Downstate Shouldn’t Regulate Our Farms

Assemblyman David DiPietro (R,C-East Aurora) criticized a proposal by New York City liberals to regulate the farm industry right out of New York State.

“These downstate Assembly members are seeking to regulate farming right out of New York,” DiPietro said. “These members don’t come from the rural areas of New York and they don’t know how we conduct business on our farms. These radical changes in labor law showcase how New York is still not open for business, despite claims to the contrary. Family farms make up almost 90 percent of all farms in our state. Can they really afford more restrictions on their lifestyles? I know they cannot, and if the people who crafted this bill disagree, I encourage them to come upstate and see for themselves.”

“What the Assembly Majority doesn’t understand is that farms do not operate like other businesses. These are salt of the earth people who work from dawn to dusk with calluses on their hands. The farm industry in New York already has the second highest labor costs of the top 10 agriculture producing states. You cannot regulate an industry into prosperity. Anyone who thinks farms operate 40 hours a week and eight hours a day has never consulted a farmer about their day-to-day life,” DiPietro said.

If Assembly Bill 1792 will negatively affect your farm, please contact DiPietro’s district office and join his fight to save New York’s farms from the destructive meddling of downstate Assembly members. He can be reached by phone at (585) 786-0180 or by e-mail at dipietrod@assembly.state.ny.us. Like him on Facebook as Assemblyman David DiPietro.