Hawley speaks against proposal to ban any additional farms with 700-plus cows

Photo provided by Assemblyman Hawley’s Office: This photo was displayed at the podium of a news conference today.

Press Release, Assemblyman Steve Hawley

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C-Batavia) stood in support with his colleagues today at the state Capitol to denounce a new proposal from the Majority that would place a ceiling on the number of cows allowed on New York dairy farms (A.6928).

This initiative would prevent the Department of Environmental Conservation from giving any permits for new or expanding dairy operations that exceed 700 cows. While the Majority claims this policy will help improve environmental conditions, Hawley believes this bill will put an unnecessary burden on local farms and hurt our state’s agriculture industry.

Over the last 25 years, New York has seen a dramatic decline in the number of dairy farms across the state. From 1997 to 2022, the number of dairy operations decreased from 9,300 to roughly 3,000. This decline has picked up substantially in recent years as the dairy industry has struggled to turn a profit and keep up with operating costs. Hawley is adamant that this proposal will only accelerate this trend a push more dairy farmers out of business.

“While small-scale dairy farms are struggling to make ends meet, members of the Majority who have never stepped foot on a farming operation are trying to regulate them out of business,” said Hawley. “As a former farmer myself, the assertion that our local farms are destroying our environment is completely ridiculous.

“Working families across our state rely on our dairy farms for their basic necessities, and this proposal will only bring up costs and reduce availability. We cannot allow this out-of-touch proposal to hurt our rural communities, and I will continue to stand with my colleagues in the state Assembly to ensure this initiative is shut down once and for all.”