5/12 Action Alert: H.941 Needs Final Improvements Before Passage

Please contact your House Representatives and ask them to support the coalition’s recommended improvements to H.941 before final passage.

H.941 is important because it restores the municipal exemption for farming, but it must also clearly protect Vermonters’ ability to grow food and raise livestock without excessive local zoning restrictions.

1. Ensure Towns Cannot Effectively Ban Livestock

Our top priority is adding clear language stating:

“No bylaw shall have the effect of prohibiting raising livestock.”

Without this protection, towns could effectively ban small-scale livestock farming — especially on properties under 4 acres or in village centers — undermining Vermont’s food resilience goals.

2. Restore the Study Committee on Small Farms and Homesteading

We support restoring a study committee to continue developing statewide standards that protect homestead-scale livestock farming, farmland access, and zoning reform.

3. Add Rabbits to Protected Food Animals

H.941 protects raising plants and poultry on a homestead scale. Rabbits should also be included because they are practical for small properties, commonly raised for food, and generally do not create nuisance issues.

We also oppose arbitrary municipal caps on animals, such as fixed chicken limits unrelated to land size or carrying capacity. The Senate just opposed an amendment (that would have not allowed homesteaders to raise any more than six laying hens) on the floor. Let’s make sure the House does not consider arbitrary caps on animal numbers again!

4. Remove the Cannabis Provision

Cannabis is already regulated under state law. H.941 should stay focused on food and farming issues, so references allowing additional municipal restrictions on cannabis cultivation should be removed.

5. Fully Fund the Land Access and Opportunity Board

Please support adding $1.6 million in one-time funding for the Land Access and Opportunity Board through S.278 to support farmland access, community engagement, and implementation of new responsibilities created this session.

CONTACT YOUR Representative!
SAMPLE MESSAGE

Vermont’s food resilience depends on protecting small farms, homesteading, and local food production.
Find your Representative here. You can use the following sample message to personalize and send:

“Dear Representative,

I’m writing to ask you to support the recommended amendments from Rural Vermont and its agriculture and food system partners to H.941 that protect Vermonters’ right to grow food and raise livestock. 

Please support language ensuring that no local bylaw can effectively prohibit raising livestock and restore the study committee on small farms and homesteading so Vermont can continue developing fair statewide standards for small livestock operations.

I also support including rabbits alongside the bill’s protections for poultry and oppose arbitrary municipal caps on animal numbers.

Please remove references to cannabis from H.941, since cannabis is already regulated under state law, and support adding $1.6 million in one-time funding for the Land Access and Opportunity Board through S.278.

These changes will strengthen Vermont’s food resilience, protect small farms and homesteaders, and support local food production. [Add here anything you would like to share about you and your practice of growing food or any anecdote you would like to share about how you engage in the food system with your neighbors and why it matters to you. You can start by saying: … This issue matters much to me because… ]

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]”

Summary of Changes to the Bill

The Senate Agriculture Committee unanimously approved a new version of H.941 on April 29. The bill restores the municipal exemption for farming and farm structures and creates a new right for non-commercial producers to grow plants and poultry.

Our coalition did not have the opportunity to testify on this Senate version, but we appreciate that the Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets (VAAFM) backed away from earlier proposals in S.323 that would have made it harder to qualify as a farm under state law. Under H.941, farms can still qualify with at least $2,000 in annual gross income or by filing a Schedule F with the IRS.

However, significant changes remain for small livestock farms. Under the new framework:

  • Livestock farms generally must be at least 4 acres to automatically qualify for exemption from municipal zoning.

  • Municipalities gain zoning authority over livestock farms under 1 acre.

  • VAAFM will have discretion over whether farms between 1 and 4 acres qualify for farming protections.

  • Towns may adopt reasonable standards for pigs and waste management in village centers and downtowns, so long as those rules do not prohibit raising pigs altogether.

H.941 passed the Senate on May 6 after Senators rejected a floor amendment from Senator Vyhovsky that our coalition opposed. Thank you to everyone who responded to our earlier action alert — your outreach made a difference (please follow up with your Senators to thank them)!

Rural Vermont