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Executive Order 7H – Essential Businesses

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Dept of Ag logoCONNECTICUT DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE EXECUTIVE ORDER 7H – ESSENTIAL BUSINESSES

(HARTFORD, CT) – On March 20, 2020, The Governor issued Executive Order 7H, directing all businesses and nonprofit entities in the State of Connecticut to utilize, to the maximum extent possible, any telecommuting or work from home procedures that they can safely employ. That order also directed that, no later than March 23, 2020 at 8 p.m., each non-essential business or nonprofit entity (and therefore not including or applicable to any state or local government agencies, quasi-public agencies, political subdivisions or other entities that do not constitute businesses or nonprofits) shall reduce the in-person workforce at each business location by 100% from pre-state of emergency declaration employment levels. Executive Order 7H authorized the Commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development (“DECD”) to provide legally binding guidance about which businesses are essential.

Pursuant to that directive, Connecticut Department of Agriculture Commissioner Bryan P. Hurlburt is sharing the business exemption guidance issued by DECD, clarifying which food and agriculture businesses and related services are deemed essential.

“Maintaining operations of food and agriculture are essential to keeping our residents fed and healthy during this time,” Commissioner Hurlburt said. “We recognize that this is an unprecedented time and appreciate the efforts of our small businesses and their employees. Our staff is working diligently to ensure public and animal health needs are met. We continue to strongly recommend that businesses, consumers and the public adhere to social distancing measures and best health practices to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”

Per the executive order and guidance document, businesses and organizations that provide food for disadvantaged populations, veterinary services, food processing, agriculture, livestock, feed mills, and warehousing should all continue to operate, but with every precaution to maintain social distancing. Below is a complete list of Department of Agriculture’s regulated communities deemed essential businesses.

For purposes of Executive Order 7H, “essential business,” means:

Essential workers in the 16 Critical Infrastructure Sectors, as defined by the federal Department of Homeland Security unless otherwise addressed in a prior or future executive order 450 Columbus Boulevard, Hartford, CT 06103 Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity Employer

pertaining to the existing declared public health and civil preparedness emergency.

Essential Food and agriculture businesses, including:

  • farms and farmer’s markets
  • food banks
  • food manufacturing, processing, storage, and distribution facilities
  • nurseries, garden centers, and agriculture supply stores
  • restaurants/bars (provided compliance with all applicable executive orders is maintained)
  • all manufacturing and corresponding supply chains, including agriculture
  • animal shelters or animal care or management, including boarding, grooming, pet walking and pet sitting

Essential businesses for continuity of commerce:

  • commercial trucking
  • utilities including power generation, fuel supply, and transmission
  • grocery stores including all food and beverage retailers
  • hardware, paint, and building material stores, including home appliance sales/repair
  • liquor/package stores and manufacturer permittees
  • pet and pet supply stores
  • warehouse/distribution, shipping, and fulfillment

Businesses essential to agriculture business:

  • research and laboratory services, including testing and treatment of COVID-19
  • veterinary and animal health services
  • accounting and payroll services
  • critical operations support for financial institutions
  • financial advisors
  • financial institutions, including banks, credit unions, and check cashing services
  • all skilled trades such as electricians, HVAC, and plumbers
  • general construction, both commercial and residential
  • pest control services

About the CT DoAg The Connecticut Department of Agriculture (CT DoAg) is foster a healthy economic, environmental and social climate for agriculture by developing, promoting and regulating agricultural businesses; protecting agricultural and aquacultural resources; enforcing laws pertaining to domestic animals; and promoting an understanding among the state’s citizens of the diversity of Connecticut agriculture, its cultural heritage and its contribution to the state’s economy. For more information, visit www.CTGrown.gov.

Risk Management Tools: Helping Connecticut Farms Grow

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Horsebarn Hill at UConn
A view of Horsebarn Hill at sunrise on July 20, 2017. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

“Agriculture is inherently a risk filled profession,” says Associate Extension Educator Joseph Bonelli. “Utilizing risk management is a tool for farmers to minimize the impacts of threats they can’t completely control by reducing the impact of certain dangers on their farm business.”

UConn Extension has a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Risk Management Association (RMA) grant for farmers and growers, specifically focusing on crop insurance and its options. USDA offers fewer disaster assistance funds, and wants farmers to take a greater interest in managing their risks and related financial impacts. The program is designed to create a safety net for operations through insurance for weather incidents, pests, or a lack of market.

The beauty of the programming is that Extension educators can weave in other topics of interest in areas of risk management for farmers. Examples include production risk, plant diseases, or labor. RMA covers any practice that mitigates risk on a farm operation.

“I enjoy helping farmers develop solutions to problems,” Bonelli states. “I ask them what keeps them up at night. For many farmers its problems that risk management can help them mitigate. Extension helps farmers understand the tools that are available, and grow the farm for the next generation.”

Mary Concklin, Visiting Associate Extension Educator for Fruit Production and IPM, is the co- principal investigator on the RMA grant with Bonelli. An advisory board of 12 people meets annually to provide input on programming. Members of the committee include Extension educators, Farm Bureau, the Department of Agriculture, and industry organizations.

Programs offered include workshops and one-on-one sessions with technical advisors. The RMA program has a suite of educational resources. A video series was created featuring farmers from different sectors of agriculture discussing how crop insurance has helped their operation. A monthly e-newsletter was recently introduced. Each issue showcases a farmer, and provides tips that farmers can immediately put into practice.

Agricultural producers appreciate that RMA programs have an impartial approach, and are not trying to sell anything. Program instructors serve as technical advisors and a sounding board.

UConn Extension is part of a network of information through our association with other land grant universities and Extension systems, and brings in outside expertise as it’s needed by our farmers. Risk management is also incorporated into other UConn Extension programs for agricultural producers.

Connecticut farmers have experienced a tremendous shift from wholesale to retail marketing. The demands on farmers and growers to understand how to promote and market value added crops has added another level of responsibility, where before farmers only focused on production. Direct marketing brings another whole area of risk through product liability and competition.

Not all national crop insurance programs fit Connecticut agriculture. Farmers need to make an informed decision
based on the facts as to whether or not a policy fits their business, and should be purchased. Bonelli and Concklin provide feedback to USDA on the reasons why Connecticut farmers choose not to purchase insurance, with the goal of improv- ing federal programs available.

“We try to be on the leading edge of what’s new to help farmers be more productive and financially viable,” Bonelli concludes. “It’s rewarding that UConn Extension is part of the success and resiliency of farmers in our state. No one organization is responsible, we’re part of a team working with the farmers to grow their businesses.”

Article by Stacey Stearns