New York State Senate Budget Adds Money for Agriculture

The state budget that has come out of the state Senate includes an additional $20 million for agriculture.

Ritchie

State Sen. Patricia Ritchie, chair of the Senate agriculture committee, said the additional money includes full support for her “Grown in New York” plan that links consumers and local farms and preserves the future of family farming in the state.

The senate’s budget plan (S.4203) increases support for agriculture by more than $20 million above the governor’s proposal. 

Included is additional funding for programs that have proven critical to the success of farmers in Central and Northern New York, including restoration of funding cuts to the well-regarded Farm Viability Institute and the Northern New York Agriculture Development Program, as well as for research and promotion of key farm products, from apples to dairy, maple syrup to onions.

The restorations and new funding are more than five times the amount included in the Assembly’s agriculture plan (A.6003), which restored about half of the cuts in the governor's budget.

The senate’s budget also includes new funding to expand the Senate’s “Young Farmers” initiative, a 2014 program designed by Ritchie, to encourage new careers in agriculture and to address a looming crisis facing agricultur when today's aging farmers begin to retire.

Below are some programs that are funded, with governor's budget amount followed by senate amount and then total in senate budget. A final budget is due April 1.

New York Farm Viability Institute: $400,000.....$1.5 million........$1.9 million

FFA:    $192,000.......$700,000,,,,....,,,$892,000

Maple Producers Association:  0..........$200,000..............$200,000

Apple Growers Association: $206,000............$544,000..............$750,000

Northern New York Agricultural Development: 0......$600,000..........$600,000

Berry Growers:    0..............$320,000.............$320,000

Christmas Tree Farmers: 0............$100,000...........$100,000

EEE-mosquito control: 0..............$175,000..............$175,000 

Pro-Dairy: $822,000..............$378,000          $1.2 million

Core Diagnostic Laboratory: $4,425,000.......$1 million....$5,425,000

Barley and Hops research: 0............$160,000.............$160,000

Integrated Pest Management: $500,000........$550,000............$1.05 million

FarmNet: $384,000.............$691,000.............$1.075 million