Farmworker Labor Bill Will Cripple NY Ag

OMNIBUS FARMWORKER LABOR BILL WILL
CRIPPLE NEW YORK AGRICULTURE

Loss of local farms, local foods, local people, guaranteed

View Norton's Complete TestImony

ALBANY - Proposed Omnibus Farmworker Labor legislation will drive up costs and labor regulations to a level that will rank New York second only to California, a state with a much a larger agriculture industry, better growing degree days, and significantly larger farms, Farm Bureau said today.

In testimony delivered before the Senate Agriculture Committee, New York Farm Bureau president Dean Norton said that if the Omnibus Farmworker Labor legislation goes through it would fundamentally change New York agriculture.

"It will irreparably damage our family farms ability to produce local food for local New Yorkers," Norton said.

In the dairy sector alone, New York has already lost 615 farms due to record low milk prices over the past three years. Fruit and vegetable farms, which are also struggling with low commodity prices and staggeringly high costs, would also be challenged to survive under the burdens of the new legislation.

New York already ranks second in the nation's agriculture for our labor expenses - which is both strong evidence that we pay and treat farm workers well, as well as a significant indicator of the competitive stressors that are on our family farms right now.

• For every $100 in food produced, New York farmers paid $13.82 to farm workers on average - compared to the national average of $8.88.
• 20,305 New York Farms out of a total of 36,352 farms had losses in 2007.
• The decline in NYS farms that hire workers over the past ten years is nearly 20%, without even weighing the added mandates from the Omnibus farm worker bill.

Norton said, "This bill is not about justice, it is about the survival of New York's family farms. Jobs will be lost, New York farms will close their barn doors and fields will lie barren if this legislation passes."

Corporate unions and high profile advocates who have never set foot on a New York farm are dominating the headlines. Meanwhile, the voices of those who operate and work on farms are only being heard through the Senate Agriculture Committee hearing.

"There is a big difference between producing a widget and producing food, and if New Yorker's don't want to keep local farms producing local food for local people, everyone needs to stand up and tell the Legislature and the corporate unions to leave our farms alone," said Norton.

New York Farm Bureau is concerned that because of this high profile advocacy, the general public will have a negative perception of farmworkers. Farmworkers vote with their feet, and either chose to work on a farm, or chose to work in another occupation.

The organization pointed out that there are many protections already for farm employees.

Farmers are among one of the most inspected places of business due to the necessity of inspections for housing, for food safety and sanitation, along with transportation, labor, and environmental inspections - which isn't seen in other industries like the restaurant or hospitality trade.

It is illegal to pay someone less than the minimum wage.
It is illegal to discriminate against an employee on the basis of their ethnicity.
It is illegal to harass an employee in or outside the workplace.
It is illegal to watch an employee be injured on the job and not take action.
It is illegal to employ a child in the fields for long hours and no pay.
It is illegal to have uninspected migrant farm worker housing.
It is illegal not to have adequate water and field sanitation in the fields.
It is illegal to employ someone in a condition of "labor servitude."

Meanwhile, two major processing operations - one of dried apples and one of cabbage for sauerkraut - have announced they are pulling out of New York or significantly scaling back because of the high cost of property taxes, workers' compensation insurance and inability to compete with a global marketplace.

"The loss of these processors will lead to the loss of farms," Norton said. "And New York can't afford to lose any more of our family farmers."

"These are the issues we are dealing with right now in New York agriculture," Norton testified.

"We are facing major competitiveness issues, like everyone else in New York's high cost, high regulatory environment. We should not be spending our time fighting a bill that is outdated, unnecessary, and will cause financial devastation and significant restructuring to New York agriculture at a time when there are actual real problems facing the state of New York."