Because we have access to a wide selection of food year-round at local grocery stores, it is sometimes easy to forget where our food comes from, but New York’s farmers are agriculture leaders. They produce an array of commodities including milk, fruits, vegetables, grains, and maple syrup. Not only is the variety impressive but Upstate’s nutrient-rich soils give way to world-class, award-winning products that collectively have a tremendous impact on the economy.

Earlier this year, the New York State Comptroller highlighted the state’s agriculture industry in a report based on data collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and other sources. Farmers generated a gross income of $5.7 billion in 2017 — an increase of more than 23 percent from 2007. When farm-processing plants and food-delivery businesses are included in the equation, the total economic impact is nearly $45 billion. More than 55,000 workers are employed at farms and related activity, such as food production involving New York’s dairy and other agricultural products; that adds thousands of additional jobs.

Though gross income is up and economic impact has increased, the total number of farms in New York fell by 8 percent and total farm acreage decreased by 4 percent from 2007. In 2012, the state’s total farm acreage was estimated to be 7.2 million acres and in just five years it fell to 6.8 million acres. Still, 33,400 farms are in operation in New York today — 96 percent of which are family owned. A growing number of women — a more than 37 percent share — are farm producers. Another sector that is growing is certified-organic farms. In 2012, the state had 824 such farms and by 2017 that had grown to 1,340, ranking New York 3rd in the nation for the total number of certified organic farms. 

Milk is by far the largest agriculture commodity in the state and represents 47 percent of the state’s total agricultural sales. Dairy still remains a leader and New York ranks 3rd in the nation in milk production. The state has 624,000 milking cows that produced nearly 15 billion pounds of milk. Because of the strong milk supply and focus on value-added products, New York produces the most cottage cheese, sour cream, and yogurt in the nation. The market for value-added products helps dairy farmers to offset low milk prices.

New York ranks second among the states for production of apples and maple syrup, and third for both wine and grapes. New York is the third largest producer of wine behind only California and Washington and produces more than 30 million gallons of wine a year. In 2017, the Empire State produced nearly 18 percent of the nation’s maple syrup — second only to Vermont. Our maple producers have worked hard in recent years to capitalize on agri-tourism opportunities and value-added products. It is great to see the efforts are paying off. 

We are fortunate to have all of these products right in our backyards. Our local farmers work hard to produce these many commodities, provide fresh and locally-grown food, and protect our open spaces. I will continue to support policies in Albany that assist farmers and remain steadfast against policies that make it difficult for small businesses and farmers to operate. It is vital we keep our farmers and homegrown produce in this state and help them where we can.      

William (Will) A. Barclay is the Republican representative of the 120th New York Assembly District, which encompasses most of Oswego County, including the cities of Oswego and Fulton, as well as the town of Lysander in Onondaga County and town of Ellisburg in Jefferson County. He was just appointed Assembly Minority Leader. Contact Barclay at barclaw@assembly.state.ny.us or (315) 598-5185.

This country has a debt crisis. Yawn. Who the hell cares? Certainly not our Congress. It keeps juicing up what it spends — beyond the income that comes into the Washington, D.C. coffers.

Our Congressional reps remind me of a couple who came to me years ago for financial counseling. They had gone bankrupt twice. And were about to go down a third time.

They were spendthrifts who suffered many problems and shortcomings. A biggie was their psychological state. They enjoyed excellent income. And their income had risen every year. Money was not a problem. Their attitude toward it was the problem. When their income rose by 5 percent, they increased what they spent — by 7 or 8 percent. They could not resist spending more than they earned.

Congress suffers the same malady. More and more money arrives in Washington, and Congress spends all of the increase, and then some. It is the “and then some” that plunges us deeper in debt. When they spend more than they take in, they have to borrow more money to cover the difference. They sell more IOUs — otherwise known as Treasury bonds. Pile those bonds up to the sky. That is known as our national debt.

The last few years have seen revenues grow. Extra money has streamed into Washington, D.C. with economic growth boosted by the Trump tax cuts. Congress has spent it all, and then some.

We saw the same after the George W. Bush tax cuts increased revenue. We saw it after the Reagan tax cuts increased revenue. Congress found more ways to increase spending beyond the increased revenue.

We did see some discipline when Clinton reigned. When the Soviet empire collapsed, we could finally slash defense spending. Clinton was dealt a perfect hand: big increases in tax revenue from an expanding economy and less need to spend all those billions on defense.

Since then we have run deficits. Yawn. 

President Trump says he will tackle this in his fifth year. Right. Thus far, he has shown no backbone on spending and the deficit. Congress has passed bloated spending bills. In response, Trump has whined. But he has not stood up to the spendthrifts.

Politicians don’t care about the overspending. Because they will be long-gone when the manure hits the proverbial fan. And they don’t lose sleep over the country’s problems. As long as their district or state or favorite project wins more money, they are happy.

And what if this stupidity leads to a massive financial crisis down the road? Yawn. They know that politicians down the road can always raise taxes on the people down the road. Or they can engineer some inflation — inflated dollars to pay off non-inflated Treasuries? 

The politicians could solve this problem. They will not. My bankrupt friends could have avoided a third bankruptcy. They did not.

Congress could cut spending across the board tomorrow. They could declare that every government program would be cut by, say, 6 percent. Every program, no exceptions.

Further, they could slap a cap on future spending. They could declare that the national budget cannot go up more than inflation plus 2 percent for the next 10 years. At the end of a decade, we would have a severely reduced national debt.

Sure, a lot of folks and programs that get government checks would complain. Bureaucrats would whine that their budgets were shrinking. Foreign countries would moan that their aid from us was dwindling. State and local governments would proclaim the sky is falling because the squirts from government had declined.

But we would survive. One reason is that there is hardly a budget anywhere that cannot withstand a 6 percent cut.

Would Congress ever consider such a diet? Nah. No more than most of us will stick with our 2020 resolution to lose our bulges.

From Tom…as in Morgan.      

Tom Morgan writes about political, financial, and other subjects from his home in upstate New York. You can write to Tom at tomasinmorgan@yahoo.com, read more of his writing at tomasinmorgan.com, or find him on Facebook.