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The State Legislature is now considering Governor Paterson’s budget proposal released on December 16th that would make major reductions in funding in FY 2008-09 and FY 2009-10 for New York’s Farmland Protection Program and the state’s Environmental Protection Fund.

The Governor is proposing staggering cuts of almost 40% to agricultural programs in the Environmental Protection Fund, like the Farmland Portection Program, meaning that almost 90%of farmers interested in protecting their land this year will be turned away.

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2008 New York Policy Update

Fourteen Local Communities Awarded Funding for Farmland Protection Planning

New York State Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker recently announced $313,750 in funding to help 14 towns develop local agricultural and farmland protection plans. “Communities around the state are recognizing the need to proactively plan a future for farms,” said David Haight, New York Director of American Farmland Trust. For more information about the program, and to see which communities were funded in Round III, visit the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets web site.

New York Legislative Session Comes to a Close with Wins for Farmland Protection

S. 7908/A. 11511 make land trusts eligible for annual funding of up to $50,000 per organization to work with local governments and farmland owners to develop farmland protection projects. Participating land trusts must have a farmer on their board of directors or have a process in place for getting a farmer on their board, and activities undertaken with these funds shall not be used in a manner that unreasonably restricts farm operations in contravention of New York State Agriculture and Markets Law. The passage of this legislation is an essential step toward closing projects funded by the state’s Farmland Protection Program in less than 2 years.

S.4333/A. 7361, legislation that would increase the maximum state share of farmland protection projects from 75 to 85 percent, failed to pass the Assembly this session. The Senate passed the bill again this year. The legislation would make more farmland protection projects possible in communities without funds to match a grant from the state’s Farmland Protection Program.

Thanks to the leadership of Senator Young, chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, S. 5685,legislation creating a “working farmland tax credit” passed the Senate during the final days of the legislative session. The proposed Working Farmland Tax Credit is a refundable state income tax credit equal to the property taxes (county, town and school) paid on qualifying agricultural land that is committed to active agricultural use for at least eight years. It is estimated that approximately four million acres of land in New York meet the program’s qualifications. The Assembly failed to pass its version of the legislation, A. 8181.

The Bigger Better Bottle Bill, A. 8044 and S. 5850, passed in the Assembly, but failed in the Senate. This legislation proposes to expand nickel deposits to bottled water and other non-carbonated beverages to reduce litter while increasing state funding for environmental programs included in New York’s Environmental Protection Fund.

Picking up the pace for farmland protection

New York’s farmers and communities are ready for the state government to take a fresh look at the way it approaches farmland protection.

A report released by AFT, titled Picking Up the Pace: A Road Map for Accelerating Farmland Protection in New York [PDF, 1.21MB], finds that the state loses about 10 times more farmland to development than it protects annually. Each year, 26,000 acres of farmland are developed in New York while the state’s Farmland Protection Program has protected 2,192 acres annually.

Record Number of Farmland Protection Awards

Nearly 13,300 acres of active farmland across New York will be protected—on 35 farms in 22 counties—thanks to $35 million in funding from the state’s Farmland Protection Program. The funding is the largest amount ever dedicated to farmland protection in the state, and will go to protect the largest single amount of acreage in the program’s 11-year history. "This announcement marks a great victory for farmland conservation in New York," said David Haight, AFT’s New York Director.

Right-to-Farm Laws Help Support Farms

Does your town support its agricultural businesses? In western New York, the Erie County FarmBureau is hoping that all towns in the county say “yes” by passing a local right-to-farm law. 

Which County Will Be First to Update Its Plan?

Thanks to legislation AFT championed, counties are now eligible for up to $50,000 in state grant funds to update county agricultural and farmland protection plans that are at least 10 years old.

Currently, 12 counties around New York are eligible to receive this funding. Who will be first to accept the challenge of addressing the current needs and opportunities of their agricultural industry—Cayuga, Dutchess, Erie, Essex, Onondaga, Orange, Saratoga, Suffolk, Tompkins, Ulster, Washington or Wayne? For more information on the county grants, contact John Brennan at New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

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