New York Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets Richard A. Ball joined CBS6's Power & Politics this week.
As the State faces a decline in rural farmland, Ball talked about the importance of urban farming, and the need for resources to help urban farms grow.
While he spoke about the need for the federal government to update the Farm Bill (especially after its most recent "extension"), he also spoke about State grant funding.
"We're going to release about a million and a million and a half dollars worth of awards here, and those projects will be released in 2025," Ball said. "We put together the community gardens task force. So we're meeting with the community gardens people and urban farm people across the state, not just in our urban areas, but all across the state, finding out what their needs are, finding out how we can help them."
He also spoke about:
-Potential new Mass Deportation policies, Ball saying that as many as 40 to 50 percent of workers in agriculture are not properly documented
-The impact of proposed tariffs on State agriculture, an industry that lost $27 billion nationwide during the last round of tariffs during the first Trump Administration
-Specialty crops, and New York's focus on those, along with the need for resources to help enhance that portion of the industry
-The Spotted Lanternfly, and the threat the insect is posing to State agriculture
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Department of Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball, December 30th, 2024 | Power & Politics podcast - Listen or read transcript on Metacast
