Senate Committee on Agriculture

AGENDA

Room 26

January 29, 2019 - February 1, 2019

Last Updated 3/13/2019 10:53 AM

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

9:30 AM                   Senate Floor

15 minutes after Floor                   19-0108 - An act relating to agricultural development

Animal and Plant Traceability

Dr. Kristin Haas, State Vet, Director, Food Safety, Agency of Agriculture

Cary Giguere, Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets

10:30 AM                   19-0792 - An act relating to a committee bill that amends wetlands statutes to exempt certain farming activities from permitting or permitting fees

Michael O'Grady, Deputy Chief Counsel, Office of Legislative Council

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

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

9:00 AM                   University of Vermont Extension

Chuck Ross, Director, University of Vermont Extension

10:00 AM                   19-0108 - An act relating to agricultural development

Vermont Economic Development Authority

Jo Bradley, CEO, Vermont Economic Development Authority

Cassie Polhemus, Chief Operating Officer, incoming CEO, Vermont Economic Development Authority

Sarah Isham, Director of Agricultural Lending, Vermont Economic Development Authority

10:30 AM                   19-0108 - An act relating to agricultural development

Yankee Farm Credit

Michael Farmer, Chief Operating Officer, Yankee Farm Credit

11:00 AM                   Committee Discussion and Planning

Michael O'Grady, Deputy Chief Counsel, Office of Legislative Council

4:45 PM                   Vermont Farm Show

Capital Cook-Off

Thursday, January 31, 2019

10:00 AM                   Dairy Update

Bissonnette Room at the Essex Fairgrounds

Vermont Farm Show

Dairy Dinner following

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

11:00 AM                   Northeast Kingdom Collaborative

Senators not at the Dairy Briefing will meet with representatives of NEK in Room 26

Alison Low, Senior Planner, Northeast Vermont Development Association

Jon Jewett, Special Project Manager, Hardwick Yellow Barn Business Accelerator, Center for an Agricultural Economy

Hannah Pearce, Co-owner, Hillside Farm and Pearce's Pastured Poultry

Tom Gilbert, Owner/Operator, Black Dirt Farm, Stannard VT

Tracy Zschau, Conservation Director, Vermont Land Trust

Friday, February 01, 2019

9:00 AM                   19-0792 - An act relating to a committee bill that amends wetlands statutes to exempt certain farming activities from permitting or permitting fees

Overview

laura Lapierre, Wetlands Program Manager, Agency of Natural Resources

9:30 AM                   19-0108 - An act relating to agricultural development

Michael O'Grady, Deputy Chief Counsel, Office of Legislative Council

Andrea Stander, Policy Consultant, Rural Vermont

Roland Rainville, Farmer

Bill Rowell, Board Member and Green Mountain Dairy Farm owner, Vermont Dairy Producers Alliance

10:00 AM                   S. 58 - An act relating to the State hemp program

Michael O'Grady, Deputy Chief Counsel, Office of Legislative Council

10:15 AM                   19-0108 - An act relating to agricultural development

Ansley Bloomer, Assistant Director, Renewable Energy Vermont

Andy Boutin, General Manager, Pellergy, LLC

11:15 AM                   Break

11:30 AM                   Senate Floor

ATTENTION WITNESSES- Please email handouts to the committee assistant before your scheduled meeting date and bring 7 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 802-828-2233 or lleehman@leg.state.vt.us