Agency of Agriculture outlines farm permitting, nutrient-management rules to committee

Steve Collier, a representative of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, told a legislative committee that the state’s permitting system for large and medium farm operations centers on preventing discharges to surface water and groundwater, and on ensuring farms have the land base and storage to manage nutrients they produce and import.

The explanation came during a committee briefing in which Collier described who must follow the Required Agricultural Practices (RAPs), how large-farm operating permits (LFOs) and medium-farm permits (MFOs) are triggered, and how nutrient management plans (NMPs), storage capacity and inspections factor into permitting.

The topic matters because nutrient runoff and farm waste can affect both surface water and private groundwater supplies; Vermont’s rules apply to both, Collier said, unlike federal Clean Water Act rules that focus on waters of the United States. The permitting details determine which farms must secure permits before building barns or expanding animal numbers, and what documentation and infrastructure they must maintain to…