SmartTranscript of Senate Agriculture - 2025-01-10 - 10:00AM

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[Speaker 0 ]: We're [Chair ]: live. Good morning. Senate agriculture, first meeting of the, new biennium. We have a brand new committee. We're gonna spend some time today just getting to know each other a little bit and, just go over some ground rules as far as, what I, as a chair, would, would, expect us to to be like. And, and, again, welcome, everyone. Welcome, everybody, to be here. I'm so glad to be starting out a new year. So but first thing I wanna do is I kinda wanna I know I have it on the list right here, but for people that are on the screen and all that stuff, I mean, they're gonna be seeing you guys and then if they ever wanna get ahold of you, just what do you like to be called? And tell us a little bit about you. [Senator Brian Collimore ]: Okay? I'm senator Brian Collimore. This will be my ninth year on the committee. I'm from the Rutland District, and Brian is fine with me. I've been this is my sixth term in the senate. I enjoy refereeing ice hockey games as well. Still doing high school games. And doing that in this is is enough. Yeah. So welcome back. It's great to see you. Yeah. [Senator Rob Plunkett ]: Thank you. And I'm Rob Plunkett, brand new senator from Benedict. I've never been [Senator Brian Collimore ]: in the legislature before. I haven't thought about it much before [Senator Rob Plunkett ]: the end of June. So it's a new thing for me in agriculture is not my background in any way, shape, or form. I can I can put a little bit bit of background, but it's about a failed farm? So I'm gonna put it on a record and But what I am is I'm a prosecutor in the county and have been for seventeen years. [Senator Brian Collimore ]: Senator [Senator Joe Major ]: Joe Major from Windsor. I, currently live in, Hartford, specifically White River Junction. I am also the treasurer of the town of Hartford, and the executive director of the, Upper Valley Aquatic Center. I much like Rob, my knowledge of agriculture is not vast, but we're here to learn and and also help our rural communities and specifically our farms economically. I think that's probably more important than than than anything that we do here. So I'm excited to get my hands in the dirt, so to speak, and and make things happen. Thanks. [Linda Nieman ]: Linda Nieman. I'm going to be your committee assistant. I've been here for twenty years working with the Ag Committee all the time, so I'm really excited to be back in this committee. [Senator Rob Plunkett ]: Nice. How long have you been doing it? Twenty years. [Chair ]: Twenty years. Linda and I have been together for a little bit. [Senator Rob Plunkett ]: For two [Linda Nieman ]: the last two years, I worked with him in the institutions committee. [Chair ]: Yep. And then and then with he worked with Brian and some as well. So so [Senator Rob Plunkett ]: Good morning. Steve, we're just going around the room [Chair ]: and introducing ourselves. We're on you're live on Zoom. And so yeah. So tell us a little bit about you. So [Senator Rob Plunkett ]: very new to the Senate. Come background is excavation. Thirty three years in the air guard so far. The tire and. [Linda Nieman ]: That's a plus alarm and security. [Senator Rob Plunkett ]: I've owned the excavation company and couple other businesses for thirty plus years now. School at Iron Knox, basically where I learned my my worldly advice or wisdom. Family of three with six grandkids. Been married to my wife almost forty years now. Nice. I'm senator Russ Ingalls. [Chair ]: Going out of my third term. I have been in transportation and institutions where I was fortunate enough to be the chair last year, and I'm happy to be chair of ag this year and also serving back on the institution. So very, very glad to be on those back on some familiar grounds. I own real estate companies. I own some other businesses. I'm a business guy. You know, we're we're down here to do all the same things. I do have an ag background, which I don't know that that's the most important thing that can go on. But I do have some familiarity with how things work. I'm in our ag community, and and I and I formed and and did all that. So but, again, I don't think that's the most important thing that that we could that we could be. [Senator Rob Plunkett ]: Just before I go on [Chair ]: a little bit more, we got some people in the room. I just wanna make sure that I understand who I'll who everyone is and all that and start over here. [Linda Nieman ]: Amber Perry, Vermont Farm Bureau. Yep. Gwen Zakoff, Farm Bureau, and Vermont Forest Products Association. Yep. [Senator Russ Ingalls ]: And I'm a citizen from Orange, working for Sage Mountain Botanical Sanctuary. I'm appreciative of the work you did last session for rodenticides. Yep. [Linda Nieman ]: I'm Michelle Ditz with the Vermont Dairy Creatures Alliance. We have many members of all size dairy farms, and we look forward to coming in and kinda bringing members in to introduce themselves and meet the committee. Help you understand dairy. [Chair ]: Thank you. [Senator Rob Plunkett ]: Oh, I forgot. I grew up on there. Yep. Right till eighty six. Eighty six. So just just going down through, [Chair ]: one of the things is sorry, Steve. Promptness. We gotta be on time. Yeah. We we have to be on time. It's not so much for the respect of our times, but it's respect for our witnesses' times. People who have made the attempt to get here on time, whether they're on Zoom or whether they're here or whatever, you know, then we gotta you know, and we tell people we're gonna be you know, have them at ten. Let's have them at ten. That's probably the hardest rule that I have. I just believe that it's about respect, about just being where you're supposed to be at the right time. [Speaker 0 ]: May I add your attention, please? May I add your attention, please? This is a building evacuation. Gather your belongings if they are within reach and evacuate the building if design the designated file for your area, your closest steering wheel or exit. Your and designated area and check if your fire and light safety. I hear you.
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