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CALL TO ACTION

As you may know, New York State funding for farmland protection programs has been cut dramatically.  Slashed by just over 50%, budget cuts threaten to reduce funding in half again…leaving potentially a little more than $5 million in funding.

According to the American Farmland Trust (AFT) website, $173 million has been awarded from New York State’s farmland Protection program to protect just over 300 farms since 1996. According to AFT’s graph below, only 59 percent of these farm families have been paid (and their farms protected.) 

Because of the back log of unspent funds, over a third of the money dedicated for farmland protection has been put into a general fund to be used for other purposes.  
This poses a serious threat to farmers across the state who want to protect their family farms. 

What You Can Do.
Contact any of the following and ask what you can do to help.  Write them and ask for their support to increase funding allocated to farmland protection in NYS.  Contact your local legislators and ask what they can do: http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem and http://www.nysenate.gov/?OpenForm, enter your zip code, and find out who represents your area.