New York
Farm Bureau®
 

Priority Issue 2008

Protecting the Land

New York communities receive substantial environmental, social and economic benefits from agriculture and the working landscapes created by farm businesses.  New York farms can continue to provide these benefits only through the implementation of public policy that supports farm profitability and stability.  It is imperative that New York State statute and regulations recognize that land resources are a necessary and vital part of farm operations and that land resources need to be protected to enhance the agricultural industry. 

Farmers are proud to serve as the stewards of many of our natural resources and work hard to take care of the land.  However, inequitable tax and poorly designed land-use policies create substantial barriers to farm viability. These barriers, combined with aggressive environmental regulatory programs that help protect our environment, but do not add to the financial viability of the business, impact farm profitability and provide a disincentive for industry investment.  Support must be provided to help farms protect their land, business and the environment and enhance the sustainability of New York agriculture and New York communities.

Recommendations:
 · Support funding for the New York Agricultural Land Trust.
 ·  Support a working farmland tax credit to provide increased property tax relief for
   farms that maintain working landscapes. 
·  Support enhanced and increased funding for the Environmental Protection Fund,
   especially farmland protection, agricultural non-point source pollution control, and
   soil and water conservation districts.
 ·  Increase staff at the Department of Agriculture and Markets for the agricultural
   districts and farmland protection programs, NYS Soil and Water Conservation
   Committee and invasive species management programs.
·  Authorize municipalities, with local voter support, to increase the real estate
   transfer tax up to two percent, to provide funding support for farmland protection
   projects.
 ·  Enact a statute recognizing that timber should be considered tangible property for
   the purposes of assessment values.
 ·  Support funding for an applied agricultural environmental research fund to provide
   farms with knowledge regarding cutting-edge technology and best management
   practices that protect the environment. Funding incentives for farm practices that
   support environmental protection should be approved.
 ·  Support funding an Agricultural Environmental Response Program to help defray
   costs of emergent farm environmental remediation as a result of natural disasters.
 ·  Support legislation to include farm woodlots within the protections of the
   Agricultural Districts law.
 · Support for a workable and comprehensive statewide agricultural plastic collection
   and recycling program

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New York Farm Bureau, Inc.
159 Wolf Road, P.O. Box 5330, Albany, NY 12205-0330
Phone: (518) 436-8495 Fax: (518) 431-5656
Last Updated April 14, 2008
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