Assemblyman George Amedore

Spoke at a farm meeting we attended last night. He was brief and informative and showed a good comprehension of farm issues. He is, in fact, on the Assembly Agriculture Committee. As a small businessman I suspect that he understands the challenges such folks face better than a good many career politicians....and believe me, farming is a business, no matter how much we would like to perceive it as something else. (Here at Northview our farm is our sole source of income...unless you count the small stipend I get for writing the Farm Side.)

Some time ago a farm group I belong to reached out to Mr. Amedore to begin a dialog on farm issues, as he was new to the Assembly and to state politics. He willingly met with us to discuss the problems facing us as stewards of the land and business men and women. This sort of dialog is essential to continuing to even be able to farm at in NY or anywhere else in the country. For example consider Proposition 2 in California. Worded as it is it will virtually eliminate a large amount of animal agriculture in that state.

It is a positive thing to sit down with your legislators and tell them why certain taxes or regulations are damaging your business. Sometimes, and in fact oftentimes, laws are passed to address one issue and impact something completely different, entirely inadvertently. Take for example new state regulations aimed at keeping monster semi's full of reeking garbage out of small towns in the western part of the state. The governor wants to keep those trucks on the interstate as much as possible (can't blame the truckers too much..the state raised tolls ridiculously) to protect the quality of life in those towns. However, powers that be neglected to exempt farm trucks, such as those hauling corn silage from the field to the farm, from the rules. Can you imagine if every farmer had to jump on the Thruway with his big dump truck full of corn on the way to the pile? As farms by necessity grow larger, many of them have no choice but to travel on the roads hauling their crops. Many of them have abandoned wagons in favor of trucks, as they are safer on the road and faster for the farmer. This is the kind of legislation farmers need to discuss with their legislators.

NY Farm Bureau has named Amedore to its legislative Circle of Friends too. The Circle of Friends is a pretty good yardstick for measuring the agriculture savvy and policies in the Senate and Assembly. Our area is fortunate in its "Friends", as our state senator, Hugh Farley also regularly makes the list.
Agriculture is NY State's number one industry, despite the perception that the Big Apple is the only apple in town. Upstate has a few apples too...but most of them are grown on trees. We need people in Albany who understand that our industry and lifestyle provides NY folks with everything from apples to wine, to fine cheese to enjoy it with.