program must be coordinated with programs of the department of 
  3.13  agriculture. 
  3.14     Subd. 5.  [AVAILABILITY.] The appropriations in this 
  3.15  section are available until June 30, 2001. 
  3.16     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.17     This article is effective June 1, 1999. 
  3.18                             ARTICLE 2 
  3.19                       TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT 
  3.20     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 17.115, is 
  3.21  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  3.22     Subd. 5.  [FEEDLOT MANURE PROCESSING AND ODOR CONTROL 
  3.23  TECHNOLOGY.] Notwithstanding subdivision 2, paragraphs (b) and 
  3.24  (c), interest-free loans up to $200,000 may be made under this 
  3.25  section to any resident of Minnesota for feedlot manure 
  3.26  processing and odor control technology projects.  Loans under 
  3.27  this subdivision may be used as a match for federal loans or 
  3.28  grants.  Money from repayment of loans must be deposited in the 
  3.29  revolving loan account for this program to be used for future 
  3.30  projects.  
  3.31     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATIONS.] 
  3.32     Subdivision 1.  [FEEDLOT MANURE PROCESSING AND ODOR CONTROL 
  3.33  TECHNOLOGY LOANS.] $2,000,000 is appropriated from the general 
  3.34  fund to the commissioner of agriculture to be used for loans 
  3.35  under section 1.  This appropriation is available until June 30, 
  3.36  2001. 
  4.1      Subd. 2.  [FEEDLOT UPGRADES.] $10,000,000 is appropriated 
  4.2   from the general fund to the board of water and soil resources 
  4.3   for grants to assist operators of small- to mid-sized farms in 
  4.4   upgrading their feedlots to meet new environmental standards.  
  4.5   This appropriation is available until June 30, 2001.