 This is Dennis McMahon and welcome to Positively Vermont. My special guest today is Anson Tebbitt, the Secretary of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets. And we have a very interesting program in store for all of you about Secretary Tebbitt's and the work the Vermont Agency is doing now. We have a host pandemic and through the crisis and all of those things that should be of great interest. Welcome, Mr. Secretary. Well, thank you, Dennis. It's great to be with you again and also great to be with all your viewers. Right. Well, first of all, would you just tell us a little bit about yourself and your role as Secretary of Agriculture Food and Markets. A little bit personal information and when you started and what you've been doing. Well, thank you. Well, I grew up on a dairy farm in the town of Cabot, traditional dairy farm. We had milking cows. We did a little bit of maple sugaring. At one point we had sheep as well. And from there, you know, I went to graduate from Cabot High School in the 80s and went on to school in Boston. And actually, I have a degree in something in your field that was in communications. So I worked in radio and I worked in television along the way. I worked at radio station WD EV in Waterbury. It was my first paying job outside of college. And then from there, I dipped my toe into television. So I was a television reporter and eventually ended up as the news director at WC X TV on Joy Drive there in Burlington. And then about, I guess it's going to been going on six years ago, Governor Scott asked me to come aboard and be his Secretary of Agriculture Food and Markets. So that's what I've been doing for the last, I guess, five plus years going on six years now. That's great. Give us an idea of the scope of the agency, how big it is and what it does and also the role of Vermont nationwide and worldwide in agriculture. Well, the scope is quite wide. You can actually think about it as agriculture is going to touch you with just about everything you do every day. So for example, we have, we regulate gas pumps. It's something that folks may not know. But if you next time you're pumping up at the pumps and you're putting gas in your in your car, look to the gas pump and you'll see a sticker on it. And it likely you'll be inspected by the Agency of Agriculture Food and Markets. So we work in weights and measures. You go into a supermarket and we want to make sure you get accurate pricing. So we may look at the pricing to make sure the pricing in the aisle is consistent with the pricing at the checkout counter. Deli counters, we may be in there from propane to gas. We do that. We also have regulations about animal and food safety. So we have a division that works on consumer assurance and that may be inspecting the milk dairy plants. We may be inspecting on farm dairies. We do meat inspections. So we'll be in the meat plants. We'll be doing that. We also have an entomology department looking at bugs. So we have a number of things we're keeping our eye on about invasive species. We also look at economic development. So we're, we're helping farms and businesses try to make sure that they're profitable and economically viable. And we have support for that. And we have a division that looks at water quality and making sure that we're protecting the waters of Vermont. So we have a number of people that, whether they be engineers or inspectors working with our farms to make sure they're complying and supporting the water qualities of the state of Vermont. So it's really quite wide ranging what we all do. And we have about 100 and 135 employees full time stationed across the state of Vermont and all sections of Vermont, many of them working in the field so they may not physically be in an office but they're up there everywhere. So that's just an overview of some of the things we do Dennis. Great. Well, this show is not only viewed locally, but it gets around the world. In fact, many contacts I have in Europe. I just like to describe the picture of Vermont in terms of agricultural resources, trade and what we're known for, or perhaps locally in the United States and Canada and around the world. Well, probably our biggest commodity is dairy, whether that be in milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, you know, about 60 to 70% of our revenues in agriculture related to dairy. So that may be a dairy farm that's just producing milk and just selling to two of our major co-ops, one being Agamark and Cabot with a Cabot brand, or one may be DFA St. And that milk may go across the United States, it may go to the region. So I would say dairy is probably our principal commodity. We also have tremendous influence across the United States in maple. Most of the maple, about half of the maple produced in the United States is coming directly from the Green Mountains. So half of the crop in the United States, we're the number one producer of pure Vermont maple syrup in the United States, and that may go across the country, may go across the world. We also have folks that are doing tremendous things in fruits and vegetables, whether they be apple orchards, whether they be supplying some of our institutions with fresh vegetables. We have that. And then we have a lot of value added ag-based companies, whether they be specialty foods, whether it be jams and preserves that are relying on local products to produce another product. And we have a robust wine, beer, and spirits industry in Vermont, and some of those products are made from Vermont agriples or products. So it's really wide-ranging what we do. Everything from honey to maple to dairy to cheese to apples, it's all wide-ranging across the state of Vermont. Well, the last time we spoke, I believe, was at the height of the pandemic or the beginning of the pandemic. What challenges did that pose to you and your agency, and how has Vermont agriculture coped or is coping with right now? Well, clearly, Dennis, there was a disruption early on in the pandemic. We saw a tremendous crash in some of the markets. Take dairy, for example. Many of our cheese makers were, their markets were in restaurants. They might have been in institutions, and those were closed for a considerable amount of time. So they had to decide what they were going to do to pay their bills. So many of them switched to going online. So e-commerce became much more of a focus and continues to be a big focus. So a tremendous amount of cheese right now is being shipped across the United States in the mail to various folks directly to the consumer. Some of the markets have come back. You know, our restaurants have opened up again and some of our cheese shops, of course, have opened up again. So those markets remain there. But I would say e-commerce was a big change. Also, there was a tremendous amount of milk on the market, which couldn't reach everywhere. So that was a disruption for our dairy farmers. Recently, the price of milk paid to farmers has been good. Historically, it's been some of the highest prices they've been paid on the conventional side. But it's being offset by some of the inflationary problems we've had over the last few months, particularly the price of fuel to run tractors is extremely high. The transportation that's involved in moving product to the region has been very high. The cost of rain to feed our animals is very high. And also if those that are using fertilizer, those have been very high. So everything from the pandemic to the war in Ukraine have impacted several things for agriculture across the region. So it depends where you're standing. We did have a lot of folks return to shopping at farm stands and farmers markets and thinking about maybe more of a regional and a local approach to their buying habits. So that's been on the positive side. So I guess it's hard to say where it all landed, but it's been some positives in some aspects, but some negatives in other areas. So depending where you're standing. Well, this being harvest time coming up, how would this harvest time compare to last year and the year before and anything other comparisons you could make? Well, as we speak here in mid-September, the apple harvest seems to be very strong. I'm hearing good reports. You know, there's nothing better than going to a pick your own operation for a family event. And we have a number of orchards that are doing that. They're also producing value added products like cider and also pies and so forth. So those seem to be going well. It's been a challenging summer in some aspects because of the weather conditions for a lot of our farmers. It has been dry in some regions. Particularly, you know, the farther south you go, we're hearing more folks in maybe the Windham, Bennington counties have had more challenges of being dry, particularly Addison County, which is a very intensive agriculture county. So it's, and some of that's impacted some of the forage for animals and other places have had just enough rain. So I guess, again, it's one of those things where you're standing. But I think for the most part, it's been a challenging summer because of it's been dry. And the rain that we did, that we have received has come at a very strong, you know, quick downpours. And we haven't had those really soaking rains that are really valuable to replenish the crops and the gardens and so forth. Maybe we can discuss some of these initiatives that have been going on this Vermont Future of Agriculture Commission action plan. What is that about? Yeah, so the governor Scott, this comes out of the pandemic, you know, we've been talking about the pandemic. Following the pandemic, it was really noticed by a lot of folks, including the governor and us at the agency and the agency of Commerce and Community Development, that agriculture really became the focus when people were shopping and realizing, you know, agriculture is pretty down important because it's feeding us. So the governor charged us with taking a look at various things to support agriculture. One thing that we found is we need to work on, you know, distribution processing, our infrastructure of our agriculture is very, very important. You know, we have a small population of Vermont, about 660,000 folks. So, you know, we need to send a lot of our agriculture products outside our region to bigger markets. For example, Boston, New York, Washington, Philadelphia. But to do that, you need a system in place where it's easy to distribute those products. So one of the things that we looked at is infrastructures. So one of the priorities of that was to make sure that we made investments in storage and transportation, all those things that make it more affordable for folks to get agriculture products throughout the region. So that was one of those recommendations that we made through the Governor's Commission on the Future of Agriculture. Let me ask you about the agency's funding to support farm, food, and forest businesses. Tell us a little bit about that. Yeah, we have, let's start with an example. We have the Working Lands Enterprise Fund, and the Working Lands Enterprise Fund has been fortunate over the last year or so to have about $5 million that helped support farming, whether it be a sugar operation, maybe a vegetable operation, maybe it's a dairy operation. And that can also work on infrastructure. So if they needed that really critical piece of equipment, take a slaughterhouse, for example. The equipment in slaughterhouses is very, very expensive, but there might be a saw, there might be some packaging that would really benefit that industry. So the Working Lands Enterprise Fund can give folks a grant to make that purchase. It's a competitive grant. There's an application, there's a process to go through that, and an independent board that's managed by the Agency of Agriculture Food and Markets works on those grants. That's one example. We also recently, because of this disruption in the dairy industry, Vermont is host to the Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center. And we recently received a infusion of money to help with the dairy industry in Vermont. We received about $19 million to work within Vermont and the region to support dairy farmers. They may be looking at everything from on-farm practices to maybe processing. We have some dollars that are going to be available for our cheese makers or our dairy processors to make considerable infrastructure improvements. We're also looking at distributing some dollars to the on-farm businesses. So if that dairy farmer needs improvement in the millhouse, maybe needs a new bulk tank, more storage, better efficiency with that, we're going to have a granting program for that. So it's wide-ranging what we have for programs. We actually, if folks wanted to go to our webpage, there's a calendar of events there. And on that calendar, it has the funding opportunities and lists all the programs that we have that may benefit agriculture. It's called the annual calendar of funding opportunities. And it's everything is available year-round for financial assistance for our agriculture community. That's great. Let's talk about an initiative that is fairly recent and seems to have obtained a lot of interest. And that's the importance value and concepts of agritourism. Tell us about that. Yeah, Vermont recently hosted an international conference on agritourism. This was organized by the University of Vermont Extension Service. And we were partners in helping to support that conference. So we had, I would say, about 50 different countries participating on this in the Burlington region. And more than 500 participants took part in this three-day conference that was hosted by Vermont. The last time they headed a couple of years ago, it was in Italy. And this is taking a look at some folks that may want to bring folks to their farm or their business, and maybe it's a farm state. So maybe you want to spend a couple days on the farm. You've got a place to sleep there. But they learn hands-on what it's like to run a dairy operation. For example, we have one in Rochester, Vermont. It's an agritourism operation. It's a working dairy farm. They have a place where folks can stay. They also can get a nice breakfast every morning. But they also can learn exactly what it takes to run a dairy operation in Vermont. So I think there's been a trend to see if that's another revenue source for some of our agriculture enterprises. And I think there's potential growth there if we can support more of those across the state of Vermont to bring more people looking for authentic experiences. And I think that has been the trend across the nation. People looking for real experiences that are meaningful. They can see how the land is taken care of. They can see how the water is taken care of. And they can see how the animals are taken care of. And they can learn more about what it really takes to produce something from a farm. That's great. And we're recording now in September the 12th. And what other projects is the agency of agriculture food and markets looking into or planning for the rest of the year? Winter is going to be coming and season, holidays, pumpkins and all that stuff. Tell us a little bit about what the next few months are going to look like. Well, fall is again a very important month for agriculture. We're going to be supporting many maple initiatives called Maple 100. You know, we think about maple when maple is produced in, you know, February, March, early April. But we're also introducing maple to folks that may be visiting Vermont during the foliage season. So I think it's important that we focus on maple being a year round product. So there's places to visit and see maple operations, although they may not be producing maple at that time. There's still a lot to learn. And it's all focused on our foliage season. Of course, the sugar make maple is so vital to our fall tourism season. We'll be talking about one big fair that's coming up and from September, you know, 16th for 17 days after that. And that's the Big E in West Springfield, Massachusetts. Vermont has a building down there where a number of our companies sell their products and give those visitors to the Big E a very authentic experience. When they come into that building, whether they want to see the cheese, whether they get a beverage, where they see some of the arts and crafts that Vermonters are so good at doing. So they'll have an opportunity for that as well. And of course, anytime folks can get out and visit, pick your own operation. We have some incredible pick your own operations, whether they be at the apple orchard, or they'd be, you know, grabbing a pumpkin somewhere. So everyone's kind of cherishing that and really important time for the fall before we head into winter, which is another season. But we have a little bit of law there during stick season that we catch up on things before we head into the winter season. Great. Let me ask you this. One of the things that our legislature, of course, concluded its session. And what types of initiatives is the agency interested in? In the state, I guess now the federal level or what initiatives have been passed as a result of interest by the agency this past session and the new session will be coming in January. Let us get a little bit of a legislative outlook. Yes, so I think, you know, one thing is to keep our eye on on the budget. You know, as we speak in September, our revenues can are still pretty strong and the revenue forecast continue to run ahead of schedule. And that has a lot to do with, I think more people are visiting Vermont, more people have come to Vermont and purchased homes post pandemic. We've seen a population increase in Vermont for the first time in a very, very long time. So that's that's helping our economy and in some aspects. So we'll be looking at more initiatives that grow our economy, you know, make it more affordable. And of course, we're always keeping our eye on the less vulnerable so we have to make sure that people are being fed and they have those folks that need assistance there. We'll be looking at those particular projects. And again, we're going to continue to use those federal dollars that have come to Vermont to focus on projects that are long term so have a lasting impact. I'm not just in the year 2022 that are going to be with us for a long time and again that speaks to working on our infrastructure making sure that our, our farms have the proper equipment to be more efficient more affordable. So they can get those products to the public in a way that's affordable. And it may be, you know, water sewer will be investing in those will be making sure that we continue to invest in a broadband and cell service, which is so important to our rural economy. We need those things ticking so we can possibly move products through e-commerce if we want, we can communicate together. So all those things will be priorities as we continue to try to grow the economy, make it more affordable and take care of the less vulnerable. A lot of people will be watching this here and other parts of the country, and particularly with the upcoming months and issues you mentioned this whole issue of food security and food safety. What can people do? How can people get more involved in the agriculture and food scene in Vermont from your perspective? Well, I think it's important that we all, you know, take a pause and learn before, you know, maybe we react, you know, if you have the opportunity to buy something locally from a farmer. Maybe you're shopping in a supermarket and you see there's a Vermont product there. If you could purchase that, if you have the means to do that, that would be fantastic. If you can visit, you know, farm stands, maybe you want to purchase some products directly from that company online to do that. You know, send gifts to your friends, send Vermont products through the mail for them. And also get to know your neighbors, get to know what it's like to farm. Sometimes it's not as, you know, it can be a little gritty, it can be a little tough. You know, farming is, you know, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So some vehicles may, you know, move at odd hours, not the nine to five schedule that a lot of us are used to. And I think education is important. And anything you can do, whether it being school, whether it be in your community to pay attention to your farmer, support them any way you can. So they're there to keep our land open and in production. And of course, at the end of the day, what they're doing is they're feeding us all. That reminded me of just one more thing, the idea of education and career in farm. What if anything is being done to interest young people and students, college students, even high school students in careers in agriculture. Yeah, there's tremendous opportunity now for folks. You know, we need, we need young minds, young workers. And that may be, you know, working on a dairy farm and you're in charge, you're the mechanic on a dairy farm. And to keep that equipment rolling so the crops can be harvested, the milking equipment keeps going. So there's opportunities for that. So our, our regional technical centers are valuable with that. We have some FFA, Future Farmers of America chapters throughout Vermont that are important. We have a couple of colleges, one in Randolph, formerly DTC has an agriculture school that's adapting and changing. We also have the University of Vermont in our backyard, a working farm there, a number of folks working in agriculture at the School of Agriculture there as well. We have Sterling College up in Crasperie as well, a smaller institution been working on various aspects of agriculture that are important. So there's tremendous opportunity, whether it be, you know, growing a school garden in elementary school, farm to school programs are very important to learning about where your food comes from, how to grow it. And then through high school and right up through college is a number of opportunities for folks to really be involved in agriculture. So it remains viable for the future. Well, that's great. Well, thank you very much. And I want to have you back a lot sooner, maybe in the next season to explain some more things that of interest and all your great work. I want to commend you and your employees and your agency for just the pivotal role that you have been playing in the success and the quality of life. Well, thank you. Thank you. It's great to chat with you and wishing you and all of your viewers best of luck. Thank you. This is Dennis McMahon. My guest has been Anson Tevitz, the secretary of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food and Markets, speaking with us here on Positively Vermont. Thank you for watching.