(Host) The annual meeting of the Vermont Farm Bureau wrapped up on Saturday night. Clarke Hinsdale was re-elected to another term as president of the Bureau. He says a number of different policy issues were debated and voted on:
(Hinsdale) “In the area of ‘right-to-farm,’ there’s a call for the Legislature to rewrite and expand the right-to-farm law so that it allows farmers to modernize their operations and still be protected by the right-to-farm law. In the area of development rights, the Farm Bureau went on record as opposing putting limits on what you can sell your land for once it’s conserved, in response to a proposal to essentially allow the state to prescribe what you get for your farm when its re-sold after its conserved.”
(Host) Hinsdale says the discussion over genetically modified organisms probably generated the most debate:
(Hinsdale) “People voted down proposed resolutions that would require GMO products to be labeled, and, voted down a resolution to require stricter labeling on GMO seeds. The folks in the room seem to feel that the companies were doing a sufficient job in that they knew when they purchased their corn seed or soybean seed or grass seed whether or not, the seed was genetically altered or whether it was more traditional seed.”
(Host) Clarke Hinsdale, president of the Vermont Farm Bureau, which wrapped up its annual meeting this weekend.