On Monday, June 24, 2024, the 35th Legislature voted favorably on Amendment No. 35-731, amending Act 8404 to provide funding for agricultural machinery and equipment to local farmers for use. Senator Diane Capehart’s amendment seeks to develop a comprehensive, territorial plan for the use of farming machinery and establishes regulatory standards. The plan must be comprised of:
(1) Machine maintenance and upgrade paradigms;
(2) Business models for profitable and sustainable use of machinery; and
(3) Marketing plans to promote the use of machinery for mass production.
It also provides staffing, maintenance and operations funding to support harvesting, mass production and food production expansion. The Department of Agriculture now has funding for resources that provide technological options and increase efficiency and productivity, thus leading to a decreased cost to consumers for produce. The use of technology in agriculture has resulted in higher crop productivity. Advanced technology in farming has increased profits and decreased the use of water, fertilizer and pesticides, which in turn keeps food prices down.
“With modern machinery and better equipment, the future of agriculture is bright,” said Sen. Diane Capehart. “Modern farming aims at reducing manual toil. There are machines for every purpose, and the Virgin Islands now can compete with its neighbors and other jurisdictions through this amendment.”
Capehart further explained, “By improving efficiency and reducing waste, agritech effectively lowers farmers’ overall costs. The goal is to reduce the cost to our residents and increase the farmers’ capacity to still generate profits.”
The senator thanks the farming community for their feedback, Department of Agriculture Commissioner Louis Petersen for his guidance and her colleagues in the 35th Legislature for their favorable vote.
Sen. Diane Capehart: (Democratic Party) is a member of the U.S. Virgin Islands Senate, representing St. Croix.
