HB2275 Summary

• Establishes a grant program within the Department of Agriculture to assist beginning farmers and ranchers with operating costs, start-up costs, and organization costs to start farm or ranch operations.

• Requires applicants to provide a 50% match of funds and limits individual grants to a maximum of $15,000.

• Restricts eligibility to beginning farmers or ranchers (those who have not farmed or ranched commercially or have been operating for less than two years) who hold all required business and tax licenses.

• Prohibits grant funds from being used for entertainment and requires applicants to comply with all applicable anti-discrimination laws and provide financial records for state monitoring.

• Authorizes the Department to adopt interim rules exempt from standard rulemaking procedures until July 1, 2022, and appropriates funds for fiscal year 2020-2021 with no lapse authority through June 30, 2022.