Legislative counsel briefs committee on 2025 agriculture package, highlighting grants, cottage-food changes and water-quality provisions

Bradley Shillman, an attorney in the Office of Legislative Counsel, presented a line-by-line overview of bills the committee advanced in 2025, saying the purpose was to give committee members a concise reference for each act.

Shillman said Act 34 establishes a 'Vermonters Feeding Vermonters' grant at the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets to allow the Vermont Food Bank to purchase locally produced food for distribution and to issue subgrants to support distribution through the food bank’s channels. He described Act 36 as creating the Molly Beatty Distinguished Service Award to be presented annually by the commissioner of Forests, Parks and Recreation to a current or former state employee or partner for contributions to conservation, access and sustainable recreation on public lands.

Act 42, Shillman said, creates a new cottage-food category that covers home or auxiliary kitchens producing items that do not require refrigeration or time/temperature controls for safety. The act exempts cottage food operations with gross annual receipts of $30,000 or less from licensing requirements, but requires operators to submit a licensing-exemption form and to attest that they have completed Department of Health training.

Shillman summarized Act 59, the House miscellaneous agriculture bill, as a broad package of changes: it conforms fertilizer and soil-amendment statutes with national standards, raises the annual pesticide product registration fee by $50 with the revenue directed to solid-waste management districts to offset disposal costs for unwanted pesticides, clarifies stormwater permitting requirements for the Rutland County Fair (maintaining a three-acre permit requirement but waiving impact fees and offsets where site constraints apply), and expands extended producer-responsibility (EPR) provisions for architectural paint products.

On legal protections for farmers, Shillman described Act 61 as amending nuisance-law protections so that agricultural activities performed in accordance with newly defined 'generally accepted agricultural practices' are not considered nuisances. The act requires farmers to be in good standing with the Agency of Agriculture and the Agency of Natural Resources (ANR) to claim protection, shifts the burden of proof to plaintiffs alleging a farm is a nuisance, and requires mediation before civil suits. Shillman said the protections do not apply if a farm’s operation is negligent or causes health or safety harms supported by objective evidence.

Finally, Shillman outlined Senate Bill 60, which would create a Farm Security Special Fund to provide grants to cover up to 50% of uninsured or otherwise uncovered eligible weather-related losses, capped at $150,000 per farm per year. The bill would establish a review board to recommend awards and would be contingent on available funding under a technical amendment currently under consideration.

Shillman also noted several procedural items tied to these acts: a December filing oversight required an emergency rule so the cottage-food standards would not lapse before the standard rule took effect, and the agency has submitted a report recommending retention of the increased pesticide fee and its allocation to solid-waste districts. The presentation concluded with scheduling and follow-up commitments from counsel to supply clarifications requested by committee members.

The committee recessed to go to the floor at 1:45 p.m.