(a) The Department of Agriculture shall establish and administer a Connecticut Farm Link program to establish a database of farmers and agricultural land owners who intend to sell, lease or otherwise transfer their farm operations or agricultural land. The database shall be maintained by the Department of Agriculture and shall be made available to the public on the department's web site. Persons interested in starting an agricultural business or persons interested in expanding a current agricultural business may notify the department and have their names, contact information and intentions regarding such businesses entered in such database. The department shall make reasonable efforts to facilitate contact between parties with compatible interests, including, but not limited to, growing and processing crops as feedstock for biodiesel heating and transportation fuels. The Department of Agriculture may collaborate with the Department of Veterans Affairs, The University of Connecticut Cooperative Extension Service and the Labor Department to encourage and assist veterans in starting or expanding an agricultural business and to provide education and training opportunities to veterans concerning farming or agricultural operations.

(b) The Department of Agriculture shall post materials regarding the Connecticut Farm Link program and farmland access, restoration and transfer on the department's Internet web site, conduct outreach to landowners and farmers, perform on-site investigations for lands enrolled in the Farm Link program, facilitate contact between parties with compatible interests and provide related educational programming, including, but not limited to, programs regarding farm transfer and farm succession planning, family farm estate planning, farm transfer strategies, farm leasing, formation of farm partnerships, growing and processing crops as feedstock for biodiesel heating and transportation fuels and information regarding starting a farm business.

(c) The department may create partnerships or utilize third-party entities to implement the provisions of this section.

(P.A. 05-228, S. 4; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-3, S. 113; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-4, S. 58; P.A. 15-117, S. 2; P.A. 16-107, S. 2; 16-167, S. 26.)

History: P.A. 05-228 effective July 1, 2005; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-3 changed effective date of P.A. 05-228 to October 1, 2005, effective June 30, 2005; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 07-4 amended Subsecs. (a) and (b) to add references to growing and processing crops as feedstock for biodiesel, effective July 1, 2007; P.A. 15-117 amended Subsec. (a) by adding provisions re encouragement and assistance for veterans starting or expanding agricultural business and farming or agricultural operations education and training opportunities, effective June 23, 2015; P.A. 16-107 amended Subsec. (a) to add “, lease or otherwise transfer” in provision re database of farmers and agricultural land owners, replace “placed on the web site” with “entered in such database” in provision re contact information and intentions re businesses and replace “similar interests” with “compatible interests”, amended Subsec. (b) to replace provision re posting educational materials on program on department's web site with provision re posting materials on program and farmland access, restoration and transfer on department's web site, and add provisions re conducting outreach to landowners and farmers, performing on-site investigations for lands enrolled in program, facilitating contact between parties with compatible interests and providing related educational programming, added Subsec. (c) re department's authority to create partnerships or utilize third-party entities to implement provisions of section, and made a conforming change, effective June 2, 2016; P.A. 16-167 amended Subsec. (a) to replace “Department of Veterans' Affairs” with “Department of Veterans Affairs”, effective July 1, 2016.