Hawley’s Farm Tour Reveals Concerns of ‘Farm Labor Bill’
Assemblyman Steve Hawley on his first stop of the farm tour at CY Farms in Elba, a second and third generation family farm where sod, spinach, corn and onions are grown.
Hawley poses next to giant hay bales at Zuber Farms in Churchville, Monroe Co. where the owners produce corn, hay, wheat and dairy replacements.
Hawley inspects crates of sweet corn ready for shipment during a visit to Kludt Bros. Farms in Kendall where the third generation producers grow beets, corn, wheat, sweet corn and cabbage and package and ship all over the Northeast.
During the last stop of the tour, Hawley talks with the Roberts Family of Lynn-ette and Sons Inc. in Kent where the owners fear that the new ‘Farm Labor Bill’ will force their labor supply to other states with fewer hourly and wage restrictions.
Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) toured several farms across Genesee and Orleans Counties yesterday, speaking with farm owners and employees on their concerns and trepidations with the recently passed ‘Farm Labor Bill.’
Hawley is the former owner and operator of his family’s farm in Batavia, a longtime member of the Assembly Agriculture Committee and past President of the Genesee County Farm Bureau.
“I want to thank all the farm owners and their families for having me on a tour of their facilities,” Hawley said. “I understand how detrimental these new labor regulations can be to our agriculture sector and I will be pushing very hard to have a seat at the table for the Commissioner of Agriculture and Farm Bureau members on the new wage board.”
“As a former farm operator, it was great to meet so many dedicated families that are driving New York’s agricultural sector here in Western New York,” Hawley said. “A consistent theme at all of the farms we visited was the new labor regulations pushed by downstate politicians and their detrimental effect on family farms throughout the state. Many owners are concerned about labor shortage during an already short growing season and the possibility of migrant workers leaving to earn more money in other states.”