Submitted photo and press release:
Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) toured several farms in Genesee, Orleans and Monroe counties yesterday, speaking with farm owners and employees on their concerns and trepidations with the recently passed the Farm Labor Bill.
Hawley is the former owner and operator of his family’s farm in Batavia, a longtime member of the Assembly Agriculture Committee and past President of the Genesee County Farm Bureau.
“I want to thank all the farm owners and their families for having me on a tour of their facilities,” Hawley said.
“I understand how detrimental these new labor regulations can be to our agriculture sector and I will be pushing very hard to have a seat at the table for the Commissioner of Agriculture and Farm Bureau members on the new wage board.”
“As a former farm operator, it was great to meet so many dedicated families that are driving New York’s agricultural sector here in Western New York,” Hawley said.
“A consistent theme at all of the farms we visited was the new labor regulations pushed by Downstate politicians and their detrimental effect on family farms throughout the state. Many owners are concerned about labor shortage during an already short growing season and the possibility of migrant workers leaving to earn more money in other states.”
Photo: Assemblyman Hawley on his first stop of the farm tour at CY Farms in Elba, a second- and third-generation family farm where sod, spinach, corn and onions are grown.
