Utah Department of Agriculture and Food

The discussion provided an update on the legislative session, which was concluding in its final week. Key legislative topics affecting agriculture that were covered included raw milk bills, a departmental cleanup bill, a predator bill, and legislation concerning cannabis, hemp, and kratom. The commissioner expressed gratitude for supporters and staff involved in these legislative efforts. Forward-looking items included monitoring floor time for bill adjustments and awaiting the release of the executive appropriation bill to see the funding allocations for all passed legislation.

The meeting included discussion and approval of the elect Ober 11 2018 board meeting minutes. A water supply report was given, discussing current conditions, snowpack, and the outlook for the winter. A feasibility report for the Davis and Weber Canal Companies was presented, addressing issues in the Kaysville area and a proposed project to install a pressure booster pump station. The Blanding City project was discussed, focusing on storm sewer system capacity and flooding issues in the city.

The meeting included discussion of program statistics, patient purchase reports, CMC internal policy for accessing information in the EVS, and recommendation verbiage. Legislative updates were provided, including patient and education updates, as well as RMP registration updates. Enhancements to the New Electronic Verification System (EVS) were also discussed.

The quarterly provider meeting included announcements and updates from Rich Oborn, Sara Lealos, Amanda Hovermale and Rebecca Brown. The topics included the ongoing meeting schedule, webpage for submitting topic ideas, cannabis therapy assessment tool, webpage for providing information about medical cannabis, University of Utah videos feedback, DOPL email, CRRB suggested use guidelines, QMP/PMP CE course discussion, compliance updates, program statistics update, EVS updates and EVS training. Questions were raised about the format of the dates in EVS, the status of the update to the "My Patient Search", PTSD audits, patient limit, address auto-fill in the payment portion and emailing medical cannabis cards again.

The meeting included discussions about the determination statement related to COVID-19, updates on vaccination rates in Utah, and the history and purpose of the Utah Local Food Advisory Council. The council also discussed the Utah Produce Incentives program, known as Double Up Food Bucks, including its operation, redemption amounts, and expansion to new sites and CSAs.