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Farmers urge lawmakers to reject right-to-farm changes; seek clarification on Act 250 and farm events
Summary
Multiple farmers told the House Committee on Agriculture they oppose proposed changes to Vermont’s right-to-farm laws, raised pollution and nuisance concerns, and asked legislators to clarify that multiuse farm structures and farm-hosted meals/events remain covered by the agricultural exemption to Act 250.
Kate Seer, a farmer in Randolph Center, told the House Committee on Agriculture that she opposes proposed changes to Vermont’s right-to-farm laws and asked members to "vote down the proposed changes to Vermont's right to farm." Seer described living near an industrial confined animal feeding operation and said runoff from a nearby genetically modified cornfield contaminated a spring-fed pond that she used for livestock. "We tested the water ... it is contaminated with herbicides due to runoff from this cornfield," she said, and warned that the proposed language could leave neighbors "powerless to do anything about it."
A Barnard farmer and cooperative member…
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