NY Farm Bureau Lists Advocacy Successes as Legislative Session Comes to a Close

Albany, NY — With the end of this year’s legislative session comes several advocacy successes for New York Farm Bureau (NYFB) and, more importantly, for agriculture across the state. In particular, NYFB applauds:

• The extension to 2029 of the farm workforce retention tax credit, which provides farms with a $1,200 credit per eligible employee.
• The addition of $5 million for the farmworker housing revolving loan fund, which allows farmers to receive no-interest loans to help finance improvement of existing farmworker housing or the construction/purchase of new housing.
• The fix to the farm employer overtime tax credit allowing corporate entities to claim this tax credit, along with making it retroactive for the 2024 and 2025 calendar years.
• The payoff of the state unemployment insurance debt, which means businesses will no longer pay a surcharge on unemployment insurance.
• Level funding for the Nourish New York and Farm to School programs, plus critical funding for the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAMH).
• The inclusion of $425 million in the Environmental Protection Fund, which includes funding for farmland protection and for farm water quality projects.
• Passage of legislation (S.4911/A.3599) that exempts processors of syrup made from tree sap or honey from certain licensing requirements.

NYFB was also able to help stop proposed legislation negatively impacting agriculture. Most notably, the defeat of the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation (S.1464/A.1749) and the Temperature Extreme Mitigation Plan (TEMP) Act (S.3412/A.3527) spares farmers from taking on unreasonable responsibilities, which would affect both their profit margin and their valuable time. NYFB also helped block passage of the “Good Food Bill” (S.7638/A.8091), which would have established preferences in state law that do not reflect regulated production methods and which would not give preference to nutritious dairy products, such as whole milk, yogurt and cheese.

“The policy team at New York Farm Bureau works year-round to build relationships with policymakers. Having NYFB members who are actively engaged in our advocacy efforts really makes the difference in ensuring that agriculture has a voice in the state legislative process,” said Acting Director of Public Policy Renée St. Jacques.

-30-
 

New York Farm Bureau is the state’s largest general agricultural advocacy organization. Its members and the public know the organization as “The Voice of New York Agriculture.” New York Farm Bureau is dedicated to solving the economic and public policy issues challenging the agricultural community.