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Sen. Russ Ingalls outlines S.323 as measure to restore farmers' protections and ease on-farm sales rules
Summary
Sen. Russ Ingalls told the House Agriculture Committee that S.323 would restore most pre-Supreme Court protections for farmers, add an alternate Act 250 exemption for accessory on-farm sales capped at $250,000 in outside-product sales (adjusted for inflation), and update seed, pesticide and hemp oversight rules. Agency witnesses will return next week for follow-up.
Sen. Russ Ingalls, chair of the Senate agriculture committee, told the House Agriculture Committee that S.323 is intended to restore statutory protections for farmers that were narrowed by a recent Supreme Court decision and to modernize a range of agricultural rules. "We feel that we brought back about 95% of what the farmers had before the supreme court decision," Ingalls said, describing the bill as a restatement of protections rather than a rebuke of the court.
The bill's opening sections, Ingalls said, seek to make explicit in statute what producers and committees had previously treated as protected practices, with the aim of reducing municipal zoning interventions in farming. He said the Senate worked with stakeholders, including the League and the Agency of Agriculture, and that a late amendment proposed by the League was withdrawn after discussion.
Section 4 would create an additional pathway for an Act 250 exemption for accessory on-farm business…
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