BILL NUMBER: S583
SPONSOR: HELMING
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to the
establishment of the "Farmland for a New Generation" program
 
PURPOSE:
The purpose of this bill is to establish the "Farmland for a New Gener-
ation" program under the oversight of the Commissioner of the New York
State Department of Agriculture and Markets in coordination with Ameri-
can Farmland Trust in order to establish a statewide resource center for
farmland transition and conservation and to provide financial assistance
to partnering organizations.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Amends the agriculture and markets law by adding a new
section 323a, which establishes the "Farmland for a New Generation"
program under the oversight of the Commissioner of the New York State
Department of Agriculture and Markets in coordination with American
Farmland Trust and outlines the responsibilities of this program.
Section 2: Appropriates funds as may be deemed necessary and appropri-
ate, within the constraints of the budget, to the Department of Agricul-
ture and Markets for the purposes of carrying out the provisions of
Section L
Section 3: Establishes the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Currently, nearly 38% of the farmland in New York is operated by senior
farmers aged 65 and over who face barriers to the transfer of their
farms to the next generation. Farmland in transition is vulnerable to
being lost to real estate development, meeting the same fate as the
nearly 5,000 farms that have been lost to real estate development in New
York since the 1980s. At the same time, beginning farmers - including
young people, immigrants, veterans, and others seeking to start a farm -
have difficulty finding affordable farmland in close proximity to
markets.
The Farmland for a New Generation Program will address this problem by
significantly expanding support for new and next-generation farmers in
finding farmland, assisting established farmers to find a successor for
their agricultural business, and assisting farmers in protecting their
land using conservation easements.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-2024: S.6016 referred to Agriculture
2021-2022: S.2611 referred to Agriculture
2019-2020: S.3142 referred to Agriculture
2018: S.7681 referred to Agriculture/A.9619-A-referred to Agriculture
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.