 Greetings Members & Friends:
We need your help!
Next week, we expect the Senate to vote on the on-farm slaughter bill. After months of hard work, hours of testimony from small farmers, two Small Farm Action Days, and a half dozen drafts, H.860 is our one chance to preserve in law this important part of our community food systems and a Vermont tradition.
There may be more opportunities to improve the law as the legislative process moves forward, but first we MUST clear this important hurdle, and fast!
As our Senators finish the workweek and head home for the weekend, let's make sure they hear from us about H.860.
Read on for more details.
Best,
Andrew
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| UPCOMING EVENTS OF INTEREST: |
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| LEGISLATIVE ACTION ALERT |
ON-FARM SLAUGHTER - YOUR ACTION IS NEEDED!
Earlier in March, the House passed H.860, a bill that would preserve Vermont's on-farm slaughter law for another three years. Today, the Senate Agriculture Committee passed its own version of H.860, and it now heads to the full Senate for a vote next week.
This is a critical moment for the bill, and we need it to pass the Senate quickly to have any chance of preventing a repeal of the on-farm slaughter law. It is currently scheduled to expire on July 1, 2016.
Please click the link below, call your Senators, and ask them to pass H.860 when it comes to a floor vote next week.
During Small Farm Action Day on March 30th, farmers offered robust and diverse testimony to the Senate Agriculture Committee about both the importance and the limitations of the current on-farm slaughter law. The message to the committee was clear: the law is not perfect, but we cannot allow it to be repealed. After hearing this important input, the committee began work last week to consider changes to the law.
With or without changes, the passage of this bill in the Senate is critical to its survival, before the current law expires on July 1, 2016 and this generations-old Vermont tradition is outlawed.
- Increase in the number of live animals - per year/per farm - allowed to be sold and slaughtered on the farm
- Change the reporting requirement for farmers from monthly to quarterly
- Require the Agency of Agriculture to engage in more education and outreach to farmers about the law, in consultation with stakeholder groups like Rural Vermont.
- Require that farmers who intend to use the on-farm slaughter law register with the Agency on an annual basis.
- Clarify the existing authority that the Agency has to fine or suspend operations of a farm that fails to comply with the law.
If you need help contacting your Senator, or have questions or comments about H.860, please contact Andrew.
SENATE AG COMMITTEE PASSES BILL TO EXTEND RAP DEADLINE
This week, the Senate Agriculture Committee also passed H.829, a bill that extends the deadline for implementation of the RAPs from July 1, 2016 to September 15th, 2016.
For weeks, Rural Vermont has been advocating for an extension, to allow more farmers to participate in the public hearings and public comment period that would otherwise take place in May--the busiest time of year for many small farmers--and, more importantly, to make the RAPs truly effective in protecting water quality.
Unfortunately, by extending the deadline only to September 15th, rather than Rural Vermont's request of January 1, 2017, farmers will still be in the fields during the most critical parts of the rulemaking process, and the Agency will not have the time they need to make real, substantive changes to their current draft of the RAPs.
Since the first draft of the RAPs was released in October, Rural Vermont and hundreds of small farmers have been calling for a better approach to water quality: one that charts a new course for Vermont's working landscapes by incentivizing a statewide transition to regenerative agricultural practices that can build soil health, reduce erosion, improve water quality, and strengthen rural communities for generations to come. The creation of the new RAPs is a huge opportunity to begin charting that course, but unfortunately, the current drafts represent more of the same failed regulatory framework that counts cows and acres rather than truly considering farming practices and outcomes. The stakes are high, and without real change, we simply cannot expect real results. If you have questions or would like to get involved in this effort, please contact Andrew.
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FINAL 2016 SMALL FARM ACTION DAY:
PLEASE NOTE NEW DATE:
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27TH
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>>> PLEASE NOTE THE NEW DATE: APRIL 27! We made the decision to change the date from Tuesday April 26th to Wednesday April 27th to avoid competing with an annual State House event which has been scheduled for the 26th. Moving Small Farm Action Day to the 27th will allow everyone to have more opportunities to meet in person with their legislators and have a larger collective impact on the issues of top concern this session: preventing the repeal of the on-farm slaughter law and getting an extension of the implementation date of the Required Agricultural Practices (RAPs).
NEW THIS TIME: 'EAT LIKE A FARMER' TASTING EVENT! During the lunch hour, we'll invite legislators to join Small Farm Action Day attendees for a meet & greet with tasty samples of food provided by farmers. For those of you who have been to the State House before, you know how frustrating it can be to track down your elected officials! This time, we'll lure them to us - with farm fresh food!Legislators get to "eat like a farmer" and farmers get to talk about the issues of greatest concern to them. Want to contribute food for the meet & greet? Email Shelby.
If you have questions or want to learn more, please contact Andrew . If you'd like to contribute food for the "Eat Like a Farmer" meet & greet, please contact Shelby.
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