Issue Position: Agriculture, Farming and Rural New York

Issue Position

A longtime member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Senator O'Mara has consistently worked and continues to work within the Senate Republican conference to put in place a comprehensive "Grown in New York" agricultural development strategy.

The Senate GOP "Grown in New York" strategy has been a comprehensive, ever-growing economic development strategy for New York State agriculture first unveiled in 2013 and continually built upon, session after session, since then.

It has achieved a range of important actions for farmers, from tax relief and regulatory reforms, to support for longstanding and critical agriculture programs and services (so many of which are developed and delivered by Cornell University), as well as providing assistance to beginning farmers, addressing the challenge of aging farmers, attracting veterans into farming and encouraging the next generation.

I have also served as a member of the joint Senate and Assembly, bipartisan, 10-member Legislative Commission on the Development of Rural Resources and partnered with many legislative colleagues to keep attention focused on the central challenges facing New York's rural, upstate communities and regions including: community services, economic development, education, environmental conservation, farmland preservation, health care, public safety, transportation, workforce development, and so many more.

In 2019, I was an outspoken critic of the enactment of a controversial new law known as the "Farmerworkers Fair Labor Practices Act."

Following the Act's approval, I said, "It's another bad move at the worst possible time when too many family farms across our region and statewide are already struggling to make ends meet and survive. This action has devastating implications for family farms and an entire agricultural industry that has long been the cornerstone of economies and cultures across the Southern Tier and Finger Lakes regions, and throughout upstate New York. It's another extreme move by a radically progressive state government, under one-party control, that will cost jobs, devastate hard-working families, and further weaken the foundations of local upstate economies."

Since the Act's approval, I have called for strict legislative oversight to closely and continually monitor the impact of its implementation on family farms regionally and statewide. Read more HERE.

I have proudly been a legislative leader in the fight for keeping state government's attention focused on the need for tax relief, regulatory reform, market expansion and other economic growth initiatives.

We need to keep taking actions that keep our farmers competitive for the long haul. We can't risk New York State's farmers being taxed, regulated and priced out of business.

We must stay focused on continually building and maintaining a bold, commonsense blueprint to keep New York a proud and strong agricultural state.

My commitment to and work on behalf of New York's farmers and entire agricultural industry has long been recognized by the New York Farm Bureau.

It has been a great honor, throughout my legislative service, to be named a member of the Farm Bureau's "Circle of Friends."

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