DE House Ag Committee

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Animal Welfare Bill Strikes Dairy Industry

And so it begins………..the attack on our #1 industry of agriculture by animal welfare activists.

HB 189 was proposed quickly and quietly and assigned to the House Judiciary Committee. It’s an act to amend Title 11 of the Delaware Code relating to dairy cattle tail docking. A quick synopsis of the bill establishes Dairy Cattle Tail Docking as a Class A misdemeanor.

What the heck is a Class A misdemeanor? According to NOLO, a class A misdemeanor in Delaware is the most serious type of misdemeanor in Delaware, punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine up to $2,300. Seems extreme and many public comments balked at the punishment. This would probably put farmers in the same category as the thief’s who steal the copper from their irrigation systems.

The bill was in the House Judiciary committee today. I attended and listened. Here’s my notes:

Representatives in attendance:

  • Rep. Mitchell, Chair, (D)
  • Rep. Potter (D)
  • Rep. Wilson (R), publicly opposed the bill, especially with steep punishment and questioned why we were focusing on this with only 6 session day left. He also asked who will police it and what if a farmer buys a cow from another state with the tail already docked? Thank you, Rep. Wilson!
  • Rep. Outten (R)
  • Rep. Spiegelman (R)
  • Rep. Paradee (D)
  • Rep. Bennett (D), primary sponsor of the bill, introduced the bill and stated that cow’s need their tails to swat insects/flies and to communicate with it’s herd.
  • for a full list of committee members, click here.

Public Attendance & Comment:

  • DE Votes for Animals (in support)
  • A private citizen and advocate for animal welfare (in support)
  • Kitty Holtz, DFB President
  • Pam Bakerian, DFB Executive Director, opposed this bill on behalf of the DE Farm Bureau and all dairy farmers. She felt the bill was proposed very quickly and left little time for the agricultural advocates to prepare. She asked for more than a 24 hour notice and allow dairy farmers to speak for themselves. She requested the bill be tabled.
  • Ed Kee, DE Secretary of Ag, respectfully opposed this bill on behalf of his agency including state veterinarians. He requested the chance to sit down and talk to all parties involved here and to look at the numbers (number of dairy farms in the state and how many actually perform this practice). He said the number is low. He also felt the punishment was severe.
  • Kim Gomes, Lobbyist, commented that she represents HSUS and brought the issue to Rep. Bennett. Seeing the discussion taking place today, she asked the sponsor to table the bill and welcomed the invitation to continue the conversation.

My thoughts? Even though my family does not perform tail docking on their dairy cattle, we oppose this bill. This is not the last you will see of this bill or many like it because animal welfare does not just pertain to small pet animals anymore. By attaching the punishable crime, it required this bill to go through the Judiciary Committee instead of the Agriculture Committee. Perhaps they hoped agricultural advocates wouldn’t catch wind? Highly unlikely with a farmer like Rep. Dave Wilson on the Judiciary Committee and an active Farm Bureau who showed up in committee to oppose. I also question the legwork done to propose this bill with only 6 working session days left, a ton of bills sitting on the ready list, and so many other issues important to Delawareans such as budget, tax, and transportation funding woes. I am 99.9% sure the Department of Ag would’ve been willing to sit down and talk to them about specifics on this issue BEFORE proposing a bill. If they wanted to get the ag industry’s attention or see how well Delaware agvocates are paying attention, I would say mission accomplished. I am worried, especially for the poultry industry as this bill could easily bring attention to the welfare of other large farm animals.

The bill was tabled, for now……..all representatives in attendance voted in favor of tabling it. The primary sponsor is not a member of the committee.

We need Delaware farmers and agvocates who are willing to drop everything and come to Legislative Hall to testify against these type of bills. If that’s not possible, even a phone call to your local legislator helps! Leave a message with the aide because they keep track for the elected official.

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Rep. Wilson Attempts to Secure Funding for DE Farmland Preservation

When the DE Agricultural Lands Preservation Act was passed in 2005, the intent was for the program to be fully funded $10 million from the realty transfer tax revenue. Because of other budget constraints in recent years, funding has been significantly less. Rep. Dave Wilson (R) seeks to make the full funding of $10 million constitutional law by proposing HB 124. Passing a constitutional amendment is no easy task. The bill requires a 2/3 vote in each house and must pass 2 consecutive sessions. If passed, HB 124 would not take effect until 2017. On Wednesday, May 13, HB 124 passed through the House Ag Committee.

The synopsis of the bill:

The Delaware Farmland Preservation Fund was created under the Delaware Agricultural Lands Preservation Act in order to conserve, protect, and encourage improvement of agricultural lands within the State. The Legislature has previously expressed its desire that $10 million in receipts from the State Realty Transfer Tax be allocated annually to this fund in order to accomplish its goals. This Act is the first leg of a constitutional amendment that will make this allocation binding on all future administrations and General Assemblies, thus allowing this essential program to continue protecting one of our State’s most important resources.

Voting in favor:

  • Rep. Bennett (D)
  • Rep. Kenton (R)
  • Rep. Carson (D)
  • Rep. Wilson (R)
  • Rep. Collins (R)
  • Rep. Paradee (D)
  • Rep. Spiegelman (R)

Not in favor:

  • Rep. Q. Johnson (D)
  • Rep. Mulrooney (D)

All public comment generously supported the bill and farmers! Many legislators also spoke highly of the ag and poultry industry in DE.If you support this bill and want to see farm land preserved please contact your local legislator! Public testimony came from:

Also on the agenda was HCR 30, creating a task force related to the Port of Wilmington. It was tabled so the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Spiegelman (R) could edit the language. Although not in either ag committee, SB 69 passed through the Senate Public Safety Committee. This bill seeks to require helmet use for anyone 18 years old or younger operating a 2 wheel or 3 wheel ATV (all terrain vehicles). Keep in mind, ATV does not refer to a farm vehicle being used for farming. This is specifically stated within the legislation.

Here’s a video clip from Comcast Newsmakers of Rep. Dave Wilson explaining the bill:

Click HERE for a news and audio clip of Ed Kee, DE Secretary of Agriculture explaining the program.

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New Year, New Session, New Ag Committee Chairs

There are 62 Legislators in the DE General Assembly. Many are former teachers. Some run small businesses. A few have backgrounds in healthcare. Five are former police officers (according to a recent DE State News article). But NONE are full-time FARMERS. As a matter of fact, out of 62, only a handful have any experience in agriculture at all.

On the House side, the closest we get is Representative’s Dave Wilson (a part-time farmer and horse breeder), Harvey Kenton (retired from Milford Fertilizer-now Growmark FS, LLC), and Jack Peterman (retired farmer). All are Republicans and in the minority caucus, which doesn’t hold much weight when it comes to committee chairmanship. Chairs of each committee come from the majority caucus, which is currently the Democrat party for both chambers in Delaware. The former chair of the Ag Committee, John Atkins-D, lost in the last election. The Vice-chair was Quinn Johnson-D, who actually grew up on a truck crop farm in Maryland but is more involved in his family daycare business in Middletown. All of the above served on last year’s Ag committee.

On the Senate side, there’s even less ag experience and its all in the minority caucus. The best I can find is Senator Brian Pettyjohn (grew up on a farm and worked for Mountaire Farms). These are a stretch but somewhat related to ag: Senator’s Ernie Lopez (works for UD Cooperative Extension/4-H) and Gerald Hocker (owns his own family grocery store). Again, all are Republicans. The former Chair was Bruce Ennis-D, who’s a former state policeman.

So why care who chairs our Ag committee? A committee chair can have significant power by setting the committee’s agenda and determining when and whether bills will be considered. Other responsibilities of a committee chair typically include calling the committee together to perform its duties. In the past, the Delaware House and Senate Ag Committees often join together to meet. Last year, both Ag committee’s in either chamber met only a handful of times. It often seems to be at the request of our Secretary of Ag, who seems to drive the agenda in Delaware. Last session’s proposed legislation focused on the declining horse industry in Delaware (another recent article for the DE State News). The committee not meeting often means there isn’t much policy being formulated, which to many farmers is a good sign because it means less regulation and government interference. But I don’t think this will be the case in future years. Just watching Maryland grapple with the proposed “Phosphorus Management Tool (PMT)” is painful. Many other state legislatures’ are considering other bills harmful to the ag industry, such as ag-gag laws and GMO labeling campaigns. This is why I was disappointed that a proposed right-to-farm bill (HB 63) went nowhere last session. We need legislators with ag experience to serve and chair this committee to protect our #1 industry by convening this group regularly, setting an agenda to protect their farming constituents, and working with the only pro-farm lobbying group-the Delaware Farm Bureau. Given the lack of experience, especially on the Democratic side, I’m guessing the new chairs will have little experience in agriculture, which is not good when it comes to protecting our #1 industry. Wouldn’t it help to have a pro-active Ag committee stacked with ag-educated legislators on our side?  It’s often too late to educate policy-makers when a bill is already on the table. Especially when our best advocates sit in the minority caucus.

All committee assignments and chairs, appointed by the House Speaker and President Pro Temp, should be announced soon as the 148th DE General Assembly reconvenes on Jan. 13, 2015. New Ag committee chairs will be named. Stay tuned.

 

 

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A Right to Farm & Ag Certainty

Most of Wednesday’s House Ag Committee meeting was devoted to housekeeping of harness racing regulations. But at the end, two preliminary-but very optimistic-ideas surfaced. Here are the highlights:

  • Rep. John Atkins, Chair, called the meeting to order at 12:05pm and immediately turned the floor over to Secretary Ed Kee. Representative’s in attendance were Peterman, Outten, Kenton, Wilson, Spiegelman, Q. Johnson. Other guests were lobbyists-Scott & Rebecca Kidner and Debbie Hamilton, Hettie Brown-HSUS State Director, Mark Davis-DDA, Austin Short-DDA.
  • The Secretary went straight into draft legislation related to harness racing such as jockey welfare, harness racing fines, and investigations related to illegal substances.
  • Related to Ag Lands Preservation, the Secretary said he is requesting $2 million for the program in the Governor’s budget, which will be presented this week on Jan. 24. See updated info on Ag Lands here.
  • The Secretary announced that DDA, the Nutrient Management Commission, DNREC, USDA, and the Conservation Districts are exploring the use of an “Ag Certainty” program related to those with a nutrient management plan.  Here is the draft review circulated in committee:
DE's Ag Certainty Program Review Draft circulated in House Committee meeting on Jan. 16, 2013

DE’s Ag Certainty Program Review Draft circulated in House Committee meeting on Jan. 16, 2013

It looks to be an incentive program for farmers to implement best management practices (BMP’s), which other states have adopted (Florida, Louisiana, and Michigan). I also found a blog post by Lara Moody, a promoter of nutrient stewardship in D.C., which cites the discussion of Ag Certainty related to the Chesapeake Bay back in Nov. 2011.

“The right of farmers and ranchers to engage in modern farming and ranching practices shall be forever guaranteed in this state. No law shall be enacted which abridges the right of farmers and ranchers to employ agricultural technology, modern livestock production and ranching practices”.

Legislative counsel in DE may also suggest this be a Constitutional amendment, which could be a lengthy process because it must pass both chambers (House & Senate), not once, but two years in a row. As soon as I heard this, my mind went straight to Rich Barczewski’s “Pig Tales” column in the Jan.15th Delmarva Farmer. He mentions right-to-farm laws in his column titled “Agriculture Under Fire”. The article is impossible to find on the web so I’m posting it below. Awesome article.

Pig Tales, "Agriculture Under Fire", by Rich Barczewski, columnist for Jan. 15, 2013 Delmarva Farmer

Pig Tales, “Agriculture Under Fire”, by Rich Barczewski, columnist for Jan. 15, 2013 Delmarva Farmer

It’s your turn! Which do you think should be implemented to help Delaware farmers in 2013? Answer the poll below!

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New Year, New Session, & New Ag Committee Assignments

Another election year has come and gone. It was a big one for our state legislature, as every seat was up for grabs due to the 10 year census and the redrawing of district lines. In addition, many long-time incumbents retired, including former Senator George Bunting (D) who was the long-time chair of the Senate Ag Committee. These changes have definitely altered the face of our legislature and I’m not referring to party affiliation but more so age. New leadership has been chosen in each chamber and committees assigned. Here’s a rundown, relative to Agriculture, of course.

The Senate: 13 Democrats, 8 Republicans

New Leadership:

  • President Pro Temp: Patricia Blevins (D)
  • Majority Leader: David McBride (D)
  • Majority Whip: Margaret Rode Henry (D)
  • Minority Leader: Gary Simpson (R)
  • Minority Whip: Gregory Lavelle (R)

Senate Ag Committee Members:

  • Bruce Ennis, Chair (D)
  • Bethany Hall-Long (D) (new to committee)
  • Robert Venables (R)
  • Gary Simpson (R)
  • Gerald Hocker (R) (newly elected; previously served in House) (new to committee)

The House: 27 Democrats, 14 Republicans

New Leadership:

  • Speaker of the House: Pete Schwartzkopf (D)
  • Majority Leader: Val Longhurst (D)
  • Majority Whip: John Viola
  • Minority Leader: Dan Short
  • Minority Whip: Deborah Hudson

House Ag Committee members:

  • John Atkins, Chair (D)
  • Quinn Johnson, Vice-Chair (D)
  • William Carson (D)
  • W. Charles “Trey” Paradee (D) (newly elected) (new to committee)
  • Rebecca Walker (D)
  • Micheal Mulrooney (D)
  • Dave Wilson (D)
  • Harvey Kenton (R)
  • William “Bobby” Outten (R)
  • Harold Peterman (R)
  • Jeffrey Spiegelman (R) (newly elected) (new to committee)

Important to note: The 147th General Session begins on January 8, 2013. The House Ag Committee plans to meet every Wednesday from 4-5:30 pm when in session. Other committees to watch, relative to ag, would be the Natural Resources committee. See a list of all House committees here. See a list of all Senate committees here.

Granted, I know Ag isn’t the most popular committee and in past years it hasn’t seen much legislation introduced but you never know what 2013 and this new session will bring. Plus there are many things going on federally that may impact state budgets and regs. I will say that I was hoping newly elected Sen. Ernie Lopez would be on the Senate Ag Committee; however, I’m happy he landed on the Education and Natural Resources committees. Better luck next time, I guess.

Here’s to 2013 and what this new session will bring………Happy New Session & New Year!

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Joint Agriculture Committee Update-Part I

After my post this week on HB 282, I realized there’s nowhere to find Delaware Ag Committee minutes unless you actually attend the meetings. What farmer or agvocate has time to do that, especially in the spring, when planting is top priority? And none of our media outlets cover these meetings regularly. I don’t always have time to go either, but I’m usually attending some other committee, so occasionally I can slip in. Therefore, I’d like to share the minutes of two previous Ag Committee meetings in March. These convened as “Joint Agriculture Committee” meetings, meaning the individual House and Senate Committee members came together as one. I’ll give you a short summary in a two-part series.

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At the March 21 meeting, Secretary Kee seemed to lead the agenda (not the Chairs) and announced three pieces of legislation his department would like to implement in the near future:

  1. Replace one of the poultry representatives on the nutrient management commission with an equine industry representative (HB 282, which passed the House yesterday).
  2. Increase in the pesticide registration fee that manufacturers pay to the Dept. of Ag. (HB 321, just introduced Tuesday).
  3. Increase the fine for those who misuse pharmaceuticals in the thoroughbred industry. A second component to this would be an increase in license fees.

An update on the Young Farmers Program (YFP) was given. There are currently 10 young farmers with a total of 903 acres of land in the program. The State will loan up to $2.7 million at zero interest for them to buy their first farm. The farm will then remain in the Ag Lands Preservation Program (ALPP). In regards to this topic, the Secretary also mentioned the fact that the State has proposed to provide less funding to the ALPP, from $7 million to $1.5 million and to the YFP, from $3 million to $500,000.

In the poultry field, Secretary Kee gave an update on the Harim group, who bought Allen Family Foods. They have been operating profitably from week to week and may add another shift, which could provide more in state jobs. The Secretary then requested help to support the University of DE’s Lasher Lab in Georgetown, which is crucial to our state’s poultry industry because of its role in testing disease in Delmarva poultry flocks. They need $500,000 to continue their work. Several poultry representatives provided public comment to re-emphasize the needed support.

Legislators present were Chair Bunting (Senate) and Chair Atkins (House); Representatives Quinn Johnson, Harvey Kenton, Rebecca Walker, and Dave Wilson; Senators Bruce Ennis, Bob Venables, and Gary Simpson.

Who wasn’t there, but belongs on the committee? Representatives Bill Carson, Jack Peterman, Bobby Outten, Michael Mulrooney, and Senator Joe Booth.

Always interesting to see who attends and who doesn’t. Stay tuned for Part II soon……

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DE House Agriculture Committee Update

As a quick follow-up to my previous blog, “Proposed Changes to DE Nutrient Management Commission”, House Bill 282 was released from the House Agriculture Committee meeting last Wednesday, April 25. In order to be released, it required a majority vote from the House Agriculture Committee members. Rep. John Atkins called the meeting to order. Rep. Dave Wilson, sponsor of the bill, quickly introduced the bill. Rep. Bill Carson made the motion to release this bill from committee. Rep. Quinn Johnson seconded. There was no discussion and no opposition. Other elected officials present were Rep. Bobby Outten, Rep. Harvey Kenton, and Rep. Jack Peterman. Secretary Ed Kee was in attendance as well as the Staff Administrator of the DE Farm Bureau, Ms. Pam Thornburg-Bakerian.  The bill will now be placed on the ready list or on the agenda, to be worked on the House floor. The meeting was adjourned.

Hopefully this won’t hurt poultry representatives in the long run when an important decision is made. However, I should share an article I read in the News Journal this week titled, “High prices, slow sales ground Delmarva poultry”…..

Check back for an update on DE Joint Agricultural Committee minutes soon.