“This disastrous bill would devastate our state’s top industry and the cornerstone of our region- agriculture. Misguided mandates and regulations from Albany Majority politicians have already put our farm families on an uneven playing filed. Today’s bill is different. It sets the playing field on fire.

“Over the past five years, we’ve lost 20% of our dairy farms. According to a Farm Credit East study, net farm income has plummeted 50% statewide over the past few years. Nationally, labor costs account for 36% of net farm income. In New York state, it’s 63%. So New York farmers are already at a competitive disadvantage to those in neighboring states.

“This bill would turn a difficult situation into an impossible one. This bill would increase costs on family farms by hundreds of millions of dollars and decrease net farm income even further. This, coupled with the fact that farmers are unable to recoup increased costs because they can’t set their own prices, is simply unworkable. It creates a wage board that stacks the deck against small farmers by allowing New York City labor unions and the governor’s hand-picked labor boss to team up against the interests of farmers. It ignores the seasonal, weather-dependent nature of harvests. Like many poorly-conceived wage mandates, it will kill the very jobs it claims to fortify.

“Ninety-eight percent of the farms in New York State are family owned, and they have no way to generate the needed revenue to keep up with these increased costs and mandates," said Palmesano.