 So, let us start the day so welcome to the witnesses who are here today with us on age 273. Our first witness who was scheduled as a is delayed and we'll join us in a little while and so Brian low if you are here. All witnesses we're going to introduce ourselves to thank you to thank you for coming. The difference between now and zoom time is that you can't see our names anymore, except for those of us who are remote so we'll start here with the folks who are on on zoom and then we'll come back to the people who are here live to represent the power to start us off. Good morning. I am Mary Howard, I represent Rutland Southwest District five three. Thank you. Morning, I'm representative chip Toriano I'm broadcasting this morning from the flanks of standard mountain in the beautiful northeast kingdom and I represent in a town that I represent. I represent trying to have a legacy hand. Representative map iron virgins I represent Northwest Addison County. I represent the south end of Burlington. John, so I gave South Berlin. Morning, I'm so far from the represent brought tops in the new very morning john plastic. Good morning I'm Tommy walks from very city. Good morning and Barbara Murphy I served in the district of Franklin to represent the top Stevens I live in water very representing water very here in Ontario, Peter to spinning to can bolt in and feel score. So, welcome here on age 273 which is an acronym relating to promoting racial and social equity and lead access and property ownership. This is the bill that we've been taking some time to money on and building up and one of the things that stood out in this in some of the read the reintroduction of the bill earlier this year is that the work that the So in this, in some of the read the reintroduction of the bill earlier this year is that the work that the seating power group for the main stakeholders on this did was, they told us that they had modeled this bill and this concept on the working bills that have been passed over the last several years. And so I think it's useful for us to go to that source and really get an understanding of the process that led up to it, whatever you can testify about the process that that happened which was, which was very grassroots and it was organized, not just through BCR, the Vermont Council on our own was a major player in that. And so we just wanted to have you testify to your specialties and like how how does the working lands initiatives work. How did it get there. How does it work. And how does it really apply to what we're talking about in this bill that I think that's the charge for today so I'll start with Brian Lowe, who is the new executive director for the Vermont Council on Rural Development. Welcome to general housing and military affairs. Hey, thank you very much chair Stevens ranking member Murphy and representatives of the House Committee on that general housing and military affairs it's it's really an opportunity to speak with you today so thank you. I'm the new executive director at the Vermont Council on Rural Development. VCRD is an independent non partisan nonprofit dedicated to the support of locally defined progress and Vermont's communities. And I've been asked to speak to the history of the working lands enterprise, and also to be brief. And so I will try and do both those things for you. I'm hoping to focus my comments on three points. How the working lands enterprise board came into being some of the important elements of that process and the current state of affairs from VCRD perspective. The outset this really was a grassroots effort that preceded my time at VCRD. And so the credit belongs to many across the state, farmers, foresters, loggers, other leaders of the working lands enterprises deserve great credit. As does Paul Costello members of the state administrations, including I see Lynn Ellen and Abby Willard here today. And critically many members of the legislature who works to turn many different voices into a very productive and meaningful program. Many, many different legislators played a role, but I know representative Partridge share one of the ag and forest committee former representative will Stevens and many others also played major roles. On the first point, how the working lands enterprise board came into being it started with a statewide effort led by VCRD and what was called the Council on the future of Vermont. This was a two year effort from 2007 to 2009 that engaged hundreds of monitors in a dialogue about the state's past and present. A major finding of that report was that more than 97% of Vermonters engaged saw great value in working landscape of the state, not just for its importance to Vermont's economy or its draw for tourism. But because the landscape represented much of what Vermonters loved about the state and our communities that love for and respect of the working lands was matched by some significant threats to those farm and forest enterprises that made getting a living off the land very difficult and still does and so an extensive effort was led by the Council on Vermont's future that led to the creation of what was called the working lands partnership in 2010, focused on that question of what could be done to make working lands enterprises more sustainable that partnership which was 100 strong had the leadership of the Council on Vermont's future and produced an action plan. It was a set of thoughtful strategies for investing in Vermont's farm and forest future. The plan which was released in 2011 became the basis of a bill age 496 that year which ultimately passed both House and Senate as Act 142 and act related to preserving Vermont's working landscape and out of that act came working lands enterprise fund and the board that ultimately oversees it. The second point beyond that quick history is to emphasize the importance of several elements of that timeline. The first is time itself, the Council for Vermont's future was Act 142 was passed in 2012. A significant amount of time passed a significant amount of public feedback was taken and the bill that ultimately passed the House and Senate was the result of significant inputs from farm and forest enterprises. Legislators transformed those voices and plans into concrete legislative action and ultimately a productive and meaningful program that in the years since it's been instituted has produced more than 500 jobs and had a return on investment of excess of $5 for every dollar invested through 2020, which are the most recent ROI members available. The second important element to emphasize is just the people this truly was a program that resulted from extensive public input over an extended period of time and deliberate and thoughtful action based on that input. And the third element highlight today is just the program's design. It is intended to serve Vermonters across the state and it does that to reach all 14 counties providing valuable resources for practical projects in all areas of the state. The third and final point I would make is just to share briefly where things stand about working lands. First, I'd like to thank legislators who've already appropriated an additional 2.1 million for the working lands this current fiscal year as part of the BAA process. That quick action has put a total of about $7.5 million into the working lands program this year. That is a great achievement. It will be well used, especially since the number of viable applications is likely to continue to exceed that $7.5 million allocation. Second, I'd like to thank the governor and his team for their budget proposal this year, which does increase the base funding of working lands to about a million dollars. And third, given that there's been a significant unmet need in the allocations of $7.5 million this year and $3.5 million in the fiscal year of 21, the state's fiscal year that preceded that, we suspect that the $1 million allocation for FY23 will probably leave significant unmet need. As part of the working lands coalition, BCRD continues to advocate for transformational investment in the working lands enterprise fund and to the tune of $15 million in one time funding this year to be spent over three years. As you weigh age 273 and they need to increase access to land and home ownership, that no need for further investment in farm and forest enterprises and that increased capital access for working lands enterprises needs to be broadly undermined as well. Thank you very much for the opportunity to testify today. Thank you, Brian and for any of your other witnesses, if you haven't already, if you could submit any of your written testimony to us. We can just submit it to Ron Wild and then we'll be able to post it. I don't want to focus too much on the dollars right now, but I think understanding what kind of allocations have been made over time will be important for our work here as well. Thank you. Any other questions for Brian at this time? All right, next up I have Abby Willard who is the director of the agricultural development division for the Agriculture Food and Markets. Welcome Abby. Good morning. Thank you, Chair Stevens. Yes, I'm Abby Willard, director of the Ag Development Division at the Agency of Agriculture Food and Markets for the record. Thanks for inviting us. This is not a committee that we have a long standing relationship or history testifying before so it's nice to meet you all virtually and have the opportunity to talk about one of the flagship programs within the Agency of Agriculture and administered at the Ag Development Division for a variety of reasons. So I can offer some really overarching comments and then if it suits you, Chair Stevens, to turn it over to Linnell and Schmoller who manages our working lands program and I can speak to more of the specifics. So thank you, Brian, for sharing so much of the history and speaking to the role that VCRD and the coalition has historically and to this day continues to play in this really valuable partnership of having some advocacy for a program and then the logistics managed by the administration. So one of the aspects of the working lands enterprise initiative that I think is really unique and worthy of acknowledging and emulating in other programs is its consistency in process, its access to reliable annual funding and the longevity that the program has in demonstrating its impacts. And Linnell and probably we will be able to talk about the impacts around job creation, increase in gross sales, as well as the acres that have remained in working lands production as a result of the working lands enterprise investments. Another really important and critical aspect of this program worthy of considering in this circumstance around S273 would be the value of partnerships. So having this administered by the Agency of Agriculture and staffed by the Agency of Agriculture, but that it being a true partnership between our agency, the Agency of Commerce and Community Development and the Department of Forest Parks and Recreation really speaks to the organization's commitment to engaging in working lands protection, innovation and investment. So there's a lot of power in that triumvirate, as well as having board members that represent the expertise and industry perspective across so many sectors which again Linnell and can probably share more specifics about as she manages. So I think that's one of those board appointments and in those relationships. We really couldn't do the program though without the sufficient and committed staff that are focused on the integrity of the program, the fairness of the review process, and all the grantee and applicant stewardship that happens to sort of let grantees and those that apply for funds. And the strength of their projects, the opportunities that exist for them to reach access additional resources as needed, and in the reporting to demonstrate the impact of their investments across the state. As Brian alluded to the program has had annual oversubscription and has had an oscillating annual allocation so the dollars allocated to the Working Lands Enterprise Initiative have fluctuated over time. And each year we can speak to the opportunity that the industry has risen to and created demand that exceeds the allocation every year, which I think speaks to the value of having consistent annual funding every year for a program that the industries can rely upon. So they always know that there's an opportunity to apply for working lands funds. They don't have to wonder if the program is going to be in existence or going to be funded in the subsequent year. So something that I think having that long term investment in the program has been valuable. And then I lastly would just speak to the value of the partnerships of all the organizations and the camaraderie that exists in Vermont by having partners like NOFA and so many others that are supportive of the Working Lands Enterprise Initiative and the work that happens through this board and through the funding commitments that are made and the engagement with the staff and other board members. So I think we can speak in greater detail, but it also looks like that there's a question. Chair Stevens and thank you Amy for your information. The question and maybe this would be deferred to someone else but the question I have in mind is, so we're trying to increase the production of farmland as one of the aspects of this bill. And so I've noticed around here that there are a lot more hops being grown. So suppose someone is to purchase 10 acres and with a plan to grow hops. How much can he rely on the agency of agriculture and or the Working Lands Initiative to assist in him. But hops are pretty difficult to grow in some respects. They take a lot of work and trellising and whatnot. How much can they rely on for, you know, information and even subsidies to get into a venture such as this. Would you have an answer to that or someone. Representative Triano that's a great question. I think I can offer a little perspective and then. And then maybe it may be a good time to transition if the committee is willing to, to Lynn Ellen Schmolar to talk about the program in more detail. We have a big hop production as an example so it is an industry where we, we have seen interest in demand. We've certainly seen applications come into the competitive grants that are awarded through the Working Lands Enterprise Initiative and we have awarded some of the top businesses grants to support a business venture so that could be an opportunity for growth for purchasing new equipment or expanding their infrastructure. It could be doing research and exploring different hop varietals and or looking at new marketing opportunities of scaling production and selling to new to new customers. So those are the types of project ideas that the Working Lands Enterprise Initiative has generally received in applications and been able to award and grants. I think the important part about most of the work of the application division is that we offer competitive funding opportunities mostly, which means there's an application period you apply, you're one of many competitive applications, and those applications are reviewed, scored, and then again being that the most always oversubscribed only a portion of those applications are awarded grants. So there's always that, that potential of, of your project not being funded in this round and you may have to wait a year or you may have to modify your application to be more competitive. We may recommend that you apply for another source of funding that's a better fit for your project. And so we have some businesses that have applied multiple years before they've actually been awarded funds through one. We lost you having lost your, your voice, your audio is gone. Yeah. The cut out. Yep. Thank you. So sorry, thanks for the, the heads up grace. My internet has this terrible habit of just losing audio but it doesn't give me any warning so thanks for telling me. So yeah, so this is where the working plans program can address some of the industry needs not all of them and we're very reliant upon the variety of funding sources to fill the gap. But hopefully that gives you a sense of what may be available for a particular producer or sector and agriculture. So would there be assistance in the application process for instance some folks may need that and that could be I mean, my interest is that these ventures succeed. And I think it's very important. As part of this, this bill 50 comes law that these ventures succeed. And oftentimes application process is complicated and a little bit cumbersome for folks that are not used to it. And there are situations in which application assistance and applications are available from resources. And I wonder if this would be an opportunity to transition to Lynelle and smaller I'd love for Lynelle and she does an amazing amount of applicant assistance and I'd love for her to be able to speak to that directly of of the process that she utilizes and the level of response and engagement that she offers if that would be acceptable. That would be great. Thank you. Sure. Well, thank you, Abby and Brian, and I'm on the website for the working lands enterprise right now to learn about all the grants. Thanks, I'm sorry. I wonder if the bill we're talking about h273 isn't quite this but could it could something like that actually be incorporated into the working lands enterprise and have a targeted towards the BIPOC companies and have a really big grant to help with down payments. Is that too much of a mission drug. We're a philosophical question at this point in time I mean just to put it out there as the yeah yeah yeah yeah. Well let's just leave that on the table. I think Abby, I don't want to put you on the spot of like speaking about how we expand it now but I think that that's a valid. And that's just a question as we learn about working lands and that's why we're here is because I want to hear how similar something that's existing. And next on is to what we're talking about in this bill. My last question for you Abby, if that's okay john, we'll just leave it hanging there you know just for now. Absolutely. So what we're having before we go to the now is, you talked about the first time I've heard people refer to your budget receipts as oscillating. Great word for for not knowing exactly how much money you're going to get every particular year. And that's what drives your competitive process if I'm not, if I'm not mistaken is that right I mean it's, it's, you can only give away the money that you receive. But you do receive sets set amounts of money and then there's money added in when there's surplus is that is that the right understanding. Yeah, so that's a good clarifying question so yeah we've had a consistent base allocation for the working lands enterprise investment funding for and have to look back at maybe the last four years, and then there's been additional one time allocations added of varying amounts from you know another $500,000 to a million to this last year there was 5 million in two and three million increments. So the competitiveness of the granting program is by design though that there will you know be an application process. There's a deadline applications are reviewed and scored and top scoring or best fit applications are those that are awarded. So the competitiveness is by nature and design with the opportunity for the board to review and ask for additional questions and, and again Lynn Ellen can can speak to the details of that process and she manages those those intricacies. But I think the there's additional competitiveness as a result of of the oscillating allocation. So, but you know and again we can share some of these numbers if you if you're interested every year that the allocation changes for the program, the demand so in a year that we have, you know, like this past year where we have 5.5 million to award we received over 10 million in applications in years that we've had, you know, two and a half million to award we've received, you know, 5 million in applications. So it's pretty customary that the program has been able to fund, you know, somewhere between 20 and 30% of applications that have been submitted. And so, what while I think it would be great to have a larger conversation around, could we add this land access and opportunity component into the working lands program I think the biggest question for me becomes a relatively representative allocation for the program to accommodate that kind of an additional focus area and we've had experience in recent in recent years of the legislature carving out a particular ask within the working lands program so this last year it was around meat slaughter and processing capacity. Previously it was around dairy innovation or secondary wood manufacturing, and that that has worked well to have particular focus areas or we call buckets funding buckets for the program to focus on. And, and Lynn Ellen and her team can and the partners can do additional recruitment and promotion to those audiences. But I just think we'd have to have we'd have to really think about the funding to requisite to the to the added focus area. Yeah. Yep. Thank you. Good morning. Thank you chair and representatives for having us visit with you this morning. It's an honor to be here and talk about a great program. I have a couple points that I want to go over but I first want to say that it's really impossible to review the ontology of this program. I'm not referencing Brian Lewis notes and the work of the Council on the future of Vermont and its 2009 report, imagining Vermont values and vision for the future. That report was really the home of a data point that has permanently proven to be really vital and the mandate for this program. The working lands program and governing board were created in accordance, accordance with act 142 of 2012 for stimulating economic development in the ag for cultural and forestry sectors by systematically advancing entrepreneurship, business development and job creation. We've come to date from mining data based on surveys from different sectors. We funded over 240 projects. They've impacted all the counties across the state. We've deployed over $7 million in funds, and we've leveraged about $11 million in matching funds. We know that at least from 2012 to 2018, 524 jobs have been created. We've impacted over 19,000 acres in agricultural production. We've employed over 1000 people. And we know that we've generated sales of over $36 million. So some really great impacts. I want to start by saying that it could be the case that committees are really the strongest leverage point for the working lands and our board enterprise board and it's really robust quest for clear and good strategy effective operations and system impact. We're creating a toolkit for and for activating and optimizing the working lands enterprise board committees. That's helped us to feature things like a really good review program charters work plans for the committees and then of course an annual schedule that I think with the board calendar. Board members are really busy. And so, you know, getting them to consider how the committee work and committee leadership really simultaneously enhances their satisfaction as board members and it really builds on the program standing as an impactful and operationally excellent state program. So, Secondly, I'll go through just the process of applying for and granting funds through the program and hopefully answer some of the questions that emerged about assistance to applicants. Again with outreach across the state and that includes public sector, private sector, forest and woods sector, food and farm sectors. Our service providers that provide technical and business assistance around the state networks programs practitioners business enterprises trade associations. After that outreach is conducted. We also have webinar sessions, including information for applicants like key dates program information eligibility, what are the types of grants that are open. We encourage them to develop their application materials from assistance for me but also from assistance from service providers around the state. That can include our partners the farm and forest viability program through Vermont Housing Conservation Board. It could include viability partners at Northeast Organic Farming Association Center for agricultural and farm and forest viability program through Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund. This year alone based on the amount of applications that we got in I conducted close to 50 distinct one to one meetings after these webinars, because once we conduct the webinar and posted on the website, applicants then reach out to me with further questions. So that's a really important touchstone. There's a lot of really important outreach that needs to go to applicants because you get a wide variety of different types of businesses in need. Abby talked about need, and certainly we're enjoying unprecedented appropriation of funds of 5.3 million. We did review over 100 applications with project request to date totaling over $10 million. We're going through applications for the larger projects, but just to give you an understanding of what we've funded so far as of January. Over $600,000 to service writer organizations, which will provide technical and business assistance to ag enforce businesses for topics like marketing and branding ability to brand developing and selling products. Over $500,000 to standard business infrastructure projects. These are smaller. They range from 10,000 to 25,000 and focused on marketing plans for business sales strategy development, enhancing production or manufacturing efficiencies. We funded over 600,000 to meet processing and slaughter enterprises for production improvements. We know that there have been known existing bottlenecks and infrastructure has a food safety plans and implementation. So these funds will really help these businesses with procurement and pricing strategy focusing on cured meat operation, etc. And finally, we have funded close to $200,000 to producer associations. We've seen that producer associations continue to need help with leadership and organizational development, which it could include just looking at their business structure on boarding or transitions for new executive directors and post succession, for board training capacity. We find a lot of these producer associations tend to be run by busy private sector individuals. And so by providing them some help with that governance, it really helps them to move forward. If you don't mind, I'd like to just talk a little bit about that equity inclusion question. I think it could be the case that equity inclusion is maybe the most significant current opportunity for addressing a range of goals and challenges. Recognized by the state as a whole as well as working lands economy. The board has had some nascent conversations. This could be a front burner question for them in the near term. There have been some ongoing strategic concerns and operational imperatives that compete for the limited bandwidth of the board and for staff. But I do think that equity inclusion efforts that are systematic within organizations tend to be more substantive and effective when they're moving into the fabric of an organization structures and activities, as opposed to sort of addressed as a side issue. And so the service provider strategy committee, which helps with some of the press for applications, did weave into the scoring criteria to take a look at equity inclusion dialogue within partners stakeholders. We're trying to make sure that when service providers apply that the work that's happening in their organization has moved past sort of the peripheral value shifts to the center of the organization's strategic development. And so I would say one of the first service providers that showed up after that shift in the scoring criteria for the RSP was the bottle communities project that was funded in FY 21. And they have a Montrelief Collective as a named partner. They're creating a BIPOC land access every town handbook. So that's just an example of some of the nascent work the board is doing and then I think the other item would be an opportunity potentially that they've discussed in terms of the nominating committee. And Abby, I don't know if you wanted to answer that question. Additionally, that was asked about equity inclusion. I'm not sure that I have anything else to add. I was thinking about, and I was trying to look it up really quickly, but I think it might be interesting for this committee to understand and Lynn Ellen you may. You may know or this may be something we can bring back to the committee but working lands has not historically been awarding grants that for land land purchase and acquisition. So that has been a, I think, just a policy procedure of the board to not make investments in that category. So I just want to touch on that a little bit. And again, we can get you back more information if if when Ellen and I are not prepared to talk about that at the moment but I mean, again, our conversations with the event key community and with BIPOC populations, primarily with event key communities has been around the value of investing land to be able to have land ownership and be able to engage greater food production and livestock kind of grazing. And I think these are we all agree that these would be really important issues and particularly around indigenous lands and populations. So we could talk about that but I also just want to think from the standpoint of working lands, how how land acquisition has or has not been a priority in statute or just an internal board policy. Yeah, Abby you're correct the board hasn't traditionally funded directly land projects. The grants have ranged, you know, they vary in range focus and criteria, depending on the board's assessment of what the market needs are. And I, I think that in years where the scale of appropriation has allowed the board has ventured into larger grants as we've seen in the past two years while I'll skip over COVID so FY 20 FY 22 the board's ventured into scaling up grants intended to impact open or even potentially create markets for Vermont or Vermont working lands products. I would imagine that there's some tentacles between land trusts as well. I mean, that people would be purchasing land, or have the opportunity to purchase land through the land trust model to the Vermont land trust, you know, and then be able to, I mean I think that's, they're not two different silos they're all there are tentacles connecting all of this together. I appreciate that it's not that you are not a one stop shop. That's true full disclosure I'm a trustee on the Vermont land trust but I would encourage you to potentially have a conversation with the President Nick Richardson. Representative Triano. Quick question. Is there an anticipated channel in which a potential or a choir requirement acquiring land and with an agricultural plan. So for that person and for instance acting in behalf of this in reaction to this legislation that will connect them with you for the assistance is that channel exists or is it a plan to exist. I understand your question. There are pro there are probably better places to go than the working lands program, if an individual is looking to purchase or access land so there's a variety of programs in Vermont including land link and others that are about sort of match between either land that's looking for a land manager or land manager that's looking for land. And there's, there's other organizations and partners and programs in the state that that's their, that's their primary focus is trying to ensure that people can can access agricultural land. So if the land is acquired, is there a, is there, how will this individual get information that this these services are available that's the question. Okay, thank you. Thank you for clarifying yeah so that is a separate question and that's where we have many and no for Vermont being one of those partners that engage in new and beginning farmer resources and programming so in the agency of agriculture we get contacted every week probably with an individual that's looking for I want to start growing hops or I'm moving to Vermont and I've I've purchased 150 acres and I want to know what I should do so we get those calls frequently and so we have sort of an established kind of like new and beginning farmer process of sending them an email or doing a phone conversation and directing them to other resources so we might connect them to NOFA for their new and beginning new and beginning farmer program or to UBM extension different resources that are really focused on having beginning conversations with businesses as they're trying to determine if they need a business plan if they already have a market channel or a set of crops and livestock that they're interested in in cultivating or growing a raising to begin those conversations. And through the agency of agriculture does not have specifically a new and beginning farmer program but thankfully, many of our partners in the state do, and we help connect them to those resources. Yes, that does answer my question thank you. All right. I want to move to grace is it Odell. It is yep. Welcome grace and Stephanie welcome for welcome to the committee again and we'll, we're going to hear from grace and then we're going to take a break a short break and then we'll get to Stephanie so we know we just flipped the calendar a little bit here. And I know that some folks from I see that I see that. I think you have to step off soon as well so please feel free to duck off on you when you need to grace welcome to general housing military affairs. Thank you chair Stevens and thanks to the whole committee very much for having me I don't get to testify in this committee. Often and it's an honor to be here today and get to share our perspective on this bill as an agricultural organization. My name is Grace Odell. I'm the executive director of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont and just quick quickly about who we are. We're 50 year old member based organization with a mission to build an economically viable ecologically sound and socially just Vermont food and farming system. We have around 1200 members and we certify around 800 farms the organic standard in the state. We work on a broad variety of issues that range from farm viability to climate resilience to food security and beyond so it's quite inexpensive body of work and we work to really bring people together to plan to plant for our shared future so we're a member of the working lands coalition. And you've heard from a lot more expert colleagues here on the mechanics of that program and exactly how the history of it. I really appreciate seeing our colleagues here today to speak on this bill with us and share whatever we can to how the working lands coalition model might help inform our thinking on this bill. Just from my perspective as you've heard already the program has had really an outsized economic impact for the state. And my colleagues are have spoken to already so I won't rehash sort of how it serves the community. And I'd like to step back and share a big picture around our support for the need for the intention in this bill. As Abby just mentioned you know we see as NOFA and enormous need for land access funds and I would encourage you as Lynn Ellen said to to connect with Nick Richardson at Vermont Land Trust if you haven't already. I receive outreach all the time as NOFA Vermont to inquiries around sort of what what funds are out there to help me access land I'm a beginning farmer. I want to have an economically viable project, or I'm new to the state or I've been here a long time and I don't have access. And we as a nonprofit organization really don't have the kinds of funds available to be able to support people in that. And my sense is that there's there's much much more demand than we have as a state available. I also want to mention that we as NOFA are a member of the farm to plate network. In a moment, I'm going to speak to how this bill in particular connects with the priorities generated by the farm to plate network who these are some of the partners that Abby named. We've been strengthened by working together as the working lands coalition, we've been brought together by the farm to plate network and just last year we completed a 10 year plan. That process was really robust. Abby was very involved as where many other community partners across the state that that project generated a set of briefs to detail the work ahead of us as a state in our food and farming system. And several of the priorities identified through that process would be addressed in this program I'm going to talk about that in a moment. But as an agricultural organization with a commitment to social justice. We take seriously like taking a hard look at the reality of land ownership and agriculture here agriculture and land ownership together have this braided legacy of genocide and forceful removal of indigenous people from their land and enslavement and large parts of this country to farm that land. This really this legacy laid the foundation of our nation's agriculture and with it the whole economy. I'm naming this legacy because we cannot undo these atrocities but we can acknowledge them and help them have that truth inform our sense of how we might repair them. In Vermont has an opportunity to begin to acknowledge and seek that repair as a state. Just this morning I was reading in digger the office of racial equities report the disparities for BIPOC Vermonters have only grown since the beginning of the pandemic. And we know that people of color own homes and land in Vermont at far lower rates than the white counterparts. This disparity contributes significantly to this well documented generational wealth disparity between BIPOC and white people in the country at large and here in Vermont. And also, from the perspective in agricultural organization we're standing in the early stages of climate migration to Vermont. This process is causing land prices to skyrocket. It's causing farms to be sold for development, and second and third homes to sell for really incredible amounts of money. This upward pressure is making land access for all farmers in Vermonters, much more challenging, and particularly for BIPOC who already stood at a currently disenfranchised and inequitable position. This trend, I believe, is going to continue. We need to take action so that all land doesn't become out of reach. A bill like this one could serve to interject as working lands has support to address and ameliorate these realities. As an ag organization we just see so much demand as I mentioned for land access and capital investment, particularly for BIPOC Vermonters and as it relates to our wheelhouse BIPOC farmers. You know, broadly as an organic farming association we want to speak to the value of biodiversity and diversity in human communities is the same. Vermont has this opportunity to serve as a leader, just as it has modeled investment in farm viability and protected its working landscape through the working lands program. Vermont could secure, could really model securing land ownership and housing for BIPOC and set this high bar, an example for the rest of the nation to look to. Finally, just call our attention back to the priorities that we as a state and a food system network have identified in the state's 10-year strategic food plan that was completed by the Farm to Plate Network. So priority strategy number two of that because I think it bears repeating is to establish funding mechanisms like agricultural loan loss reserve farm transfer financing to address food specific investment gaps specifically for women and BIPOC owned businesses. Priority strategy three was to improve funding opportunities and create equitable access for BIPOC organizations and BIPOC owned businesses by developing multi-year unrestricted BIPOC centered grant and loan programs. Priority strategy 33 was to plan to plan commit to and prioritize actions to begin eradicating structural racism in the food system. Priority and food system organizations and stakeholders prioritizing racial equity and actions to eradicate structural racism and to sort of center BIPOC leadership which this bill has. So this bill has given us a chance to work on these priorities which have been generated as a robust stakeholder process and NOFA is just hoping that we can move forward on the work that we've identified as a community and believe that we have an opportunity to do so. That's my testimony I feel like my colleagues here today have spoken more adeptly on the mechanics of the bill but I'm happy to take any questions if you have them. Questions for Grace at this time. It really is a treat to have folks from the Department of Agriculture and from NOFA to come in here. And really understand I mean that I guess we're the general committee right so we just sort of when we need to hear from everybody we have that access and I really appreciate I really appreciate your time to come in and I feel like there's more for us to ask maybe not today. But to hear how interconnected the work on the work on the existing work on working lands the existing work and land trust the existing work across many different I don't want to call them silos because we know where they are. But that that 273 is attempting to connect them in a slightly different way. So that's that's what we're that's what we're trying to sort out here this has been really illuminating for for for me anyway I'll speak for myself but because I get in trouble when I speak for the committee. So the ideas here are are very familiar. And I'm glad to see that a program that started back into I remember one to one work the concept came forward from from the first report how far we've come since then, and to hear that it's really. I don't want to hear that is really maturing into a program where the system itself is set up in a way that we need to pay attention to for this bill as well the the idea of committee work and how that works so thank you. Thank you for your time representative try out question before we take a quick break. I'm just wondering with your. What you had just said I mean you made the connections to the to the heart of this bill skinny. And I remember when NOFA was formed. Many years ago, so I really appreciate you coming in grace and speaking that as you did. And as I said, you really made the connection between what you folks are doing and what this bill is going to try and do so thanks very much. Thanks for having me it's such a pleasure to be here. Thank you, and we're going to take a five minute break and Stephanie, we will start with you at 1015.