​Past Legislative Issues
2018 Legislative Issues
Check out the 2018 Legislative Packet!
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2017 Legislative Issues
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Rabbit to Restaurants: Reducing Economic Barriers for Rabbit Producers in West Virginia
Have you noticed more rabbit meat available at your community farmers market or consignment store? A rule change approved by the Secretary of State in Summer 2015 made producing rabbits more economically viable for farmers in West Virginia. Previous to the rule change, rabbit meat was required to be processed in a licensed facility. The expense of processing and the limited access to licensed facilities greatly hindered rabbit producers in West Virginia. The rule change opened up a new market opportunity for farmers and allowed for flavorful, lean meat to be available to consumers.
In the 2015 Legislative Session, SB 237 passed to allow the processing of rabbits outside a licensed facility. The rule allows for up to 1,000 rabbits to be processed on-farm per year. Additional rule requirements include that the animal be processed on the premises in which the animal was raised, the premise be registered with the West Virginia Department of Agriculture, and limits the sale of meat to farmer's markets and consignment markets.
Fast forward to 2017 Legislative Session. The West Virginia Food & Farm Coalition is representing over 30 rabbit producers in West Virginia who are currently selling through farmer's markets and consignment stores but wish to increase production and sales through local restaurants. The restaurant market is anticipated to offer farmers a significant increase in sales as rabbit meat becomes a more accepted and savored dish for chefs in the United States.
The 2017 proposed rule change to Title 61 Series 23D Inspection of Nontraditional, Domestic Animals will:
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Increase the on-farm processing limit of rabbits from 1,000 to 5,000 rabbits per year per premise.
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Allow on-farm processed rabbit to be sold to restaurants in West Virginia.
Land Reunion Act: Protecting the Health and Safety of West Virginia’s Farmland
The health and safety of our farmland is vital to the success of a resilient, local food economy in West Virginia. The West Virginia Food & Farm Coalition partners with organizations working across the state to protect West Virginia’s soil, water, air, and wildlife. In 2016, the Coalition supported WV-Surface Owners’ Rights Organization’s Land Reunion Act with the efforts to reunite surface estates with mineral estates in West Virginia.
What are Severed Mineral Estates?
It is estimated that 90% of estates are severed in Southern West Virginia threatening the health, safety, and livelihood of our farmers. Current legislation subjects landowners with estates severed prior to 1983 to the actions of the mineral estate owner. The legislation classifies surface owners as “servient” and mineral estate owners as “dominant”. The Oil and Gas Production Damage Compensation Act of 1983 attempts to protect surface owners’ rights by equalizing the rights of surface and mineral estate owners. Additionally, the Act allows compensation to surface owners for five types of harms: (1) lost income and expenses; (2) the market value of lost crops; (3) damages to any water supply that was in use; (4) damages to personal property; and (5) compensation for any reduction in value of the surface lands the driller used.
2017 Legislative Session
WV-SORO is reintroducing the Land Reunion Act in the 2017 Legislative Session. The Act creates an opportunity for surface owners to reunite the mineral estate with the surface estate by purchasing the mineral rights at a “tax sale”. The landowner would no longer be subject to the actions of an outside group interested in extracting minerals from the property.
Cottage Foods : Providing Additional Income Opportunities for Farmers
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The West Virginia Farmers Market Association (WVFMA) and the West Virginia Food & Farm Coalition (WVFFC) are partnering to reintroduce the Cottage Foods Bill, also known as the “Pickle Bill”, in the 2017 Legislative Session. West Virginia cottage food laws currently allow for breads, pastries, candy (brittle), snacks (pretzels and granola), and preserves (jams and jellies) to be sold direct to consumers at farmers markets and events only. The “Pickle Bill” expands the current cottage food law to enable home-based micro-processing of low-acid preserves (ie. green beans, ramps, tomatoes) to be sold at farmers markets, farm stands, consignment farmers markets, online farmers markets, fairs, and festivals.
As of 2014, farmer's markets in West Virginia account for an estimated $9 million in direct sales, which is an increase from $5 million in 2012. They are a primary market outlet for our small, diversified farmers in West Virginia and provide communities with access to nutritious, locally grown food, a place to support and interact with community members, and an attraction for visitors. The “Pickle Bill” would enable farmers to increase their year-round income, reduce food waste, and allows consumers to access locally grown vegetables throughout the year.
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The Cottage Foods Bill includes:
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Education/certification of the producer, such as attendance at a Better Process Control School
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Inspection of the producer’s facilities
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A food handler’s permit
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Use of approved or tested recipes
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Registration with the Local Health Department
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2016 Legislative Issues
Local Procurement
SB 390, sponsored by Agriculture Committee Chairman Senator Robert Karnes, provides for bidding preferences for local farm vendors in West Virginia with the goal at least 15% of procurement sourced from West Virginia farm vendors by 2025.
The bill expands preferential bidding in state purchasing to include resident farm vendors, in addition to resident veteran vendors, nonresident vendors who employ 100 or more state residents, and other special groups.
SB 390 is single-referenced to the Senate Government Organization Committee. If you care about this bill, call the Senate Government Organization Committee chairman, Sen. Craig Blair and ask him to put it on the agenda so it can move to the Senate floor for a vote. Senator Blair can be reached at 304-357-7867.
Joey Aloi, with the Kanawha Institution for Social Research and Action (KISRA), wrote an Op-Ed advocating for this bill in the Charleston Gazette-Mail in November.
Farm to Food Bank
SB 399, the Farm to Foodbank bill (or as it’s known in the more long-winded Senate, the “Establishing personal and corporate income tax credits for farmers donating edible agricultural products” bill), would provide tax credits for farmers who donate or sell fresh produce to food banks.
Modeled after similar legislation in Kentucky, the bill would serve to incentivize farmers to donate unharvested or unsold produce to food banks.
This type of tax incentive is useful because there are barriers to getting fresh food into foodbanks – most immediately the transport costs that farmers bear to move their produce to centralized food donation sites.
This bipartisan bill, sponsored by Senator Karnes and Senator Miller (the Democratic Agriculture Committee chair in 2014), was introduced on Wednesday and is headed to the Agriculture Committee first. Keep an eye out for it when the committee meets next Monday at 1 p.m. You can listen to that committee meeting at West Virginia Legislature Live.
Cottage Food (aka the Pickle Bill)
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The WVFFC and WV Farmers Market Association are working on an additional bill to move forward local industries around home-based processing.
Farmers markets in West Virginia account for an estimated $9 million in direct sales and are a healthy source of income for many WV small farmers, as well as a vital part of many WV communities. In some rural communities plagued by food deserts, farmer's markets serve as the single avenue to access fresh food. With micro-processing sales opportunities enabling farmers to preserve produce, not only will farmers derive a source of year-round income and eliminate food waste, but consumers can access vegetables throughout the year and we can all “preserve” the culinary art of canning that is vital to West Virginia culture.
We propose legislation to put safety protections in place to enable agricultural economic development, allowing canned items to be sold at farmer's markets, farm stands, consignment farmers markets, online farmers markets, fairs, and festivals. Because consumer safety is our single largest concern, we are requiring:
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Education/certification of the producer, such as attendance at a Better Process Control School
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Inspection of the producer’s facilities
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A food handler’s permit
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Use of approved or tested recipes,
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Registration with the Local Health Department
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