The Minnesota House on a strong bipartisan vote last night gave thumbs-up to a 50-million-dollar infusion for the Rural Finance Authority, the state agency that makes loans to farmers. Austin Democrat Jeanne Poppe, chair of the House Agriculture Committee, told fellow lawmakers, “Tonight we have the opportunity to collectively help farmers throughout the state.”
A similar measure is moving through the Minnesota Senate. The legislature established the R-F-A in the mid-1980s during the farm credit crisis.