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What's the Future of New York Farms?

Chris Bolt/WAER News

  Some 350 farmers from around the state are working on the future of farming at the Farm Bureau’s Annual State meeting in Liverpool that continued today.  

President Dean Norton lists as some of the biggest challenges, laws and regulations.  The bureau has for two decades fought against a state farmworker labor bill.

“What they’re wanting to tell us to do is at 40 hours you have to pay overtime.  Well agriculture’s been exempt from those for reasons.  When the sun shines we need to plant or we need to harvest.  And those laborers are here; they know that this is their time to make money.  They’re going to be here for five months.  They’re going to work the hours they can work, then they’re going home, probably for the winter.”

  On the Federal level, Norton gives an example of the Food Safety Modernization Act.  It requires farmers to test irrigation water once a week…which he says is a huge burden and doesn’t follow current science.  The Farm Bureau and other groups are also recruiting who’s going into agriculture.  Future Farmers of America president Ashley Willits knows some young people don’t want to stay on their family’s farms.

“Although production agriculture is so important there is a lot of other ways to stay involved in agriculture.  Whether it’s agriculture education, working in science, being a veterinarian, working government.”

Ashley is a senior at Lowville High School and wants to study Agriculture Education at Morrisville.  The Farm Bureau conference wraps up tomorrow.

Chris Bolt, Ed.D. has proudly been covering the Central New York community and mentoring students for more than 30 years. His career in public media started as a student volunteer, then as a reporter/producer. He has been the news director for WAER since 1995. Dedicated to keeping local news coverage alive, Chris also has a passion for education, having trained, mentored and provided a platform for growth to more than a thousand students. Career highlights include having work appear on NPR, CBS, ABC and other news networks, winning numerous local and state journalism awards.