115 State Street
Montpelier, VT 05633-5301
Tel: (802) 828-2228
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STATE OF VERMONT
House of Representatives
  • Rep. Carolyn W. Partridge, Chair
  • Rep. Rodney Graham, Vice Chair
  • Rep. John L. Bartholomew, Clerk
  • Rep. Cynthia Browning
  • Rep. Charen Fegard
  • Rep. Terry Norris
  • Rep. John O'Brien
  • Rep. Vicki Strong

House Committee on Agriculture and Forestry

 

AGENDA

 

Room 32

January 15, 2019 - January 18, 2019

Last Updated 1/18/2019 4:15 PM

 

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

10:00 AM                   House Floor

 

following                           Caucuses and Lunch

 

1:00 PM                   Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets

Introductions and Update

Anson Tebbetts, Secretary, Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets

Cary Giguere,  f, Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets (1:45 PM)

Stephanie Smith, Land Use Chief, Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets

 

2:00 PM                   Agriculture Issues

Paul Costello, Executive Director, Vermont Council on Rural Development

Ellen Kahler, Executive Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund

 

2:45 PM                   Break

 

3:00 PM                   Agriculture Issues

Chuck Ross, Director, University of Vermont Extension

Ela Chapin, Farm and Forest Viability Program Director, Vermont Housing and Conservation Board

Ellen Kahler, Executive Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund

 

Wednesday, January 16, 2019

9:00 AM                   Forests, Parks and Recreation

Introductions and update

Michael Snyder, Commissioner, Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation

Sam Lincoln, Deputy Commissioner, Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation

 

10:00 AM                   Farm to Plate Report

Room 10

Ellen Kahler, Executive Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund

Jake Claro, Farm to Plate Director, Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund

Kristyn Achilich, Academic Program Coordinator, The Farm at St. Michael's College

Mary Niebling, Community Economic Development Director, Capstone Community Action

Jenn Colby, Pasture Program Coordinator, UVM Extension Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Mary Ellen Franklin, Dairy Grazing Apprenticeship Education Program Coordinator, UVM Extension Center for Sustainable Agriculture

Faye Mack, Advocacy and Education Director, Hunger Free Vermont

Taylar Foster, Certified AICP Planner, CSA Manager, Pete's Greens

 

1:00 PM                   House Floor

 

15 minutes after Floor                   Water Quality in Vermont

Laura DiPietro, Water Quality Division Director, Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets

Ryan Patch, Senior Agriculture Development Coordinator, Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets

Julie Moore, Secretary, Agency of Natural Resources (2:45 PM)

Marli Rupe, Agricultural Water Quality Section Chief, Department of Environmental Conservation (2:45 PM)

 

Thursday, January 17, 2019

9:00 AM                   Vermont Fresh Network

Helen Labun, Vermont Fresh Network

 

9:30 AM                   Vermont Farm Bureau

Jackie Folsom, Lobbyist, Vermont Farm Bureau

Bernie Juskiewicz, Vermont Farm Bureau

 

10:00 AM                   Council of State Governments

Tara Eric

Bob Haefner

 

10:30 AM                   Rural Vermont

Introductions

Andrea Stander, Policy Consultant, Rural Vermont

Graham Unangst-Rufehacht, Farmer, Field Organizer, Rural Vermont

Caroline Gordon, Intern, Rural Vermont

 

11:00 AM                   Champlain Valley Farmer Coalition

Brian Kemp, President, Champlain Valley Farmer Coalition

Marie Audet, Farmer, Champlain Valley Farmer Coalition

Jeff Carter, Agronomist/Soil Scientist, UVM Extension

 

1:00 PM                   House Floor

 

 

.                                   Decorum Training

Immediately following adjournment of House Floor

 

2:00 PM                   Act 250 and Agricultural Land

 Also a dairy update

Diane Bothfeld, Director of Administrative Services IV and Dairy Policy, Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets

Ari Rockland-Miller, Senior Agricultural Development Coordinator, Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets

 

3:00 PM                   Vermont Legal Aid

Introduction

Wendy Morgan, Attorney, Vermont Legal Aid

Julia Shaw, Health Care Policy Analyst, Office of the Health Care Advocate, Vermont Legal Aid

 

3:30 PM                   Clean Water Report

Emily Bird, Assistant Program Manager, Nonpoint Source Coordinator, Vermont Clean Water Initiative Program, WSMD, Department of Environmental Conservation

 

Friday, January 18, 2019

9:30 AM                   House Floor

 

15 minutes after Floor                   Hemp

Cary Giguere, Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets

Stephanie Smith, Land Use Chief, Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets

 

11:00 AM                   Vermont Legislative Research Service (VLRS)

Anthony Gierzynski, Director, Vermont Legislative Research Service

 

11:30 AM                   Budget Memo Discussion

Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets Budget considerations

 

ATTENTION WITNESSES- Please email handouts to the committee assistant before your scheduled meeting date and bring 10 hard copies. Please write your name, organization, date and title on each document. With few exceptions, any documents you hand out to a committee, or send to a committee assistant, are open to the public and may be posted to the committee’s webpage.

 

If you have any questions and comments, please contact

 Linda Leehman at 802-828-2258 or lleehman@leg.state.vt.us