BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI

North Country This Week 

Governor Kathy Hochul announced a number of initiatives during her first State of the State address on Jan. 5 that will assist local farmers, drawing praise from the New York Farm Bureau.

“Gov. Hochul announced sweeping investments for agriculture in her first State of the State Address. Her goals match what our farmers are seeking, a strengthening of our local food system, financial support for climate smart practices happening on farms across the state and easing the burden of rising labor costs that are crushing New York agriculture and limiting production. We applaud her for making agriculture a focus of her agenda. New York’s farms play an essential role in feeding our state, providing good jobs on and off the farm, and supporting local economies. New York Farm Bureau looks forward to seeing the details in the governor’s budget proposal and working with her and the state legislature on these goals that will allow agriculture to grow for the benefit of our entire state,” Fisher said.

Hochul announced the state will “increase support for ABCD Centers statewide to continue to provide the highest-quality early childhood education and social services to farm workers and other eligible families with infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.”

With the impact of COVID on childcare centers, Hochul said women were disproportionately affected and stepped out of the agricultural workforce.

Changes are also coming to the National School Lunch Program, which will be transferred from the State Education Department to the Department of Agriculture and Markets, Hochul said.

“AGM will work with the Department of Health (DOH) to ensure that nutrition standards are met, and with the Office of General Services to develop guidelines specific to school food procurement. Housing the program at AGM will also help streamline State nutrition programs and leverage existing partnerships between AGM and other agencies and entities invested in this work,” Hochul said.

Hochul also said the state will refund the Farmers’ Market Resiliency Grant program and establish a working group to connect upstate and downstate New York on food procurement and distribution.  

“Grant funding will give farmers and small businesses an opportunity to build resiliency into their markets, including pivoting to online sales and delivery and investing in infrastructure to make local food accessible to more consumers,” she said.

Funding for the Nourish New York program will also be completed annually, under the proposed initiatives.

Hochul previously signed legislation in November that made the program permanent, bringing the program into a prominent role to support local farmers and underserved communities by purchasing surplus food supply and redirecting it to food banks.

The program was designed to ensure families in need were able to find adequate food, while creating an alternative revenue stream for farmers.

Additional measures are planned to help mitigate the effect farmers have on the climate as well.

“There is increasing demand for climate mitigation, resilience, and adaptation options from New York’s 33,400 farms New York State has provided funding through the Climate Resilient Farming (CRF) Program to assist 200 New York farms in reducing their operational impact on the environment and addressing the impacts of extreme weather events resulting from climate change. But the CRF grant program has been oversubscribed during its last two rounds by approximately 50 percent,” Hochul said.

Funding will be increased for the CRF program and its associated supporting initiatives, in an effort to reduce agricultural greenhouse gasses and to advance on-farm and community-wide resiliency measures, Hochul said.  

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) beneficiaries will also see a number of changes as well, including more local, healthy options becoming available.

Beneficiaries will soon be able to purchase direct from New York farmers online, Hochul said.  

“Additionally, SNAP recipients will receive a special FreshConnect benefit toward purchasing a food subscription from a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm. These initiatives will assist underserved members of the community in accessing wholesome fresh food, while also supporting farmers across the state,” she said.

Additional funding will also be made available through the Infrastructure Grant Program for the New York State Grown and Certified Producers.

“Farmers would be able to use this grant money to invest in farm infrastructure, purchase new technology and equipment, and conduct research to aid in the development of new products to be marketed under the New York State Grown & Certified program,” she said.

Hochul’s plan drew support from New York Farm Bureau President David Fisher, who praised the governor’s plans to address the agriculture needs of communities and the needs of farmers.