A group of Senate Democrats wants to pull the plug on a venture capital fund they say hasn’t helped farmers as it was intended. They want to reinvest the money as part of a 25-million dollar program that provides funding for a variety of projects, like low-interest loans to farmers. Senator Jack Kibbie, a farmer from Emmettsburg, says the money in the “Agrifutures Fund” has sat, untouched, for 18 months. He says it’s time to put the money to use. Kibbie says if the finance corporation that oversees “Agrifutures” wants to continue the program, they should use private funds. Fellow Democrat Senator Betty Soukup of New Hampton agrees. She says the legislature ignored the farm crisis last year and shouldn’t repeat that mistake this year. Democrats are in the minority in both chambers of the legislature, so they’ll have to convince republicans to come on board to get the plan to pass.
