Vermont delegation briefs state committee on Farm Bill gaps, dairy priorities and disaster relief

Haley Parro, outreach director for Sen. Bernie Sanders, told the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency & Forestry that the 2018 Farm Bill has been extended and that Senator Sanders wants the next Farm Bill to strengthen sustainable and organic practices, conserve natural resources, and support small, diversified family farms in Vermont and New England.

“We have an opportunity to be transformative and meet the needs of the small diversified and family farms like the ones we have here in Vermont and New England,” Parro said.

The nut graffor the committee: the current Farm Bill (the Agricultural Improvement Act of 2018) expired on Sept. 30, 2023, and has been extended twice; staff warned that extensions without reauthorization create problems for programs that lack baseline mandatory funding and for farmers who hit per‑program payment limits.

Ryan McLaren, senior adviser for Sen. Peter Welch, outlined Welch’s priorities for the next Farm Bill, highlighting dairy policy, support for organic integrity, rural development programs and flexible disaster relief. McLaren said maintaining and improving the Dairy Business Innovation Center, the dairy margin coverage program and programs that support farm‑to‑school and local food were central for Vermont farmers.

“Ensuring that Vermont farmers aren't disadvantaged by lax enforcement of the organic standards is a really important part of what we try to do,” McLaren said, referring to enforcement and scale pressures from larger operations in other states.

Staff described several areas of uncertainty that could affect Vermont agriculture: proposed tariff changes, potential changes to conservation spending tied to the Inflation Reduction Act, and continued debate over SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). Parro said House proposals had included cuts to SNAP, and she noted figures mentioned during the meeting: “Initially, we had seen proposals by Republicans of the House to cut SNAP by up to $274,000,000,000.” Thomas Renner, a community liaison for the congresswoman, said the House had previously discussed reductions in SNAP and referenced a different figure during the meeting.

Committee members focused questions on practical impacts. Representative Richard Nelson, a committee member who identified himself as a dairy farmer, asked about payment limits and school‑food programs. “The farm bill, 85% of it goes for feeding people, 15% of it goes back into the dirt,” Nelson said, and he pressed for higher per‑farm payment caps to accommodate high costs of climate‑resilient practices.

Staff discussed disaster relief funding that had been expected to flow to the Vermont Agency of Agriculture. McLaren and Parro said a large federal supplemental had been anticipated; McLaren noted the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) disaster block had a commonly cited figure of about $67,000,000 (not specific to agriculture). Committee members and staff agreed to follow up with the Agency of Agriculture and USDA to confirm the status and timing of any agricultural disaster funds.

Delegation staff also raised workforce and immigration as an ongoing Farm Bill‑adjacent issue. McLaren said the Judiciary Committee work on migration will affect farm labor policy and that the delegation hopes to develop a lawful, stable program that includes worker protections and meets farmers’ labor needs.

Other policy efforts flagged for Vermont included: the Weather Act (an index‑insurance proposal discussed in the Senate draft intended to better serve small and diversified farms), continued support for federal conservation programs administered through NRCS, the need for flexible regional programs like the Dairy Business Innovation Center, and the role of USDA rural development programs that fund water, housing and community facilities.

Committee members and staff closed by exchanging contact information and encouraging constituents to route federal assistance requests through any of the delegation offices. No formal motions or votes occurred during the discussion.

Ending: Committee staff and delegation liaisons said they would follow up with state agency contacts and return with clarifying details about the disaster grants, program baselines affected by the Farm Bill extension, and any timeline for floor consideration in the House or Senate.