S615 - North Carolina Farm Act of 2017. (SL 2017-108)

Overview: S.L. 2017-108 made various changes to laws governing agricultural matters, including provisions involving the following:

• Agriculture and forestry awareness study commission studies
• Expand facilities exempt from EMC rule
• Present use-value change
• Abandoned livestock amendments
• Authority of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to adopt and administer forest practice guidelines for purposes of the sedimentation pollution control act
• Assent to mutual aid provisions of the Great Plains Wildland Protection Compact
• Clarify activities incident to the farm and agritourism
• Eliminate county authority to adopt zoning regulations governing swine farms
• Allow food compliance inspectors to drive state vehicles without state tags and bumper stickers
• Meat and poultry technical corrections
• Modernize forest ranger statutes
• Allow emergency workers to receive worker's compensation when responding to non-fire emergencies
• Create exception from conservation benefit analysis for certain easements
• Exempt farm trucks that stay in State from having a USDOT identification number
• Exempt closure of hog lagoons from requiring the use of a professional engineer
• Exempt farm vehicles engaged in intrastate commerce from certain federal motor carrier safety regulations
• Authorize wine sales at farmers markets
• Allow extension of conditional exemption from sales and use tax for certain farmers
• Amend conditions that may be applied to agreements for the purchase of agricultural products