At an opening session of the Vermont Senate Agriculture Committee, members introduced themselves, committee staff and outside witnesses and the chair emphasized punctuality and respect for witnesses while repeated building evacuation announcements briefly disrupted the meeting.

The session served as an organizational meeting for the committee in the new biennium rather than a hearing on legislation. Senator Russ Ingalls, serving as chair of the committee, opened the meeting by saying, "We're live. Good morning. Senate agriculture, perfect meeting of the, new biennium. We have a brand new committee. We're gonna spend some time today just getting to know each other a little bit and, just go over some ground rules as far as, what I as chair would, would, expect us to be like." Ingalls later said promptness is important "not so much for, the respect of our times, but it's a respect for our witness' times."

Senators present introduced themselves and described their backgrounds. "Okay. I'm senator Brian Colimore. This will be my 9th year on the committee. I'm from the Rutland District, and Brian is fine with me," said Senator Brian Colimore. Rob Plunkett introduced himself as a new senator, saying he is new to the legislature and to agricultural matters. Senator Joe Major identified himself as being from Windsor and said he lives in Hartford; he also noted his roles as treasurer of the town of Hartford and executive director of the Upper Valley Aquatic Center, adding, "I think that's probably more important than than, than anything that we do here... I'm excited to get my hands to the dirt, so to speak, and, and make these happen." Senator Russ Ingalls said he was entering his third term and that he was "happy to be chair of ag this year."

Committee staff and stakeholder representatives also introduced themselves. Linda Nieman identified herself as committee assistant and said she had "been here for 20 years working with the Ag Committee." Representatives from agricultural organizations identified themselves, including Amber Perry (Vermont Farm Bureau), Gwynn Zakoff (Vermont Farm Bureau and Vermont Forest Products Association) and Michelle Ditz (Vermont Dairy Breeders Alliance). A resident introduced herself as a citizen from Orange who works for Sage Mountain Botanical Sanctuary.

Repeated public-address announcements — "May I have your attention, please? This is a building evacuation. Gather your belongings if they are within reach. And evacuate the building using the designated..." — interrupted the meeting multiple times. The announcements were made from the building public-address system and the meeting resumed after the interruptions. The committee did not take any formal votes or consider bills during the recorded portion of the session.

Members outlined expectations for conduct and logistics going forward: arrive on time to respect witnesses, identify how members prefer to be addressed, and use the meeting time to learn about agricultural issues and to support rural communities. No formal committee directions or assignments were recorded during the segment provided.

The session closed with participants noting their willingness to work with stakeholders and citizens; no legislation, motions, or formal committee actions were recorded in the provided transcript.