Letter: Farms can’t afford threshold
The future of agriculture locally may be in the hands of a three-member board. The decision they make will impact our farms immediately.
The decision to be made — should the overtime threshold for farm labor move from 60 hours to 40 hours? The answer — no. According to a study from Cornell’s Dyson School and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (commissioned by New York State) 72 percent of workers stated they would not remain in their current job; 70 percent of guest workers stated they would seek work in other states. Owners of one-half of fruit and vegetable farms and two-thirds of dairy farms would redirect their operations.
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