George Borrello

State Senator George Borrello is disappointed with passage of “The Birds and Bees Protection Act.”

The Act is in response to a 2020 report from Cornell University finding that using neonics poses a threat to the state’s bees while providing few benefits to farmers.

The legislation allows a phase-in period of several years, giving seed suppliers, farmers and others the needed time to adapt.

The bill specifically targets the use of neonics for treated corn, wheat and soy seeds.

Borrello issued a statement saying he was deeply disappointed with the Senate’s passage of the bill, saying, “Use of this innovative technology has helped farmers optimize crop yield and quality and allowed them to greatly reduce the large-scale spraying of older, more toxic and environmentally harmful pesticides. Pesticide application rates will increase by an estimated 375 percent per acre if this bill is enacted into law.”

Borrello said other studies have confirmed that neonics are safe for bees and other pollinators and the product has been registered for use by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). He said the “attempt by legislators to override the DEC’s regulatory authority and expertise in this area is reckless and sets a dangerous precedent. ”

The New York Farm Bureau also issued a statement saying, “The vote to ban an entire class of pesticides and treated seeds is deeply concerning, especially because of the precedent it sets. The Department of Environmental Conservation and its expertise should maintain the authority to properly review and register risk management tools, something the legislature is stripping away.”

The Farm Bureau also requested that Governor Kathy Hochul veto the bill.

Starting January 1, 2024, minimum wage will increase to $16 in New York City and the counties of Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester, and to $15 in all other parts of the State. In 2025 and 2026, the minimum wage will increase by an additional $0.50 in each year, after which the State’s minimum wage would increase at a rate determined by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) for the Northeast Region.

The New York Farm Bureau said in a statement they remain, “…deeply concerned over the additional increase of the state’s minimum wage. If a farm cannot compete in the marketplace or make ends meet, nothing else will ultimately matter. This could negatively impact our farm employees, future job creation, and local food production. We ask our leaders to look for additional ways to offset mounting labor costs as the new minimum wage will keep increasing in the coming years along with inflation.”

The Farm Bureau did celebrate the inclusion of the Refundable Investment Tax Credit in the budget, which was a priority for the agency. They said the credit will be a “boon for farms looking to expand, diversify, or upgrade their businesses over the next five years. It is one of the biggest investments the state has made into New York agriculture in years.”

Highlights in the state budget related to agriculture include $2 million for community garden programming and a $10 million grant program to support the establishment of farm markets, supermarkets, food cooperatives, and other similar retail food stores, along with supporting infrastructure in underserved communities and regions of the State.

The budget provides $50 million over five years to local school districts to support cooking facilities. The School Food Infrastructure Grant Program will provide the resources schools need to aggregate, store, process, and prepare farm products, and make it possible to cook fresh, nutritious homemade meals on-site for school children.

The Farm Bureau also said they were grateful for the additional $1 million in the Environmental Protection Fund to assist Soil and Water Conservation Districts carry out important assistance to farmers, landowners, and municipalities.

The New York Farm Bureau’s Agricultural Youth Scholarship awards up to $3,000 for eligible students to use for college or advanced training in the skilled trades.

The applicant or their family must be a New York Farm Bureau member, and the student must live and/or work on a farm or be involved with agriculture in the state. The student must also complete the application which includes writing an essay addressing what they value and stand for in agriculture and life and how these values have impacted their decision to pursue an agricultural career.

Scoring will determine the district winners and may include a personal interview. Each district winner will receive $250 and then compete for one of two state scholarships worth $3,000 and $2,000, based on their submitted applications.

Applications must be submitted by March 17, 2023. Judging for the district winner will take place prior to April 28, 2023. State winners will be announced by the end of May.

For more information, including the online application, visit the New York Farm Bureau’s website at https://www.nyfb.org/

Farm Bureau President David Fisher and Public Policy Director Jeff Williams said the major issues are based on member approved public policy positions.

Their first priority is asking New York State lawmakers to replenish the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. Williams said this has been a big issue for Farm Bureau members who have been saddled with assessment charges on their quarterly contributions to the unemployment insurance fund.

New York State borrowed billions from the federal government during the pandemic to cover increased Unemployment Insurance costs. New York has been the only state that has not begun to make payments on the debt or interest, and instead passing those costs on to employers.

Williams said members are also concerned about efforts to raise the minimum wage once again. Minimum wage increased a dollar an hour at the end of the year for upstate New York and will possibly be raised to $15 by the end of this year. The farm overtime threshold will begin to drop as well next year.

The Farm Bureau is also looking to maintain funding for important animal health, promotion, and research programs along with full funding for the Environmental Protection Fund. Williams said the EPF is responsible for helping farms implement best management practices that include soil health and nutrient management programs that protect land and waterways. He said this also includes efforts to help farms meet the state’s climate goals.

The Bureau is also hopeful the governor’s proposal for a refundable investment tax credit is included in the final budget. They said this will incentivize investment.

Continued funding for the Nourish New York program and legislation allowing for direct-to-consumer shipping for New York produced farm beverages, including beer, cider, and distillates are also on the agenda.

NY Farm Bureau Survey of 2022 Thanksgiving Dinner costs

The price for Thanksgiving dinner is up 26% for this year.

The New York Farm Bureau’s 2022 Market Basket Survey shows the average total price, which includes a 16-pound turkey and other common items found on a holiday dinner table, is $66.39, up from last year’s price of $52.59.

The Bureau’s volunteer shoppers found turkey prices to be about $1.89 per pound in New York State, which is 43 cents per pound over last year’s average price in this informal survey. This price is slightly above the national average of $1.81/lb.

The New York numbers revealed price increases over last year in nearly every category, except for fresh cranberries which saw a 30-cent decrease. The most notable increases were for stuffing mix, brown-and-serve rolls, and frozen pie crusts.

This year’s survey also includes a similar increase for an expanded menu that includes a four-pound ham, five-pound bag of russet potatoes and a package of frozen green beans. When those prices are included, the total meal price jumps to $82.16, or a 22% increase over last year’s number. New York shoppers found bargains on hams compared to the national numbers, with a four-pound ham costing $10.08 or $1.56 less than the national average.

The increased prices reflect the continued supply and demand issues, higher commodity prices because of the war in Ukraine, as well as the increased costs for packaging and transportation.

Despite those increases, the Farm Bureau says most of those higher costs do not trickle down to the farmer who receives only about eight cents of each dollar consumers spend on food at the store. The rest goes to pay for things like marketing, processing, and transportation of the food.

This dinner price represents the greatest increase since the survey began more than three decades ago.

State Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon has approved a recommendation from the Farm Laborer Wage Board to reduce the overtime threshold from 60 hours to 40 hours that will be phased in over a ten-year time period.

Three tax credits were passed by the State Legislature and signed by Governor Kathy Hochul this year in anticipation of the adoption of the lower overtime threshold recommendations. These include an Investment Tax Credit that was increased from four to 20% for farm businesses, the Farm Workforce Retention tax credit that was increased to $1,200 per employee, and a Refundable Overtime Tax Credit was established for overtime hours paid by farm employers.

Advocates for farmworkers have pushed for the change, calling it a necessary way of including agriculture workers in a nearly century-old labor law. But farmers have been angered by the effort to lower the overtime threshold, calling it out of touch with the ways of a working farm and warning it could have dire financial consequences for them.

State Senator George Borrello issued a statement saying the decision will “..spell the end for many farms in this once-vibrant industry and force others to scale down production, increase automation or relocate. Farm workers have repeatedly said that this move will force them to seek work in other states where they can work without limits on their earnings.”

New York Farm Bureau President David Fisher, who was the only member of the Farm Laborer Wage Board to vote against the overtime recommendation, also issued a statement saying, “This is a difficult day for all those who care about New York being able to feed itself. Commissioner Reardon’s decision to lower the farm labor overtime threshold will make it even tougher to farm in this state and will be a financial blow to the workers we all support.

Moving forward, farms will be forced to make difficult decisions on what they grow, the available hours they can provide to their employees, and their ability to compete in the marketplace. All of this was highlighted in the testimony and data that the wage board report and the commissioner simply ignored.”

The board voted 2 to 1 Tuesday to lower the threshold from the current 60 hours per week to 40 hours per week over 10 years.

New York Farm Bureau President David Fisher was the sole no vote on the final report on the overtime threshold, saying the report is not a full and accurate depiction of the data and testimony gathered during the two-year long process. He said it includes a lack of significant economic data as well as detailed testimony from farmers, farm workers, and agricultural experts.

Senator Borrello issued a statement saying, “It was unfair and unethical of the Legislature’s majorities and New York’s former governor to require this decision of three unelected individuals, two-thirds of whom lack any agriculture background. While well-meaning individuals, these board members are ill equipped to render sound, informed decisions concerning this critically important industry. ”

Members of the Grow New York Farms Coalition called on Governor Kathy Hochul and Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon to reject the report and maintain the current overtime threshold at 60 hours per week.

Like Fisher, Grow NY said that the report is flawed that that it downplayed testimony and data from farm workers, farmers, and researchers from Cornell University, while also omitting reference of workforce training and workplace protections already in place.

The board’s final 21-page report reviews various testimony and cites several reasons for its recommendation, including the physical and emotional toll on farm workers, the economic impacts to the agricultural economy and equity and racial justice.

According to the report, if the recommendation is approved, New York will join California and Hawaii as states that have 40 hours as the threshold for overtime for farm workers.

Three tax credits were passed by the State Legislature and signed by Hochul this year in anticipation of the adoption of the lower overtime threshold recommendations. These include an Investment Tax Credit that was increased from four to 20% for farm businesses, the Farm Workforce Retention tax credit that was increased to $1,200 per employee, and a Refundable Overtime Tax Credit was established for overtime hours paid by farm employers.

Once the board delivers its report, Department of Labor Commissioner Reardon will have 45 days to review and announce her decision. Within five days of receipt, DOL will publish notice in at least 10 newspapers of general circulation in the state. Any objections to the report and recommendations can be sent to the Commissioner within 15 days after such publication.

New York Farm Bureau

The number was announced this month at the annual American Farm Bureau Federation Young Farmers and Ranchers Conference in Louisville, Kentucky. That was the second highest donation total in the country for 2021, behind Florida. The New York Farm Bureau was awarded $250 for its effort which will be donated to Feeding New York State.

In addition, Farm Bureau’s Young Farmers & Ranchers program also was recognized for its 180 hours of volunteer service and for collecting $3,080 in food bank donations last year. Criteria for tracking Harvest for All donations included dollars and pounds of food donated by state and county Farm Bureaus, as well as volunteer hours, reported from the grassroots up as part of the annual campaign.

In the past 16 years of the Harvest for All Program, farms in New York have given around 120 million pounds of food to support the work by the regional food banks in our state. That translates into more than 90 million meals.

The “Harvest for All” donation program is a nationwide annual farm donation partnership linking Farm Bureau and Feeding America in each state. In New York, NYFB’s YF&R Committee and Feeding New York State administer the statewide donation partnership. The food is then distributed among the 10 Feeding America food banks throughout the state.

The decision was swiftly criticized by the agricultural industry and the Republican Party.

The Albany Times-Union reports, the decision, 2-to-1 vote of the panel, would lower the current 60-hour overtime threshold for farm laborers over a 10-year period, which would reach 40 hours by 2032. The board agreed to lower the threshold by four hours per week every two years beginning in 2024.
The board’s decision will be sent to state Department of Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon, who has the final say and could modify the recommendations.

A proposed overtime tax credit for farm owners by Governor Kathy Hochul in her budget did not play into the deliberations of the board. Advocates on both sides of the issue could not explain the complicated tax credit proposed; the state Division of Budget declined to explain the credit.

The vote came quickly and appeared to surprise board member and Farm Bureau President David Fisher. It followed nearly 12 hours of meetings this month, most of that public comment.

A majority of the comments were in favor of not lowering the threshold and came primarily from farm owners, who said that the change could cause the collapse of not only their family-run business but the industry at large.

The comments from farm owners, buoyed by the state Farm Bureau and a coalition supporting the bureau, were dramatically different from what civil and labor rights experts, advocates and activists proposed. The labor advocates argued that farm workers should be entitled to a 40-hour work week like the rest of the workforce.

State Senator George Borrello released a statement saying, “The Farm Laborers Wage Board and the Democrat One-Party-Rule which empowered them have dealt a potentially fatal blow to the livelihoods of New York State’s hard working farm families with the devastating decision to recommend lowering the farm worker overtime threshold to 40 hours per week. This move will spell the beginning of the end for many farms in this once-vibrant industry and force others to scale down production, increase automation or relocate.”

“It is tragic that New York’s farmers and agricultural industry have been sacrificed for political expediency. This fall, data from an independent report by Cornell and presented to the Department of Agriculture and Markets made it clear that lowering the threshold will benefit no one and will force both farmers and farm workers to seek their livelihoods in other states or occupations. Yet, as we’ve seen countless times in the past three years, facts and common-sense carry little weight under Democrat One-Party Rule.

The New York Farm Bureau is scheduled to hold a press conference this morning to discuss Friday’s Farm Labor Wage Board overtime threshold decision.

New York Farm Bureau’s 2021 Market Basket Survey said the average total price, which includes a 16-pound turkey and other common items found on a holiday dinner table, is $52.59.
Turkey prices are about $1.46 per pound in New York State, which is about five cents per pound over last year’s average price in this informal survey. This price is slightly below the national average of $1.50 per lb.

The New York numbers revealed small price increases in several categories including for whipping cream, Libby’s Pumpkin Pie Mix, fresh cranberries, and a veggie tray. The most noticeable decrease is for sweet potatoes.

This year’s survey also includes a similar increase for an expanded menu that includes a four-pound ham, five-pound bag of russet potatoes and a package of frozen green beans. When those prices are included, the total meal price jumps to $67.31 or 52 cents over last year’s number. New York shoppers found bargains on hams compared to the national numbers, with a four-pound ham about a dollar less than the national survey price of $10.87.

The survey highlights that the classic meal remains affordable for a 10-person meal, though there are price increases across the board. This is reflective of some of the supply and demand issues that are driving up food prices in many categories, much of it related to the on-going pandemic and the surge in at-home food consumption.