A proposed bill to create a special Minnesota agriculture plate for vehicles is working its way through state legislative committees.

Money raised by the special license plate would support ag programs for the state’s FFA and 4-H organizations.

In the state House, bill HF 3152 is sponsored by  Rep. Rod  Hamilton, R-Mountain Lake; in the state Senate, bill SF 2842 is sponsored by Sen. Gary Dahms, R-Redwood Falls.

The special ag plate was an idea initially offered by Val Aarsvold, executive director of the Minnesota FFA Foundation. Aarsvold was thinking of different ways to help support FFA and other youth agriculture organizations.

“I shared [the idea] with the foundation board, and the directors agreed this was a valuable way to celebrate agriculture and to create a bright future for youth in ag at the same time,” she says.

Good reception for proposed bill
At an ag policy committee meeting last week, Hamilton presented the bill, and Aarsvold offered testimony to support it.

“I testified to the impact this would make on Minnesota FFA and 4-H programs in growing leaders for agriculture and local communities,” she says.

The proposed bill was well received, she adds, and was referred to the Transportation and Regional Governance Policy Committee. The similar bill in the Senate awaits action by the Senate Transportation Finance and Policy Committee.

The new ag plate, in addition to the usual fees, would cost an additional $10 and require buyers to make a $20 annual donation that would be used to fund FFA and 4-H. Aarsvold says it’s difficult to estimate how much additional revenue the plates would raise. In other states where special ag plates are sold, those states have raised between $15,000 a$200,000 per year.

Funds raised by special plate sales would support the 21,800 Minnesota students enrolled in agriculture food and natural resources classes, of whom 10,200 have chosen to participate in the FFA. The funds would also support the 15,900 Minnesota 4-H members who are enrolled in agricultural projects, Aarsvold says.

Both Minnesota Farm Bureau and Minnesota Farmers Union support the effort, she adds.