ALBANY — New York farmers welcomed Gov. Eliot Spitzer and were highly encouraged by the immediate signals that upstate New York’s largest industry will be well served by the new administration.

“We’re very excited by Governor Spitzer’s proposals for agriculture and revitalizing the Upstate economy,” New York Farm Bureau President John Lincoln said.

“Governor Spitzer’s acknowledgment of the need to strengthen the largest segment of the agricultural industry — dairy farming — is an encouraging step towards rebuilding the dairy farm economy, which has been devastated by poor weather, high energy and feed costs, and extremely low farm milk prices.” Lincoln said.

“I look forward to working with the Governor on establishing fair dairy pricing on a regional basis, and initiating a New York Center for Dairy Excellence.” Spitzer was inaugurated on Jan. 1 after winning in a landslide in November.

“It’s clear that Governor Spitzer recognizes the changes that are needed to help revive the rural economy and provide job opportunities for rural residents,” Lincoln said. “NYFB has long believed that the most effective way to improve Upstate New York is to bolster agriculture and to unstrap our farmers and from unduly high property taxes and workers compensation rates.”

The governor is pushing for a $6 billion property tax reform program. Agriculture shoulders a large proportion of property taxes. The governor is also pledging workers comp reform—an issue that Farm Bureau has been championing for more than a decade. New York’s farm families pay among the highest workers comp rates in the nation.

Spitzer is also calling for a reform in measures that impact the bottom line of New York’s farmers and rural residents – by adopting Wicks Law Reform, reducing Medicaid costs, and bringing high speed internet into rural areas.

“New York farmers want to lead the way in producing renewable energy sources to reduce the state’s dependence on foreign oil”, said Lincoln. “NYFB looks forward to working with Lieutenant Governor Paterson to increase renewable energy production, including cellulosic ethanol, to meet twentyfive percent of the state’s energy needs.” To promote agriculture, the governor is calling for a Pride of New York Wholesalers Market in New York City for upstate and Long Island farmers to connect to downstate markets.

That initiative would bolster many segments of New York agriculture. For example, Upstate New York maple producers could see new revenues of $500,000 annually. The governor also proposes to expand the Environmental Protection Fund to protect prime farmland from being consumed by suburban sprawl. That proposal has long been championed by New York Farm Bureau. Another signal of recognition of the importance of agriculture to New York was seen on Monday, when Gov. Spitzer’s inauguration featured an array of New York-produced food, dairy products and wine. Farm Bureau has continually pushed for the state of New York to be considerably more active in purchasing local products for state events.

At the inauguration celebration, only New York wines were poured and event staffers served a wide variety of New York grown foods in the Empire State Plaza concourse for the “Celebration 07” component that was open to the public.

“We’ve said for a long time that a governor should lead by example by purchasing all New York products for all state events,” Lincoln said. “The inauguration set a great tone for what we hope is a very positive relationship with the new administration.”