“Our agricultural communities are built by small family farms, and the Assembly Majority has been attacking them, their way of life and their ability to prosper by forcing progressive policies onto their farms. Of the 35,000 farms in New York, 98 percent of them are family owned. Farmers have an exceptional work ethic, can-do attitude and vast problem solving abilities. They work hours that would kill most people and it takes a toll on their bodies.

“Downstate Assembly Majority Members have made a wrong assumption that farmers don’t care about their workers, but that is far from the truth. Our farmers care deeply for their communities, land and livestock. Local farmers are always the first ones to talk to me about how New York can help improve the lives of agricultural workers and the industry.

“Forcing collective bargaining on farms gives false promises to farm workers all while threatening productivity, food availability and the income for workers and farming families. Many of the provisions in this legislation already apply to large agricultural operations, imposing these provisions on mom-and-pop farms, as the sponsor intends, would be a serious disruption to these smaller operations. If this misguided legislation is enacted, it will add greater pressure to family farms and allow for the proliferation of mega farms, if any farms are to remain in New York at all.”