Senator Fred Akshar recently joined Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Senator Patty Ritchie and other Senate\u00a0members to unveil\u00a0their 2016 \u201c\u00a0Planting Seeds\u201d legislative plan to continue supporting New York\u2019s family\u00a0farmers and boosting the agriculture economy.<\/p>\n
Planting Seeds recognizes the\u00a0economic impact of the 100,000 people who currently make up\u00a0New York\u2019s\u00a0agricultural workforce and includes proposals to help ensure that the\u00a0state\u2019s leading industry continues to grow.<\/p>\n
“I’m excited about these proposals,” said Senator Fred Akshar.<\/p>\n
He added, “Over\u00a0one-third\u00a0of my district is covered in the farmland of\u00a0almost three-thousand farms. Collectively, farming is the largest employer in my district, with over fourteen million dollars in payroll alone.\u00a0Before I was elected I had a wonderful opportunity to travel my district and listen to our farmers, and\u00a0I’m pleased to say that today’s plan addresses the issues we heard about – high taxes, the need to support agriculture educators and the need to support new technology. I’m pleased to support this plan and pleased to support our hardworking farmers.”<\/p>\n
Since 2011, Senate Republicans have succeeded in restoring more than $32\u00a0million in budget cuts for agriculture funding. The 2016-17 Executive\u00a0Budget proposes to cut funding for 42 different programs in the largest\u00a0single-year reduction in agriculture funding in five years. Senate\u00a0Republicans will prioritize full restoration of these cuts, and work to\u00a0achieve record levels of funding to support family farmers.<\/p>\n
Strengthening Farmers\u2019 Bottom Lines:<\/b><\/p>\n
Estate Tax Reform \u2013 speed up the full phase-in of the estate tax reform\u00a0enacted in 2014 as part of the Senate\u2019s Young Farmers initiative to\u00a0allow farmers to claim the federal exclusion amount; and<\/p>\n
Farmer Personal Income Tax (PIT) Exemption \u2013 reduce taxes on family\u00a0farmers by raising the PIT exemption for small and mid-sized family\u00a0farms from the current 5 percent to 20 percent, and making even more\u00a0farmers eligible for the exemption.<\/p>\n
Supporting Research<\/b><\/p>\n
Restore cuts to Cornell University\u2019s important agriculture-related\u00a0research and study programs to keep it as the nation\u2019s premier center\u00a0for agricultural learning and research; and<\/p>\n
Increase state funding for Cornell\u2019s College of Agriculture and Life\u00a0Sciences to meet the growing demand from students for agriculture and\u00a0veterinary instruction programs. Increasing support for these education\u00a0programs will help hold the line on rising college costs and student\u00a0debt.<\/p>\n
Protecting Food and Human Health<\/b><\/p>\n
Support programs that aim to detect and prevent the spread of diseases\u00a0in plants and animals. Senate Republicans will seek to increase funding\u00a0for cutting edge research into the prevention and spread of avian\u00a0disease (\u201cbird flu\u201d), and recently arrived threats to food safety like\u00a0Salmonella Dublin, a virus that affects dairy cows and has sickened\u00a0humans who drink raw milk. Additional funding would expand Cornell\u2019s\u00a0research into the recent honeybee die-off, which is critical to crop\u00a0pollination, and expand programs that encourage farmers to reduce\u00a0pesticide use;<\/p>\n
Support the replacement of aging and outdated lab facilities. State\u00a0funds would help leverage additional USDA support for a new lab to\u00a0continue Cornell\u2019s cutting-edge food safety and research programs; and<\/p>\n
Increase funding to efforts that stop the spread of wildlife rabies from\u00a0Canada and across New York State, and to provide reimbursement to local\u00a0public health services for costly human post-exposure rabies preventive\u00a0treatments.<\/p>\n
Encouraging Innovation<\/b><\/p>\n
Restore budget funding for a third round of Beginning Farmer grants,\u00a0created as part of the Senate\u2019s 2014 Young Farmers initiative to\u00a0encourage interest in agriculture and help protect the future of family\u00a0farming. Already, nearly two-dozen farms from across the state are\u00a0benefitting from the first round of $15,000 -$50,000 grants to help\u00a0young farmers purchase seed, equipment and supplies to. A second round\u00a0of grants will be announced in the near future to help even more new\u00a0businesses grow;<\/p>\n
Provide new funding for established farmers to help them install\u00a0innovative new technology to make their farms more efficient and\u00a0profitable;<\/p>\n
Increase funding for local cooperative extensions, which are often the\u00a0first point of contact for experienced and beginning farmers in finding\u00a0solutions to problems and challenges on the farm;<\/p>\n
Increase investment in FarmNet, which provides services and assistance\u00a0to farmers, including business and farm transition planning; and<\/p>\n
Help dairy farmers who are dealing with price volatility by increasing\u00a0funding for programs that help find ways to improve profits.<\/p>\n
Supporting Agriculture Education<\/b><\/p>\n
Extend the Beginning Farmer Student Loan Forgiveness Program to include\u00a0students who are pursuing degrees in agriculture education. The program\u00a0was a part of the Senate\u2019s 2014 Young Farmers initiative to provide loan\u00a0forgiveness for beginning farmers to encourage more young people to\u00a0consider careers in agriculture;<\/p>\n
Continued support for the high-school based FFA programs (formerly known\u00a0as \u201cFuture Farmers of America\u201d);<\/p>\n
Create a new North Country Ag Academy. Modeled on a similar program in\u00a0Western New York, the Ag Academy would provide hands-on learning\u00a0experiences for aspiring young farmers to learn and practice the\u00a0agricultural arts, and prepare them for future careers; and<\/p>\n
Establish an agriculture management program at SUNY\u2019s Canton College,\u00a0which can serve as a lower-cost alternative to four-year agriculture\u00a0degree programs. Originally founded as the School of Agriculture at St.\u00a0Lawrence, the college eliminated most agriculture-related degrees in the\u00a01990s. The Senate would support the provision of staff to provide\u00a0courses and real work experience allowing students to study marketing,\u00a0technology, and other practical skills necessary to survive and thrive\u00a0in the farming industry.<\/p>\n
Assisting Our Veterans<\/b><\/p>\n
New funding for an innovative proposal by Cornell\u2019s Small Farms Program\u00a0to help establish up to five veteran-owned small farms through a\u00a0first-in-the-nation pilot program. Returning veterans and those seeking\u00a0a career change could be encouraged to try agriculture, utilizing\u00a0benefits they\u2019ve earned under the GI Bill to gain training and expertise\u00a0to begin their own successful small business. In turn, these sites would\u00a0be available to train additional veteran-farmers in future years.<\/p>\n
The Senate\u2019s new Planting Seeds initiatives would: provide research, education, and marketing assistance; create new tax and regulatory relief; advance initiatives to expand markets, promote quality, and increase food safety; and create job opportunities for veterans and others interested in farming.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Senator Fred Akshar recently joined Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Senator Patty Ritchie and other Senate\u00a0members to unveil\u00a0their 2016 \u201c\u00a0Planting Seeds\u201d legislative plan to continue supporting…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48883","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\n