Agriculture is the backbone of New York’s economy and a major economic force in the 112th Assembly District. Our local economy is highly dependent on the agricultural industry, and when farmers suffer, it has a reverberating effect on the entire community because the support industries that exist in upstate New York rely on a vibrant agricultural industry for their survival.
Unfortunately, the growth of national and international suppliers dominating our food retail outlets is a growing and dangerous trend to our agricultural community. Already, virtually all tomatoes, cabbage, onions, lettuce and similar crops are produced by a handful of farms. Nationwide this trend is affecting our apple, fruit tree, and even dairy farmers. In addition, the production of crops by a few massive farms has placed the security of our food supply in jeopardy. The recent outbreaks of salmonella contamination in spinach, peppers, and peanut products are all symptoms of the consolidation occurring in the agricultural industry.
Within the dairy industry alone, farmers have seen their cost of production more than triple since 1999. Meanwhile, the price paid for their product has decreased to 1970s level, leaving farmers to eat up savings and equity simply to stay in business.
That’s why I have been working with local farmers and agricultural leaders to devise short and long-term plans to strengthen the industry, including securing essential federal aid to offset increasing costs of production, providing incentives to encourage young adults to enter the profession, encouraging use of alternative energy, supporting the sagging dairy economy, and lowering taxes on all sectors of the economy.
