Senate Agriculture committee reviews recent ag bills and a dispute over state ag water-quality oversight

Committee counsel reviewed a slate of agricultural bills that passed or moved in 2023–24 and outlined policy questions for 2025, and the committee discussed tensions between the Agency of Agriculture (Agency of Ag) and the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) after an EPA directive concerning Clean Water Act permitting.

What the committee was told: Counsel summarized enactments and changes that affect farmers and agricultural businesses, including updates to the state poultry-slaughter exemption, nursery dealer licensing, a temporary small-farmer diversification grant in the appropriations bill, restrictions on sales of dogs and cats via pet shops and limits on certain wildlife parts, and the state-level regulation of neonicotinoid pesticide-treated seed tied to New York’s implementation timetable.

On poultry: Counsel said the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act permits an exemption for producers slaughtering fewer than 25,000 birds a year; Vermont’s 2024 change allows producers operating under that…