ST. PAUL — The Minnesota House passed an omnibus agriculture bill on Thursday, April 24, that includes a second round of funding for a University of Minnesota seed bank project that university officials say they didn’t have a hand in developing.
The bill would spend $250,000 in each of the next two fiscal years on the project, which is meant to create a repository for a variety of seeds — including grains, grasses and legumes — grown in Minnesota prior to 1970. Seeds brought to the state by immigrants for crops traditionally grown in their native countries are also meant to be included.
The project would also require the university to reach out to operators of small farms and farmers who are Black, Indigenous and other people of color.
The provision also recommends the funding continue into the future, although that is not binding.
This funding would be given to the university’s College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, or CFANS.
The head of the university’s Agronomy and Planet Genetics Department, Gary Muehlbauer, said the current seed storage facilities are in a state of disrepair, which makes starting the new project difficult.
“Our current seed storage facilities are in such bad shape that we can barely manage the seed that we have for the projects we have right now,” Muehlbauer said.
Two years ago, the Legislature allocated an initial $300,000 per year meant to start the project, which hasn’t yet been established. Muehlbauer said when he and Brian Buhr, dean of CFANS, were approached about the idea and asked to testify, they asked for $1.5 million to update their facilities and kickstart the project.
“If we had had that to begin with, we'd probably be in good shape with our seed storage space. But we got $900,000 less than that,” Muehlbauer said.
The university spent the majority of the initial allocation on adding storage space to current infrastructure. Despite that, Muehlbauer said the facilities are still barely operational, with faculty battling constant breakdowns, temperature fluctuations and mold infestation.
According to Muehlbauer, the proposed funding that would be distributed over the next two years, if passed, would only cover the repair costs of the current facilities.
If the non-binding recommendation for additional funding is taken by the Legislature moving forward, he said that would better position the university to make needed facility updates and take on the project.
CFANS wasn’t told there was another funding bill under consideration for the project until recently, Muehlbauer said.
Rep. Samantha Vang, DFL-Brooklyn Park, who proposed funding for the seed project this year, said she is aware the university doesn’t currently have enough funding for the improvements it needs, and added that part of the purpose of this year’s funding is to build the university’s capacity for the project.
Vang, who is Hmong, added the language for the outreach to Black, Indigenous and other minority farmers. She said preserving biodiversity of traditional food sources is important for immigrant communities to maintain cultural ties.
“This is really to also support immigrant communities being able to save their own seeds and continue to build upon serving the cultural needs of their communities,” Vang said.
Vang added that it is important to maintain genetic diversity to keep crops healthy and avoid the problems farmers face from monoculture planting.
“This is one of the key ways that we can continue to build a more diverse and more resilient food system for our economy,” Vang said.
The Senate version of the omnibus agriculture bill does not include funding for the project. The issue will likely be worked on in a conference committee before a final bill is presented to Gov. Tim Walz.
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