Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Patty Ritchie says that the state Senate is voting to “insure that our farms and agribusinesses do not suffer a disproportionate share of the budget cuts as we wrestle with the state’s fiscal crisis.”

Ritchie says the committee’s proposals will “restore funding to New York’s critical agriculture programs.”

The 48th District Republican said the timing is appropriate as she and her colleagues celebrate the 100th anniversary of New York Farm Bureau, the state’s leading agriculture lobby.

The Senate’s budget will serve as the basis for negotiations between the two houses of the legislature in crafting a final budget proposal, the chairwoman said.

“As the chair of the Senate’s Agriculture Committee, my top priority has been to insure that our farms and agribusinesses do not suffer a disproportionate share of the budget cuts as we wrestle with the state’s fiscal crisis,” Ritchie said.

Ritchie’s Senate budget does not include a proposal to create competitive grants that would have pitted agricultural sectors against each other for limited funding.

“The Senate budget restores vital agricultural funding while allowing me to keep my promise to cut state spending without raising taxes,” she said.

In addition to acting on the state budget, the senate was expected to approve a resolution sponsored by Ritchie to honor New York Farm Bureau on its 100th anniversary.

“A century ago, New York’s farm families banded together to create what has become a national movement with Farm Bureau,” Ritchie said. “Over the past 100 years, they have showed what our rural communities can accomplish when we work together to make a better life for ourselves and our families. Our senate budget helps give the 30,000 member families of Farm Bureau the tools and vital programs they need to help us revitalize our state’s economy.”

The Senate version of agricultural budget measures includes:

- $1 million for the Farm Viability Institute

- $822,000 for the Pro Dairy Program

- $300,000 for North Country Agricultural Development Program

- $192,000 for Future Farmers of America

- $150,000 for the Cornell Rabies Program that also serves Northern New York

- $206,000 for Apple Growers Association

- $713,000 for the Wine and Grape Foundation

- $80,000 for Agriculture in the Classroom

- $66,000 for the Association of Agricultural Educators

- $100,000 for Tractor Rollover Prevention