Vermont lawmakers hear farmers, lender urge stronger "right to farm" protections in S.45

Montpelier — Lawmakers heard more than two hours of testimony on S.45, a proposed change to Vermont's right-to-farm law, as vegetable growers, dairy representatives and a senior farm lender urged clarifying statutory language to reduce litigation risk for farmers and their business partners.

Justin Rich, a specialty vegetable grower who identified himself as president of the Vermont Vegetable and Berry Growers Association, told the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, & Forestry that the bill's clarifications would protect first-generation and specialty crop farmers from nuisance claims when they begin new farming activities. "I am Justin Rich, from Burnt Rock Farm in Huntington, and I'm also the current, president of the Vermont Vegetable and Berry Growers Association," Rich said. He described running about 25 acres of vegetables on a roughly 45-acre land base and said that small commercial vegetable farms face different neighbor interactions than dairy farms, including complaints about late-night irrigation or tractor work.

The bill's key change discussed in the hearing would alter the rebuttable-presumption framework that currently can leave farmers required to prove their innocence when accused of creating a nuisance. Ellen Hourigan,…