farmers
NY: Where’s the love for farmers? The Times – Herkimer
LISLE — Doreen Barker never wanted to leave New York.
Originally from Dryden, a dairy town near Ithaca, Barker, 40, and Richard Barrows, 53, decided in early 2009 to bring animals back to the 350-acre, 165-year-old Barrows Farm in Lisle.
They started with chickens, adding cows — and the watering system and other infrastructure necessary to have them — in the coming years. They invested in rotational grazing, raised calves for meat to be sold locally and dreamed of soon having a value-added dairy operation.
Then they realized they simply couldn’t afford to do so.
Barrows and Barker likely aren’t the only farmers to come to that conclusion. According to the Agribusiness Friendliness Index, released early last year by three Colorado State University researchers, New York is one of the least friendly states in the country — ranked 49 out of 50 — when it comes to agribusiness.
“It’s most of the measures dealing with government that really seem to knock New York down,” said researcher Gregory Perry, who also is the head of the university’s Agricultural and Resource Economics department.
Perry said New York is 41st in property taxes, 46th in infrastructure and dead last when it comes to ease of filing a lawsuit — in other words, it’s easy for neighbors to take farms to court over nuisance smells and the like, and it’s hard for farms to win.
Joe Morrissey, public information officer for the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, doesn’t agree.
“We couldn’t disagree more with this report’s findings about New York, which we believe has a thriving agricultural sector thanks in great part to a strong partnership between state government and industry,” he said in an email. “In fact, New York farmers set a record in 2013 with $5.68 billion in cash receipts, which was more than $1 billion (more) than just three years earlier. New York is also a national leader in dairy, maple syrup and apple production, and we rank in the top 10 nationally in a number of fruit and vegetable categories.”
Morrissey said over the past four years, the state has set forth policies, passed laws and initiated marketing programs that have led to an all-time high interest in New York agriculture. They include:
• Launch of the Taste NY marketing program;
• Revamping of the farmland protection program;
•Legislation on the first-ever farm cidery and farm brewery license, as well as the Craft NY Act to further the growth of the farm-based beverage industry;
• Legislation to cap agricultural land assessments at 2 percent per year, ensuring a predictable tax climate for farmers; and…
go here ->Where’s the love for farmers? The Times – Herkimer, NY.
Here Come the Pitchforks: County Comes After Small Farmers With Big Fines – Even If They Have a Business License! | Daily Sheeple
The assault on personal reliance, self dependency and the activities that made liberty-driven American agriculture the envy of the world in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries continues. On the heels of a an Oregon man being sentenced to jail for 30 days for rainwater collection and harvesting, Martha Boneta of Fauquier County, Virginia becomes the latest victim of a government boot to the throat:
Farmers in Fauquier County are planning to bring their pitchforks to an Aug. 2 hearing before the Board of Zoning Appeals to protest the arbitrary treatment of one of their own. On April 30, Zoning Administrator Kimberley Johnson sent Martha Boneta an official cease-and-desist notice for selling farm products and hosting a birthday party for her best friend’s 10-year-old daughter on her 70-acre Paris, Va., farm without a special administrative permit. Continue reading
The Family Farm Is Being Systematically Wiped Out Of Existence In America | The ECB
An entire way of life is rapidly dying right in front of our eyes. The family farm is being systematically wiped out of existence in America, and big agribusiness and the federal government both have blood all over their hands. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the number of farms in the United States has fallen from about 6.8 million in 1935 to only about 2 million today. That doesn’t mean that there is less farming going on. U.S. farms are producing more than ever. But what it does mean is that farming is increasingly becoming dominated by the big boys…
via The Family Farm
Farm Service Agency offers farm loans for socially disadvantaged groups | NJ.com
Please someone tell me this is a hoax.
New Jersey USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) Farm Loan Chief Kevin Murphy reminds producers that FSA offers specially-targeted farm ownership and farm operating loans to Socially Disadvantaged (SDA) applicants.
“FSA targets a portion of its loan funds each year to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers,” said Murphy. “Farming and ranching is a capital intensive business and FSA is committed to helping producers start and maintain their agricultural operations.” In fiscal year 2011, New Jersey FSA obligated $2.17 million in direct and guaranteed loans to socially disadvantaged producers.
USDA defines socially disadvantaged applicants as a group whose members have been subjected to racial, ethnic, or gender prejudice because of their identity as members of the group without regard to their individual qualities. For farm loan program purposes, SDA groups are women, African Americans, American Indians and Alaskan Natives, Hispanics and Asians and Pacific Islanders. Continue reading
The Grey Enigma 