SF780 - Agriculture Budget Bill Summary

• Appropriates $51,019,000 (fiscal year 2018) and $50,869,000 (fiscal year 2019) to the Department of Agriculture, plus $5,384,000 each year to the Board of Animal Health and $3,643,000 each year to the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute.

• Establishes funding for agricultural programs including livestock compensation ($175,000 annually), crop damage compensation ($155,000 annually), noxious weed grants ($300,000 annually), and industrial hemp pilot program ($125,000 annually).

• Creates a $120,000 annual grant program for wolf-livestock conflict prevention, requiring a report by January 15, 2020 on outcomes and livestock compensation claim reductions.

• Modifies partition fence law to require the Department of Natural Resources to share costs when fencing adjoins private livestock land, and expands the definition of "livestock" to include alpacas, llamas, and farmed Cervidae.

• Amends pesticide applicator requirements to eliminate documentation requirements for pesticide need verification and changes tractor rollover protection grant eligibility from SAE standard J2194 to national/international standards; adjusts siding production facility start date from July 1, 2017 to July 1, 2019.