June 10, 2015

Letters Editor
The New York Times
letters@nytimes.com
To the Editor:
Op-ed contributor Mark Bittman worries about the future of family farming in America as
farmers age and rising land and production costs threaten to put agriculture careers out of reach
for future farmers. (Lets Help Create More Farmers, June 10th)
In the past two years, New York State government has stepped up its investment in the future of
family farming with the State Senate-led Young Farmers program, a far-reaching plan that
aims to preserve existing farms today and for the next generation.
Young Farmers includes student loan forgiveness for first-time farmers who commit to at least
five years building their farm business after college, and a New Farmers Innovation Fund thats
providing grants up to $50,000 to nearly two dozen farmers from the East End of Long Island to
the Lake Erie shore in Western New York.
Young Farmers also includes reforms to the estate tax to smooth the transfer of existing farms to
future generations, and increased state budget funding for more than 200 school-based
agriculture education programs, like Cornell-run FFA, including programs on Long Island,
Westchester and even in New York City.
Were specifically addressing farmland cost with a new law that limits farmland tax increases
thats already saved farmers $11 million in its very first year. This years budget included record
funding for farmland preservation. And bipartisan legislation Ive sponsored is moving through
both houses of the Legislature that would make available start-up loans for land and equipment
purchases, and identify surplus state properties that can be sold or leased for use in agriculture.
New York has 35,000 farmsincluding farms and farm businesses in every one of the five
boroughs and the citys suburbsand the average size of our farms is just 202 acres; family
farming is still very much in vogue here.
The State Senate is committed to keeping farms in the familyand in New Yorks future.
Sincerely,

NYS Senator Patty Ritchie

48th Senate District (including Jefferson, Oswego and part of St. Lawrence County)
Chair, Senate Agriculture Committee