GOAL: Governmental Policy – Coordinate and Focus the Development of Agricultural Policy in Vermont.
(1) The General
Assembly should establish a “Secretary of Agriculture” to lead the “Agency of
Agriculture”.
(2) The Governor
should appoint a “Council on Agriculture” to assist the Agency as it develops
long-term vision, agricultural policy, and strategic goals for agriculture in
Vermont.
(3) The Senate
Agriculture Committee should have equal standing with all other Senate
committees.
(4) The Legislature
should ensure that Vermont farmers continue to be able to choose business
models and technologies that they believe will maximize their chances of
success.
(5) The Vermont Economic Progress Council (VEPC) should continue to develop its plan for the agricultural sector. In addition, VEPC
tax credits should be systematically promoted to agricultural enterprises that
meet its standards for investment.
(6) In order to remain competitive, Vermont must promote
research and maintain its research infrastructure. Toward that end, the Legislature should
annually review the research plans and accomplishments of the Vermont
Agriculture Experiment Station at the University of
Vermont. The Experiment Station’s
research should be consistent with the current needs of the State but also
reflect future opportunities.
(7)
The Legislature should contract for an economic evaluation, including economic impact modeling, of the role and value of
agriculture in the Vermont economy.
(Estimated cost $15,000)
(8) The Governor
should appoint a representative from the agricultural community to his Council
of Economic Advisors.
GOAL: Farm Profitability – Improve the Profitability of Vermont Farms by Lowering Costs, Supporting Good Management, and Avoiding the Imposition of Barriers to Farm Development and Growth
(1) The Legislature
should establish a “Farm Viability Enhancement Program” (cost estimated to be
$500,000 annually).
(2) The
Legislature should continue to assess the effect of State tax policy on farm profitability.
Ø Agricultural lands in the
Current Use Program should be exempted from the Education Property Tax (cost
and benefit estimated $2,000,000 annually).
Ø Special purpose farm
buildings should be tax exempt (an estimated $930,000 benefit to VT farms).
Ø Capital gains taxes should
be eliminated on farm assets sold to another farmer or to a new farmer (“farmer”
as defined by Current Use).
(3)
The Legislature should ensure that Vermont farmland conservation dollars
are spent on the conservation of working farms.
(4)
Vermont’s Congressional delegation should seek opportunities to reauthorize the Northeast Dairy Compact (cost to the state
estimated to be $100,000 annually).
(5) In order to establish a price mechanism formula that reflects the
dairy farmer’s cost of production: the Vermont’s Congressional delegation
should petition USDA to hold hearings to amend the Federal Milk Market Orders
in order to incorporate a monthly adjustor for the establishment of Class I and
II prices that reflect the regional cost of production.
(6) Vermont’s Congressional delegation should continue to encourage USDA to use its programs and resources (such as the Dairy Export Incentive Program, Foreign Agriculture Services’s Market Access Program and CCC purchases) to facilitate greater returns to producers.
(7) Vermont’s Congressional delegation should
continue to urge the U.S. Department
of Justice to investigate proposals that would unduly concentrate the
processing and marketing of milk and dairy products and should ask it to expand
its investigation to include effects on the returns to dairy farmers.
(8) In order to improve the regulatory climate for
agricultural businesses in Vermont,
the Department of Agriculture should investigate regulations for the processing
and marketing of agricultural products based on risk and scale.
(9) It is critical that the State maintain regulations that are cost effective and limit the potential for the initiation of nuisance suits. Toward that end, the Legislature should quantify the effect of proposed regulations on the profitability of agriculture before enactment. The Legislature should not enact laws that will affect agricultural profitability without a clear understanding of any effects.
(10) The Department
of Agriculture must also “push back” and investigate with the EPA and federal
regulators its options to conduct functional vs. regulatory reviews.
GOAL: Marketing
– Increase the Sales and Value of Vermont Products through a Comprehensive,
Coordinated Marketing Strategy Built upon the “Vermont Brand”
(1) The Department of
Agriculture should plan and institute a “Buy Local” Initiative to promote the
purchase and production of Vermont Farm Products by Vermonters and visitors
within the State (expected costs included in DOA marketing funds).
(2) The Legislature should identify a
sustainable funding source and provide consistent and adequate funding to the
Department of Agriculture for agricultural development and marketing (expected
annual cost, $250,000). The Legislature
should provide the Department of Agriculture the funding necessary to allow the
Agricultural Resource Center (ARC) to expand its services to Vermont’s
diversified sectors (expected annual cost, $50,000). Commodity groups that seek
state promotional funds should match those funds.
(3)
Vermont’s governmental agencies should coordinate their marketing funds
to provide the strongest leverage of
the “Vermont brand” for agricultural products.
MAPS (Marketing and Promotion Team),
currently chaired by the Commissioner of Tourism and Marketing, should be chaired by the Secretary of Administration.
The State’s agencies should submit
marketing plans that include measurable goals.
GOAL: Agricultural Transitions – Encourage Vermont Agricultural
Enterprises to Change to Meet New Market Opportunities
(1) The Department of Agriculture should seek federal funding to build
a Vermont value-added agriculture fund to provide jump-start grants supporting
value-added processing in Vermont, then systematically
match grants with loan funds from the private sector, VEDA and other
sources. (Approximate Federal
Request: $400,000)
(2) The Legislature should authorize and fund a guarantee program to
encourage private sector financing of value-added processing in the State.
(3) The Legislature should authorize VEDA to loan
capital at low rates for investments in farms and value-added agricultural
enterprises.
(4) The Vermont Congressional delegation should seek to amend
appropriate enabling legislation in order to allow the Farm Credit System and
commercial lenders to make equity investments in value-added agriculture.
GOAL: Education – Prepare a New
Generation of Farmers and Consumers
(1) The University of Vermont, the Vermont
Agricultural Experiment Station and
the Extension System should collaborate,
wherever possible, with other New
England and New York institutions of higher
education – in particular, Cornell
University – in the creation and execution
of educational opportunities for farmers
and food product marketers.
(2) The
“2+2” farm program scholarship funding should be moved from the
Vermont Department of Agriculture to the
Vermont Student Assistance
Corporation with established
criteria to support Vermont students at UVM or VTC.
The Vermont Extension Service should ensure
the coordination of “2+2”with the
financial support for beginning farmers available
through the Vermont Department
of Agriculture, the Farm Service Agency and VACC.
(3) The Departments of Agriculture, Education and Labor should
undertake an
assessment of agricultural workforce
needs and the development of programs to
support Vermont’s agricultural industry in the state’s vocational system.
(4) The Department of Education should revise the science, math and
technology
sections of the Vermont Framework of Standards to
include Vermont agriculture as
an integral part of the natural resource
economy. This revision would ensure the
integration of agriculture into pre-K through 12
school curriculums.
(5) The Department of Education should
draft and recommend a model food
policy for local school districts to consider. Such a policy would provide guidelines
for nutrition education, farm and gardening
activities, food served in schools, and the
purchasing of local farm products for school food
services.
(6) The Vermont Department of Education should develop and distribute a
“best
practices” model to encourage the use of Vermont
agricultural products in school
food programs.
This model should be shared throughout the state through the
Vermont Department of Education’s Child
Nutrition Programs and also the local
schools’ food advisory
councils.