| 1997 Fiscal Review Appropriations - Agriculture |
Department of Agriculture
The 1997 Legislature appropriated $58.9 million to the Department of Agriculture for the 1997-99 biennium which is a 20.6 percent increase over the last biennium. The increase in funding is due to a number of General Fund initiatives funded by the Legislature, including: $4 million for an individual sewage treatment system loan program; $1.2 million for increased computerization; $1 million for dairy diagnostic teams; $1 million for a Minnesota Grown food stamp program for resident noncitizens; and $925,000 for feedlot/odor activities. The two largest sources of appropriations to the Department of Agriculture are the General Fund (64.2%) and the special revenue fund (34.9%). The table below provides a list of the funds along with the amounts and percentage of funding.
| Fund | 1997-99 | % of Total |
| General | $ 37,817,000 | 64.2% |
| Special Revenue | 20,518,000 | 34.9% |
| Environmental | 538,000 | 0.9% |
| Total | $ 58,873,000 | 100.0% |
The two major areas of spending for the Department of Agriculture are for the protection service (60.7%) and administrative supports and grants (27.9%). The table below provides a list of appropriations along with the amounts and percentage of total appropriations for each purpose.
| Purpose | 1997-99 | % of Total |
| Protection Service | $ 35,759,000 | 60.7% |
| Agricultural Marketing and Development | 6,685,000 | 11.4% |
| Administration and Financial Assistance | 16,429,000 | 27.9% |
| Total | $ 58,873,000 | 100.0% |
Board of Animal Health
The 1997 Legislature appropriated $4.7 million from the General Fund to the Board of Animal Health for the 1997-99 biennium which is an 8 percent increase over the last biennium. Included in the total amounts appropriated is $80,000 for a paratuberculosis ("Johne's disease") control program for bovine herds and $89,000 for a companion animal resource education program at the University of Minnesota.
Ethanol Development
The 1997 Legislature increased the statutory cap on annual appropriations for payments for Ethanol Development to ethanol producers from $30 million to $34 million. Under the Ethanol Development Program, ethanol producers in Minnesota are paid 20 cents per gallon of ethanol produced, up to a maximum of $3 million per producer per year. The 1997 Legislature also reduced the cap on payments for the current biennium to $49.7 million.
Agricultural Utilization Research Institute
The 1997 Legislature appropriated $8.75 million for the biennium to the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI) which is a 1 percent increase over the last biennium. Of this amount, $8.35 million is from the General Fund and includes $400,000 for hybrid tree management research and $90,000 for a youth value-added program. $400,000 is appropriated to AURI from the pesticide regulatory account in the special revenue fund for cooperative research on pesticide use reduction.