Farmers tell committee $20 million fund needed after severe floods, insurance gaps

Farmers and advocates asked a legislative committee to create a $20 million Farm Security Special Fund to help producers recover from extreme-weather losses and speed assistance after disasters.

At a public hearing, Maddie Ketzner, policy director at NOFA Vermont, and multiple growers described crop and infrastructure losses from recent floods and unseasonal frosts, and pressed for a permanent, state‑administered disaster fund that could pay a portion of producers' documented losses quickly.

The request centers on a one‑time $20 million appropriation for fiscal year 2026, with bill language proposing an annual appropriation thereafter tied to a three‑year average of agricultural losses. "The idea behind the $20,000,000 is to cover to our best estimate, right? Up to 50% of producers losses," Ketzner said, explaining the fund's intended scope and limits.

Farmers who testified gave detailed accounts of damage and the limits of current tools. Bill Chintze described flood damage that “put an end to what I was the equity I was building on that property,” and said the state BGAP application process in 2023 and 2024 was “extremely taxing” and retraumatizing. Justin Rich, owner of Bird Rock Farm and president of the Vermont Vegetable and Berry Growers Association, described his farm's losses and the practical failure of available insurance: “doing everything by the book with crop insurance this year, we received a $9,800 payout on over $200,000 in documented crop loss,” he said, adding that the policy carried a $7,700 premium.

Speakers credited existing emergency aid and nonprofit fundraising for helping many farms while stressing those responses were uneven and unreliable. Ketzner and others listed nonprofit and philanthropic responses in 2023, naming NOFA Vermont, the Vermont Community Foundation, the U.S. Farm Service Agency (FSA), and the Center for an Agricultural Economy. A farm advocate said NOFA raised approximately $1.7 million in 2023 and reported a markedly different figure the following year, underscoring volatility in private fundraising.

Testimony included on‑the‑ground descriptions and photos of scour holes, sand deposits and lost fields. Justin Rich said floodwaters in his valley arrived rapidly and with great force, scouring fields and depositing up to several feet of sediment in places: “in some spots, the soil was 4 feet removed, some places it was 3 feet deposited.” He said those conditions made routine cleanup and replanting costly and slow.

Witnesses also described crop types that lack meaningful insurance coverage. David Kaye, who farms grapes at Boyden Vineyard, said grapes are effectively uninsurable in Vermont and that federal programs for uninsurable crops provide limited help; he noted that programs such as NAP (the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program) typically pay a fraction of crop value and are insufficient for value‑added enterprises like wineries.

Committee members pressed for details on how the fund would be administered. Ketzner said the proposal envisions administration through the Department of Agriculture, with one‑time FY26 funding and a mechanism for annual appropriations tied to a rolling average of losses; unused fund balances would roll over to the next year. She also warned of gaps that a state fund does not fully close: "We know that the state is not gonna be able to make producers whole," she said.

Several lawmakers asked technical questions about what the $20 million would cover and whether the fund would be revolving. Ketzner explained the initial ask is a one‑time $20 million appropriation for FY26, with a subsequent annual appropriation calculated from recent loss averages. She described an intent that money left unused in calmer years would remain available for future events.

No formal vote or committee action was recorded during the hearing. Witnesses offered to return for further briefings once the bill is formally introduced and committee members indicated interest in additional technical information about insurance, program design, and the composition of losses used for the appropriation calculation.

The hearing combined personal testimony, technical detail about insurance and federal program limits, and a policy pitch for a standing, state‑level disaster recovery fund targeted at the agricultural sector. Supporters argued the fund would provide a more equitable, timely and predictable response than relying primarily on private fundraising and ad‑hoc programs; skeptics and questioners signaled interest in specifics about eligibility, administration and funding cadence.

For follow up, witnesses offered more detailed briefings on program design and on‑farm damage assessments when the bill is formally introduced.