The New York State Budget To Help Agriculture

    The budget having been passed into law, promises some much needed funding towards the agricultural industry of the state.  There are many groups and individuals that made passionate testimony regarding the economic plight of our industry and it appears to have been heard.

     Governor Spitzer and the New York State Legislature approved the new budget that does contain several important provisions for the industry.  The levels of funding for various programs are as follows:

·        The NYS Dairy Assistance Program:  $30 million

·        Center for Dairy Excellence:  $750,000

·        Apple Association:  $750,000

·        Maple Association:  $350,000, which includes funding for a maple building at the NYS Fairgrounds.

·        Wine and Grape Foundation:  $3 million

·        Plum Pox Eradication and Indemnification:  $500,000

·        Phytophthora Research funding:  $300,000

·        Environmental Protection Fund

·        Farmland Protection:  $28 million

·        Non-point source projects:  $12 million

·        Invasive Species:  $4 million

·        Soil and Water Conservation:  $3 million

     Perhaps the one funding opportunity most dairy farmers are anticipating is the dairy assistance program.  It has not been totally worked out yet according to Jessica Chittteden from the State Ag and Markets.  The positives are that the legislators are recognizing the importance of agriculture and how its survival is directly reflective of the upstate’s economy.  The original concept on this was to help offset some of the economic devastation to dairy prices in 2006.  In reality it can easily be interrupted as an infusion of money into the local economy because farmers are trying to catch up on old bills.  The actual payment is not determined yet, but estimates are between .30-.35/cwt on 2006 production up to a cap of 2.4 million lbs.  The one point that I really want to make is to have patience with the people at Ag and Markets as they must create a system to make these payments from gathering the information and issuing payments.  Farmers can really help the process by being willing to allow their cooperative, processor, or even the Farm Service Agency to release production records for payments.