Bills Expected to Help
New York Maple, Honey Producers
The New York State Senate has passed bills that will allow honey and maple producers to run their operations more efficiently and more profitably.
Expanding the definition of agricultural buildings to include maple production facilities and sugarhouses, one bill will enable maple producers to avoid unnecessary administrative barriers they currently face when building those facilities.
The legislation will also allow for public access as an agritourism activity by allowing maple producers to open their establishments to tourists in order to promote their products.
Removing 2007 provisions requiring beekeepers to allow the Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Markets to make surveys of their apiary (bee) yards is the focus of the other bill. The current provisions allow the commissioner to open and inspect any hive, colony, or package that he or she has reason to believe is containing bees or other objects relating to beekeeping. Senate Democratic spokesmen say regardless of the intentions of the provisions from 2007, they have not been utilized properly and by repealing them there is great potential for state savings.
Agriculture is one of the state’s largest industries, selling $4.5 billion worth of products in 2007; about 25 percent of the state’s land is used for agriculture. While dairy farms largely dominate New York agriculture, the maple industry is second only to Vermont. Honey producers generate over $5 million worth of honey annually.
Expanding the definition of agricultural buildings to include maple production facilities and sugarhouses, one bill will enable maple producers to avoid unnecessary administrative barriers they currently face when building those facilities.
The legislation will also allow for public access as an agritourism activity by allowing maple producers to open their establishments to tourists in order to promote their products.
Removing 2007 provisions requiring beekeepers to allow the Commissioner of the Department of Agriculture and Markets to make surveys of their apiary (bee) yards is the focus of the other bill. The current provisions allow the commissioner to open and inspect any hive, colony, or package that he or she has reason to believe is containing bees or other objects relating to beekeeping. Senate Democratic spokesmen say regardless of the intentions of the provisions from 2007, they have not been utilized properly and by repealing them there is great potential for state savings.
Agriculture is one of the state’s largest industries, selling $4.5 billion worth of products in 2007; about 25 percent of the state’s land is used for agriculture. While dairy farms largely dominate New York agriculture, the maple industry is second only to Vermont. Honey producers generate over $5 million worth of honey annually.
.jpg)
Comments