Minnesota Statute Section 500.24 requires that all pension or investment funds, corporations, limited partnerships, limited liability companies, and irrevocable trusts must be certified by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture before engaging in farming or having an interest in agricultural land.
The law was passed in 1971 to "encourage and protect the family farm as a basic economic unit, to insure it as the most socially desirable mode of agricultural production, and to enhance and promote the stability and well-being of rural society in Minnesota and the nuclear family."
The corporate farm law restricts business entities (Corporations, Limited Partnerships, Trusts, etc) from engaging in farming or having any type of interest in agricultural land unless they satisfy certain requirements.
Entities must complete a corporate farm application and send it to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (see application for mailing address). If the entity satisfies the requirements of the statute, the Department will send a certificate signed by the Commissioner stating that the entity is in compliance with the law.
Each year in February the Department will send out a renewal form to all certified entities to make sure the information on file at the Department is current. That report is due back to the Department by April 15th annually.
There is a $15 fee requirement with any of the filings.
