Due to the legislative webpage being down and inaccessible, Bills of interest will be updated in next week’s Under the Golden Dome.

The Clean Water board called an emergency meeting on January 25th to report an extra $1.4 million in revenue in FY21 along with an anticipated excess revenue of $2.1 million for FY22. This is reportedly the result of an increase in the property transfer tax. While some of the money was re-allocated to the Agency of Agriculture for water quality programs for farmers, other funds were directed to technical support for 3-acre stormwater programs. The balance was moved to FY23. The Board meeting was called because the budget required adjusting prior to the Governor’s fiscal speech on Tuesday.

Leadership from the Department of Forests, Park and Recreation updated members in Senate Ag last week. It was reported that thirty-two individuals and/or companies received CARES Act funding grants totaling $4.1 million in 2020. The average payout was $50,000. The average number of employees per company was seven. It was also noted that a climate forester was hired to work on carbon issues.

Commissioner Snyder has requested $1.2 million from the General Fund to cover refunds from camping cancellations last summer after the parks were closed because of COVID. Senator Starr felt the money should have come from federal CARES Act funds, however, state officials believed this was not an approved CARES Act expenditure.

The Agency of Ag is expected to release language on January 29th that will alter accessory on-farm businesses under Act 250. This was not position advanced by the administration when it was offered during the Act 250 reorganizational hearing last year. Since then, the Governor has opted to support the concept and sponsors of the proposal are lining up.

The preliminary concept is to “exempt accessory on-farm businesses (i.e., farm dinners, educational farm camps, “see it made” activities, hiking, biking, cross country skiing, etc.) where the total area of improvements does not exceed a half- acre in size.” (Note this was sample language and may not be the same when the bill is fully drafted).

On a conference call earlier this week, there was discussion on whether VAAFM should have input in decisions by towns and how issues such as horse trails or cross-country skiing relate to the farming activity. There was concern about whether this half-acre would be eligible for current use if it were currently designated as such.

The General Assembly welcomed Governor Scott in a virtual session, Tuesday January 26th, as he presented his $6.83 billion 2022 budget proposal. It contains no new taxes or fees, and no cuts to essential services. Retirement obligations are fully funded in the proposed budget. Three and a half million dollars are proposed to be distributed to the Working Lands Enterprise Fund for distribution to farmers, foresters and related industries. The Governor noted “we have to work harder to find solutions to their problems.” Ten million dollars are proposed to be used to promote and support outdoor recreation with an additional $1 million slated to support the promotion of Vermont tourism. A $20 million investment in broadband improvements was highlighted by Governor Scott. Broadband improvement is a priority of Vermont Farm Bureau. The proposed budget also includes $20.1 million to VHCB for housing.

Rep. Emily Kornheiser visited with House Ag on Wednesday to walk through H.58, her offering for Right to Repair focused on agriculture. She introduced similar language last year with no mention of agriculture. The measure did not pass and was opposed by several manufacturing groups.

She was asked how many other states actually had this legislation and did not have that number at hand. She also stated that “National Farm Bureau has this as a national priority” which is not true; AFBF does support Right to Repair for Agriculture but it is one of several hundred policies in their book and not listed in AFBF’s Strategic Plan as a “must do” nationally.

While AFBF supports “Right to Repair” for agriculture, Vermont Farm Bureau does not have specific policy language in this regard. Therefore, we will rely on AFBF’s policy to guide us in this regard.

Committee members are concerned with proprietary software, copyrights, and possible warranties being voided from repairs being performed outside an authorized service center. If you have any thoughts or experiences with repairing farm equipment and going through dealers, please email Jackie at crkdbrks@aol.com.

Witnesses spoke at a meeting of House Agriculture, Senate Agriculture, and the House Commerce and Community Development Committee to share the impact of the WLEB funds in Vermont. Several farmers, including Judith Irving (Fat Toad Farm), Ben Nottermann (Snug Valley Farm), and Ken Gagnon (Gagnon Lumber) testified as to the importance of the grants they had received and how many other farms/companies they interact with that have also received WELB dollars. All supported Governor Scott’s proposed $3.5 million increase for WLEB.

This is a revisit from language introduced last year, which did not make it out of Judiciary. Some have expressed concern regarding the terms “negligence” and “gross negligence.” This bill adds the definition of agricultural fairs and would include them in the definition of agritourism. The Fairs and Field Days Association is looking at this language and will testify soon.

The Department of Financial Regulation, which has jurisdiction over insurance companies, has reviewed the language. They feel the proposal would provide clarity and would not create issues in the insurance marketplace.  A section of the bill requires the posting of a warning sign and mentions a signed contract for anyone participating in activities. This may be an issue for some sites.

Anyone wishing to testify on H.89 should email Jackie as soon as possible at crkdbrks@aol.com or call her at 802-426-3579. They will be working on this within the next week or two.

It should be noted that former USDA Secretary Perdue did not support national supply management. It is too soon to determine what incoming USDA Secretary Vilsack’s position will be in this regard.

VTFB reiterated our dairy policies: a national (all-in) supply management program, support for modernization of the FMMO system, and concerns with Efficiency Vermont programs to assist dairy farmers with issues on the farm. Senator Starr offered to request Efficiency Vermont representatives come before his committee to explore what is available and possible improvements.

Rep. Henry Pearl asked “what are we trying to do? Is the issue saving Vermont dairy farms or increasing the milk price?” There did not seem to be one specific response to this, but it is a great question since the answers could lead to different solutions. Many farmers spoke about transitions, environmental issues, science-based regulations, and continuing administration challenges in their business. Leon Berthiaume, DFA/St. Albans, noted the majority of investment in processing in Vermont has been made by the dairy co-operatives, meaning farmers. This investment is not always recognized.

Time was scheduled for Friday morning in Senate Agriculture for further discussion. There is a possibility of legislative language being introduced as a result of this study.

H.15 would discontinue use of chlorpyrifos, glyphosate and atrazine. H.3 would revisit the land application of sludge and septage. These bills were introduced to House Natural Resources and are open for discussion.

Did you miss the Vermont Farm Show this year?

Thanks to everyone who continues to support Vermont Farm Bureau. If you would like to talk about any of the items in this report or offer to testify on issues or legislation, please contact Jackie at 802-426-3579 or crkdbrks@aol.com.

Vermont Farm Bureau continues to update our Covid-19 Resource page