Investing in Connecticut Agriculture!
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During the final hours of the legislative session, the House joined our Senate colleagues and passed Senate Bill 1497, a bipartisan omnibus agriculture bill that will have a positive impact on our state’s agriculture industry through substantial investments.
I cosponsored this year’s “farm bill” which included several separate concepts, including a permitting exemption for “hoop houses” which I proposed on behalf of Julie Harrison at Willow View Farm. Her commonsense idea will benefit farms across our state by removing onerous building restrictions for these grow structures and saving them time and money.
The bill also:
- Creates a 20% refundable business tax credit for farmers’ investment in eligible machinery, equipment, and buildings
- Increases the annual farm machinery property tax exemption from $100,000 to $250,000
- Allows the use of drones in pesticide application for farmers, to be permitted through DEEP
- Exempts hoop houses and high tunnels from permitting and construction standards under the state building code
- Creates a Farmers’ Crop Loss Reimbursement Grant Program, (to be bond funded)
- Grants limited immunity from civil liability to agritourism businesses
- Creates a Manure Management Grant Program, (to be bond funded)
- Creates a Shipping Container Grant Program for the purchase and operation of container farms, (to be bond funded)
- Extends a ban on soil amendments with biosolids containing PFAS
- Adjusts the state’s shellfish harvest season