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American Farmland Trust Applauds State Leaders for Investments in State Budget to Support New York Farmers in Addressing Climate Change

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – American Farmland Trust, the organization behind the national movement No Farms No Food®, applauds Governor Andrew Cuomo and State Legislators for including funding in the FY2019-2020 State Budget to help farmers adapt to and mitigate climate change.

“Farmers are on the front lines of climate change—both in bearing the brunt of its impacts and potentially being a key part of the solution,” said Samantha Levy, New York policy manager for American Farmland Trust. “American Farmland Trust thanks Governor Cuomo, Senator Metzger, Assembly Member Barrett and other leaders in the State Senate and Assembly for helping farmers mitigate climate change by funding research, outreach, and cost-share programs in this year’s budget to help farmers continue to adopt climate-smart farming practices.”

Levy continued, “Investments from the state’s Environmental Protection Fund for the Farmland Protection Program, Smart Growth grants program, and Climate Smart Farming Program enable farms to sequester carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  This includes funds from the Farmland Protection Program that, when coupled with good planning, can steer new development to existing cities and reduce the conversion of farmland, thereby reducing transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions.”

The Environmental Protection Fund was allocated $300 million in the FY19-20 State Budget and includes:

• $4.5 million for the Climate Resilient Farming program which invests in GHG emissions reduction, resiliency, and soil health on farms,
• $200,000 for Cornell’s Soil Health program for research and education to improve soil resiliency and mitigate GHG emissions on farms,
• $400,000 for a Hudson Valley Carbon Farming Pilot program first proposed by Assemblywoman Didi Barrett,
• $500,000 for Cornell University to develop an agricultural GHG inventory,
• $18 million for the Farmland Protection Program, and
• $2 million for Smart Growth.

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American Farmland Trust is the only national organization that takes a holistic approach to agriculture, focusing on the land itself, the agricultural practices used on that land, and the farmers and ranchers who do the work. AFT launched the conservation agriculture movement and continues to raise public awareness through our No Farms, No Food message. Since our founding in 1980, AFT has helped permanently protect over 6.5 million acres of agricultural lands, advanced environmentally-sound farming practices on millions of additional acres, and supported thousands of farm families.