Farmers find friends in Albany and D.C. By BRYAN F. YURCAN

Farmers find friends in Albany and D.C.
By BRYAN F. YURCAN

The New York state Legislature was “very successful” this past session in passing bills that help agriculture in the state, according to the New York Farm Bureau.

“We had some huge victories for our farmers,” said Julie Suarez, Farm Bureau Director of public policy. “We are extremely grateful to the Senate, Assembly and Governor Spitzer for stepping up for the interests of agriculture and the upstate economy.”

In March, the legislature passed the Dairy Investment Act, distributing $30 million to struggling dairy farmers. It was an unprecedented program that aimed to help farmers recover from disastrously low milk prices over the past three years.

In April, the legislature passed an on-time budget. It was considered by many to be the best-funded budget for agricultural programs ever.

The budget increased funding for many promotional programs, especially for specialty crops such as apples, wine and maple syrup, said Suarez.

Those budget increases include $750,000 for the New York Apple Association to support its consumer-advertising campaign on television and radio.

The New York Maple Producers Association received $100,000 to continue funding its executive director position and help with promotion for the association’s annual open-house weekend; along with a $250,000 allocation in the state budget for a new demonstration maple sugarhouse on the state fairgrounds in Syracuse.

And the New York Wine and Grape Foundation received $1 million in funding for support of its promotional programs, including “Uncork New York.”

Farm Bureau spokesman Scott Keyes said the agency is now focusing its attention on the federal farm bill.

The Farm Bureau supports the federal bill as it currently stands, citing the amount of money dedicated to specialty crops and continuance of programs for the dairy industry.

The farm bill essentially sets U.S. agriculture policy for a five-year period. The House was scheduled to vote on the bill last week, before it headed to the Senate.

The Farm Bureau cited the following provisions of the bill that would be of particular importance to New York farmers:

• $1.6 billion over 5 years in mandatory funding for specialty-crops programs, including block grants for research and organic certification;

• the Milk Income Loss Contract program for the dairy industry continues in its present form; the support-price program for milk is also continued, but based on the price of dairy products;

• an additional $4 billion in funding secured from House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, D-Harlem, specifically for nutrition programs, which will help producers of fruits, vegetables and dairy products access school and state and federal institutional markets;

• an additional $2.5 billion for energy, which will assist in research and development of renewable fuels;

• interstate shipment of state-inspected meats will be allowed if state inspection is identical to federal inspection; and

• enhancement of environmental protection programs.

Committee leaders also agreed to put in $1.6 billion for specialty-crop block grants, research, conservation and produce purchases, said Keyes. That number is roughly double the funding for specialty crops in the last Farm Bill.

New York ranks second in apple production nationwide. It is third in dairy, wine and maple syrup production. It also ranks in the top 10 in Christmas tree production.

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