New York Farm Bureau applauded Senator Catharine Young and Assemblyman Bill Magee, Chairs of the Senate and Assembly Agriculture Committee, and Governor Eliot Spitzer, for April’s passage of the Dairy Investment Act, which will allocate $30 million to the state’s struggling dairy industry. “This unprecedented investment by the state will be a saving grace for many of our struggling family farmers,” said John Lincoln, president of New York Farm Bureau and a dairy farmer from Bloomfield, N.Y.

“The devastatingly low milk prices in 2006, coupled with the skyrocketing fuel and feed costs, created a perfect storm in the dairy industry. This emergency investment package will help many farm families re-invest in their business and assist with spring planting costs,” Lincoln said. “This aid couldn’t be better timed. As we go into spring planting, this money will go a long way to keeping our farm viable. We are extremely grateful to all of the legislators and everyone in Albany who stepped up to help us,” said Nancy Hourigan, a dairy farmer from Elbridge.

"Dairy farmers are facing tremendous financial challenges right now, and I'm proud that the Senate Majority has stepped up to provide this critical relief," said Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Cathy Young, who was the prime sponsor of legislation that was the basis for this funding increase. "We need to invest in our dairy farms. A strong and vibrant dairy farm industry is vital to the health of our State's economy, and I’m pleased that this $30 million will help our dairy farmers immediately."

Farm Bureau began lobbying for a shortterm investment in the dairy industry at the beginning of the year. The effort came after hearing a desperate plea from the industry during Farm Bureau’s state annual meeting in Albany last December.

Farm Bureau made the Dairy Investment Act a high priority during its annual Lobby Days in early February, when more than 300 farmers converged on the capital. The Senate Majority included a $60 million Dairy Investment Act within their “one house” budget proposal.

Throughout the winter, farmers around the state barraged the capitol with e-mails, faxes and phone calls, urging legislators to take up the Dairy Investment Act. The program will pay farmers approximately 33 cents per hundredweight for milk production in 2006, and is modeled on similar programs in Vermont and Connecticut.

Throughout this budget process, the dairy investment proposal received broad based support from legislators on both sides of the aisle and representing both upstate and downstate. Two public budget conference committees, formed to work on specific areas of the budget, each sent unanimous letters to the Senate Majority leader and the Speaker of the Assembly recommending funding for the dairy piece. Ultimately, the three leaders met and worked out how the program would be funded. Various deals were offered in the typical budgetary horse trading that prevails in Albany, and through it all NYFB was pleased at the commitment of members of the Legislature and their staffers.

Energy costs to the farmer have nearly tripled since 2000. Feed prices have more than doubled over the past year alone. Dairy is the largest segment of agriculture in New York. The state ranks third in milk production nationwide.

Farm Bureau is also grateful for funding from the Senate Majority, led by Catharine Young, to establish the Center for Dairy Excellence, which will be linked to the Farm Viability Institute in Syracuse. This longterm initiative will help ensure that farmers will be better prepared to weather dramatic milk price fluctuations in the future. The legislature allocated $750,000 to establish the center, which will be modeled after the Center for Dairy Excellence in Pennsylvania (Story: Page 4).

“The Center will be focused on helping farmers better manage their operations and develop the tools they’ll need to stay profitable during low price cycles,” Lincoln said. “The next time prices crash, farmers will be in a better position to survive,” Lincoln said.