Minnesota legislators convene their 2019 session on January 8 in St. Paul. State Farmers Union members have several legislative goals they’re working on. Government Relations Director Thom Petersen says one is they want to make sure state government is able to provide assistance farmers and ranchers struggling with the depressed agricultural economy.

He says the challenge in passage is finding a compromise due to the split party control of state government.

Petersen says they have been and will continue to educate the new members of the legislature to bring them up to speed on agriculture.

Petersen says they expect taxes to come up early in the session. One of the holdover issues from last year’s legislature is tax conformity with Section 179 expensing.