Committee advances bill to create Farm and Forestry Operations Security Special Fund for weather losses

A legislative Agriculture Committee on January 31 reviewed S.60, a bill to establish a Farm and Forestry Operations Security Special Fund to provide rapid payments to farm and forestry operations for losses caused by weather events. Committee members discussed changes made in the House version, agreed the fund should be administered by the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, and signaled support to advance the bill pending a brief language review.

The presenter (S2) told members the House added forestry operations to the bill and replaced the term “grants” with “payments” to avoid statutory grant restrictions. The bill would define reimbursable losses to include timber, logging roads and inability to harvest timber and would require the secretary of the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets to develop a streamlined application for awards. S2 said the House added an…