The Vermont Supreme Court Rules that Farming is Not Exempt from Municipal Regulation
The Vermont Supreme Court ruled on May 30, 2025, that farming is not exempt from all municipal regulation. Instead, the court interpreted the “ag exemption” in 24 V.S.A. § 4413(d)(1)(A) [the Municipal Zoning Statute] as a reference only to the policies and standards intended to reduce agricultural water pollution. The court concluded that municipalities may regulate all aspects of farming that do not relate to water quality, thereby setting a new precedent in stark contrast to the previous, statewide understanding that farming is exempt from municipal zoning regulations.
This decision will change the status quo of how farming is regulated in Vermont, the impacts of which could be far reaching. Vermont is home to over 6,537 farms (USDA 2022 census data), most of these farms are community-scale and now less than 9% are dairy farms. Granting municipalities this new authority allows them to determine where farming may or may not occur, and potentially require new permitting for events, farm structures, and other farming activities, all of which would add regulatory hurdles, operational costs, and additional burdens to farms, many of which already struggle with financial vulnerability and viability. Town-by-town farm regulation variances will create a patchwork of regulatory frameworks across the state which will be difficult to navigate and administer. This ruling also raises questions for farmers whose operations cross town lines; potentially requiring different regulations for different parts of their farm properties, all subject to change over time.
Most importantly, the court's ruling will impact the Vermont farm community at a time when farmers are already grappling with many emergent challenges, including flooding and other impacts of a changing climate, lack of federal funding, and widespread inflation. Opening the door for municipal regulation of farms contradicts the longstanding policies, culture, and precedent that has protected Vermonter’s right to farm on the land they have access to, hindering Vermont’s ability to produce its own food, and by extension compromising the state’s food security.
Rural Vermont and other agricultural organizations are deeply concerned about the agricultural exemptions being undermined with this ruling, compromising the ability of farmers and community members to produce food on the land they have access to. We can’t afford to lose more farms- we need more, not less, incentives to farm and produce food for our communities. NFNE reported that Vermont would lose 6-9% of all farms by 2040 in a business as usual scenario while the region would need additional 401,000 underutilized and 588,000 additional acres in food production to only produce 30% of what’s consumed (VT State Brief; 2023 report).
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The Vermont legislature needs to protect the farming exemptions in the 2026 session!
Please use the link below to sign-on to this statement with your name:
"I want the Vermont Legislature to protect the agricultural exemptions and to recover the status of farming on the state level in the Municipal Zoning Statute. For decades, it has been widely understood that farming in Vermont is exempt from municipal zoning. Please support Vermont’s farmers and food security and push back on initiatives that create unreasonable barriers to farming and agricultural livelihoods."
Sign-on letter to protect the farming exemptions here: