A bipartisan group of state representatives, including state Sen. George Borrello, third from left, visited Country Ayre Farms in Dewittville in September 2022 as part of a tour of Western New York’s farms and agricultural businesses. P-J file photo

Subsidies may be bad for New York State farmers.

And state farmlands may be under threat from Albany as well.

At least State Sen. George Borrello (R-Sunset Bay) thinks so.

Borrello said that the state environmental committee and the state labor committee harms state farmers by incentivizing them to grow solar panels instead of food to feed people.

“We do this right here in this chamber by supplying more and more subsidies – taxpayer subsidies – to do things that ultimately are bad for farmers,” Borrello said at a recent state Senate session that recognized New York State Agriculture Week, March 17-23.

He added that the state tells farmers to buy more expensive seeds rather than inexpensive seeds because the expensive seeds are better even though data shows the inexpensive seeds are just as safe to use.

Borrello noted that New York is an agricultural state.

“I grew up on farms. My grandfathers farmed the land,” Borrello said.

The lawmaker said that when he visits other states, those residents think New York sState is New York City.

Far from it.

“They (residents) don’t understand that we (New York state) have hundreds of thousands acres of farmland. And those things are under threat here in New York state,” Borrello said.

He noted the threat to state agriculture happens right in Albany, and New York is losing farms twice the rate of the national average.

“I stand with agriculture. I stand with farmers, and I stand with those folks that actually lose money to provide food,” Borrello said.

He doesn’t stand, he said, with politicians that make it impossible for farmers to do the job they need to do – provide food.

“No farms. No food. New York state is an ag state, and I am proud to have ag heritage in my family,” Borrello said.