NEAFA would like to thank New York Commissioner of Agriculture Richard Ball for addressing our membership during the 2020 Annual Meeting February 5th, 2020 at the Albany Marriott Hotel in Albany, NY. As always, Ball had an insightful take on the current state of agriculture, not only in New York but throughout the country and our trading partners across the world. “I’m encouraged about the budget we have,” said Ball in reference to Governor Cuomo’s State of the State address. “I’m happy about what’s in there for agriculture. Pretty excited about the things in the budget that I see for agriculture.”
According to Ball, farmland protection, and tax cuts for farmers are one of the reasons that New York agriculture is in the top five across the country. “If you look at the last couple of years, even the last 5 years, they have been rough sledding,” said Ball. “We looked at farmland protections and what we could do. We provided additional funding for farmland transitions, to help those interested in transitioning to next generation, or to rotate in a new crop or create more efficiency in operating. We had 30 million dollars in the program. Currently we are starting a second round and those applications are coming in. For the second round, we looked around and looked at the effects that tariffs and trade deficits have had, and we saw that there was indeed a need there as well. So, we opened the program up to non dairies as well with an additional 14 million in funding. We’ve seen it as a great opportunity to advance and keep that land in agriculture in our state.”
Ball also took the time to talk about a personal project of his, a farm to school initiative. “It’s a great way to connect dots between 1.5 million students and our farmers,” said Ball. “NY Thursdays is a program that celebrates what’s on the menu from NY state in 1200 different schools. It’s a great opportunity to get our toe in the door there and showcase what’s grown in NY. It’s also a great example of that handshake between rural and urban communities that will help grow our system going forward. NY Milk, apples, salads, protein in hamburgers and hotdogs, NY chips, French fries made with NY potatoes. It’s a game changer, and we will see better economics for NY agriculture, and better health for our students 10 years down the road.”
Another important topic that Ball touched on is the changes to farm labor laws in the state. “The legislature changed dramatically last election,” said Ball. “And the farm labor bill is one that’s been around for a long time. There was a lot to do, educating a new group of legislators about farms. But with a unified voice from the industry, it was quite remarkable to see how well that education went. There is an Article 7 amendment to address some of the problems with the bill and talks are continuing about those issues, and what constitutes family has been broadened. I think we’re going to have some progress moving forward. We still have a huge educational challenge; what can you say, and how can you say it to reach people. But by and large the outpouring of concern and energy was amazing. It is in the interest of the agriculture community at large to get these amendments across the finish line.”