The heart of SF 4479 is aimed at allowing counties to designate certain agricultural lands as unsuitable for electric power facilities, proposing coding for new law in Minnesota statutes. Those lands would be given such a designation if they are considered “agricultural priority lands.” Agricultural priority lands can be selected by any county and placed on a list “if more than 50% of the land area of the parcel has a crop productivity index rating of more than 75; or the parcel has been improved with irrigation or drainage and has been classified by the Natural Resources Conservation Service as prime farmland if irrigated, or prime farmland if drained,” according to the bill. The crop productivity index ranges from 1 to 100, with higher numbers indicating higher production potential based on physical and chemical properties of the soils and on such hazards as flooding or ponding, according to the University of Minnesota. It was an issue that bill sponsor Sen. Rob Kupec, ...