ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)– Farming is a multi-billion-dollar industry in the Empire State. A new New York State Comptroller report shows farms grossed $8.5 billion dollars in 2022, a nearly 48-percent increase since 2017.
“Agriculture is extremely important here in New York State,” explained Assemblyman Billy Jones. “It is one of our biggest businesses and we need to support our farmers, support everything they do on a state level, to make sure they can continue producing locally grown products— producing the milk we enjoy, and we need to support them anyway we can.”
Despite income being up, the number of New York farms is on the down slope.
Between 2012 and 2022, the state lost 14% of its farms and over 9 % of its farmland. While farms and farmland are declining at the national level, the report notes that New York is losing them faster than many other states.
On Tuesday, New York State lawmakers held an agriculture hearing. Assemblyman Billy Jones spoke about some of the challenges farmers face.
“Farming is a different beast,” said Jones. “It’s not like a manufacturing plant or a manufacturer where they can set their own price for their product. Those prices are often set by the market and they have continuing costs. The cost of everything is going up: energy, work— labor I should say.”
From 2012 to 2022 hired labor expenses grew by 68%. State Republican lawmakers worry the states overtime threshold limit, which will reach 40 hours per week in 2032, will make matters worse.
One recommendation the comptroller shared is sequestering carbon from the soil— a practice farmers can use to help improve soil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Earlier this week, Assemblyman Chris Tague said he’d like the state to look into spending more money towards educating farmers about soil heath.
“I think in the long run, we will actually save money by doing it because it will make their operations more efficient,” said Tague.
