Agriculture department increases noxious‑weed grant authority and supports beginning farmer programs

Deputy Director Zack Coccoli represented the Department of Agriculture and told the subcommittee the agency's HB2 package focuses largely on fee‑funded programs and authority to spend user revenues for services.

Coccoli said the department sought an additional $600,000 in authority for noxious‑weed grants derived from specialty license plate revenue and noted the department received roughly $5 million in grant requests while only having about $1.2 million to award in the recent grant cycle. He said the requested authority reflects realized revenue from the specialty plates and demand across counties and weed districts.

Representative Dave and others asked how the department tracks outcomes for grants. Coccoli said counties and local weed districts provide performance reports that document products used, acreage treated and costs; multi‑year planning and reporting are part of the grant management process. Committee members asked whether agency staff revisit treated tracts; Coccoli said local managers regularly monitor and that reporting tracks acres treated year‑to‑year.

The department also reported demand for its beginning farmer programs, where competitive loans and assistance have proven popular; Coccoli said higher interest rates nationally have driven additional uptake because the department's rates can be competitive for new operations.

The subcommittee approved equipment and operating authority increases for laboratory and pesticide groundwater monitoring programs and noted that many Agriculture programs are run as fee‑for‑service accounts rather than relying on the general fund.