House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry

 

AGENDA

 

Room 49 and Zoom

January 27, 2026 - January 30, 2026

Last Updated 1/27/2026 3:53 PM

 

Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are livestreamed at

https://legislature.vermont.gov/committee/streaming/house-agriculture-food-resiliency-and-forestry.

Tuesday, January 27, 2026

10:00 AM                   House Floor

Followed by Caucuses

 

12:00 PM                   Lunch

 

1:00 PM                   Federal Delegation

Updates from the offices of Senator Sanders, Senator Welch, and Representative Balint

Thomas Renner, Community Liaison, Office of Congresswoman Becca Balint

Miles McGuriman, Policy Analyst, Office of Senator Peter Welch

Kathryn Becker Van Haste, State Director, Office of Senator Bernie Sanders

 

2:00 PM                   Break

 

2:15 PM                   Municipal Regulation of Agriculture

Stakeholder Testimony

Michelle Monroe, Executive Director, Vermont Association of Conservation Districts

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

Jean Hamilton, Director of Program Development, Land Access and Opportunity Board

Ornella Matta-Figueroa, Director of Advocacy and Community Engagement, Land Access and Opportunity Board

 

3:00 PM                   Committee Discussion

 

4:00 PM                   Adjourn

 

Wednesday, January 28, 2026

9:30 AM                   H. 758 - An act relating to banning the use of rodenticides

Bill Introduction and Walk Through

Rep. Larry Satcowitz, Sponsor

Bradley Showman, Legislative Counsel, Office of Legislative Counsel

 

10:30 AM                   Champlain Valley Farmer Coalition

Updates

Brian Kemp, Co-Chair, Champlain Valley Farmer Coalition

 

11:30 AM                   H. 739 - An act relating to prohibiting the use and sale of the herbicide paraquat

Bill Introduction and Walk Through

Rep. Esme Cole, Amendment Sponsor, House Committee on Human Services

Bradley Showman, Legislative Counsel, Office of Legislative Counsel

 

12:00 AM                   Lunch

 

1:00 PM                   Vermont Food Bank

Farmer Testimony on Vermonters Feeding Vermonters

Hilary Martin, Farmer, Digger's Mirth Collective Farm

 

1:30 PM                   Farmland Loss and Conversion

Testimony of American Farmland Trust

Jaime Pottern, Senior New England Program Manager, American Farmland Trust - Zoom

 

2:30 PM                   H. 677 - An act relating to primary, secondary, and local importance agricultural soils and solar energy generation

Bill Introduction and Walk Through

Rep. Gregory "Greg" Burtt, Reporter, House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry

Ellen Czajkowski, Legislative Counsel, Office of Legislative Counsel

 

3:30 PM                   House Floor

 

Thursday, January 29, 2026

9:00 AM                   Field Trip

Visit to 1787 Butchery - VTSU Randolph and the VAEL Weights and Measures Lab

DeMetris Reed, Meat Facility Director, Center for Agriculture and Food Entrepreneurship, Vermont State University

Marc Paquette, Chief, Weights and Measures, Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets

 

1:00 PM                   TBD

 

2:00 PM                   H. 632 - An act relating to miscellaneous environmental amendments

Testimony of Agency of Natural Resources

Abbi Pajak, CAFO Program Manager, Watershed Management Division

Catherine Gjessing, General Counsel, Agency of Natural Resources

 

3:30 PM                   House Floor

 

Friday, January 30, 2026

9:30 AM                   House Floor

 

10:30 AM                   Wood Product Manufacturers report

Stakeholder Testimony

Sam Lincoln, President, Lincoln Farm Timber Harvesting

 

11:10 AM                   Break

 

11:20 AM                   TBD

 

12:00 PM                   Lunch

 

1:00 PM                   Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation

Introduction to Wood Warms Program

Jim Duncan, State Lands Manager

 

2:00 PM                   Legislative Counsel Overview

Overview of new House budget review process

James Duffy, Fiscal Analyst, Joint Fiscal Office

 

2:30 PM                   TBD

 

3:00 PM                   Adjourn

 

ATTENTION WITNESSES

 

Please email handouts to the committee assistant at least 24 hours before your scheduled meeting time. With few exceptions, any documents you send to a committee assistant are open to the public and may be posted to the committee’s web page.

 

Should you require accessibility services, please click here and note that requests should be made 48 hours in advance of testimony.

 

 

 

If you have any questions or comments, please contact

 Patricia Ruddy at Patricia.Ruddy@vtleg.gov