Crop Disaster

New York State's agricultural production has been significantly damaged by recent snow storms and floods. I am fully aware of the damaging impact that these events had on yields and economy of our farmers. I will continue to be active in getting the disaster declarations for our adversely affected counties, so that the necessary relief can be given to affected farmers.

Farmers are the backbone of our upstate economy and helping our farmers remains a top priority, as we make sure every disaster victim gets aid. I voted for The Emergency Farm Relief Act of 2007, which included assistance funding for programs that would help New York State farmers recover from recent frost and flooding events, and would allocate funding for programs that provide production loss assistance to farmers for insured and uninsurable crops. I will continually meet with growers groups and farm representatives to discuss their specific concerns over the disaster that their crops have suffered and how best to improve crop insurance programs to better meet their needs, particularly for specialty and perennial crops.

I am continually working with farmers to improve the crop disaster relief programs and while Congress did not pass needed assistance to serve and protect the livelihoods of farmers in New York State, I am strongly advocating for aid in the new Congress.