BILL NUMBER: S9248
SPONSOR: HINCHEY
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to the
beginning farmer advisory board on agriculture
 
PURPOSE OF THE BILL:
To simplify, diversify, rename, and improve the young farmer board.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 of the bill renames the young farmer advisory board to be the
beginning farmer advisory board.
Section 2 of the bill expands the membership of the board and designates
appointments to the board by the commissioner and by the senate and
assembly. Current provisions of AML § 309-a also require board members
to be under the age of forty-five years old and derive at least fifty
percent of the member's personal income from farming or agricultural
activities in the state. This restrictive requirement is removed.
Current law also requires the board to meet quarterly, this proposal
would change that to twice a year. The bill also names the commissioner
or their designee as the chair and the Department is to provide support
services for the board.
Section 3 of the bill continues with the renaming of the board from the
young farmer advisory board to the beginning farmer advisory board. The
provision to annually elect a chair, vice chair, and secretary is
removed.
The section also changes the requirement for an annual report to a bien-
nial report to the Governor and legislature that prioritizes policy
issues which affect young and aspiring farmers.
The final section creates an effective date of immediately.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
With the average age of New York State's farmers approaching 57 years,
up from 55 years, according to the 2022 Census of Agriculture, identify-
ing the next generation to work on our farms and assuring their success
should be a concern of New York state. Once an individual makes a
commitment to start farming, a complex set of business issues must be
tackled. It can be overwhelming and discouraging to try to navigate
programs and resources in matters related to farming.
With the creation of this new beginning farmer board, the Department is
proposing to expand the board membership to include many other important
voices, such as a member of a group that has been historically underrep-
resented in farm ownership, organic farmers, veteran farmers, USDA and
other organizations and service providers.
This beginning farmer advisory group will be much easier to constitute
and will be able to continually identify broad areas of concern, The
Department previously had a beginning farmer workgroup that identified
many concerns, including, access to land and capital, business planning,
navigating existing program, linking up with farmers who are leaving
farming, mentorship, and technical advice related to production.
By creating a board that meets regularly, the state can address these
concerns and implement a plan that moves forward our efforts to bring
our Younger generation and new entrants to the farm.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A10195 (Passed Assembly)
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:!
Immediately

Statutes affected:
S9248: 309-a agriculture and markets law