Bill would create Farm Security Special Fund to help Vermont farms recover from extreme weather

Senator Joe Major, vice chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, told the Vermont House Agriculture Committee that S.60 "is to establish the farm security special fund to provide financial relief to Vermont farmers affected by severe weather conditions." The bill would create a new Farm Security Special Fund at the Agency of Agriculture to award grants for uninsured or otherwise uncovered losses caused by eligible weather events.

S.60 responds to increasing extreme weather losses cited for recent years: testimony and the bill text referenced statewide farm losses of about $44.7 million in 2023 and $13.5 million in 2024. Under the bill, the fund would reimburse up to 50% of uninsured or uncovered losses, capped at $150,000 per farm per year. Eligible reimbursements listed in the bill include lost wages, destroyed crops, debt payments, replanting costs, livestock feed replacement, equipment repairs and farm road repairs. The bill would amend 6 V.S.A. chapter 207 to add a new…