Agency of Agriculture lays out $61.19M FY27 budget, proposes fee shift to general fund and one new staffer

Anson Tevitz, secretary of the Agency of Agriculture, Food & Markets, presented the administration's FY27 budget to the House Appropriations Committee and described a $61,190,000 governor's recommendation that relies heavily on federal and special funds while using roughly $13.74 million in general-fund dollars.

Tevitz said the agency is asking for two targeted changes: a move that would relieve medium and large farms of annual clean-water program fees (the agency currently charges about $1,500 for medium farms and $2,500 for large farms) by instead using general-fund dollars to support the water-quality program, and funding for a single new position in the business office to improve customer service and expedite grants and contracts. "We're essentially asking to switch to general fund dollars and take the fee off the farm community," Tevitz said, noting the fee regime began with Act 64 roughly a decade ago.

Agency staff reviewed where funding originates and how it is distributed across six appropriations: administration, food safety and consumer protection, agricultural development, plant industry, the state lab (Veil), and water quality. Tevitz said many core programs are level funded; where changes appear they reflect federal grant shifts, contract-to-grant conversions (notably in the Dairy Business Innovation Center, DBIC), or one-time carry-forward obligations.

Nicole Dubuque, the agency's chief operating officer, ran through performance measures: 717 verified farms in the WinWAM database for produce safety, 88% of produce-safety grantees reporting market access outcomes, and working-lands initiative results (56% of business grantees reported increased net income over the grant period). She and Amy Mercer, financial director, also explained division-level metrics including dairy and meat inspections, weights-and-measures device inspections, and lab testing volumes.

Committee members pressed for clarifications on the budget change since last year, the composition of federal funds, and how carry-forward balances are treated; agency staff offered spreadsheet crosswalks and said they would provide additional detail on request. Tevitz said the agency recently learned the Dairy Business Innovation Center funding would be released and clarified some federal grants had been rescinded or restructured, which explains year-to-year shifts.

Tevitz closed by reiterating the primary asks: the fee-to-general-fund shift for farmer relief, the single business-office position, and protecting existing programs. He said the agency planned to present the budget to the full House the following day and offered to provide additional information to committee members.