ALBANY — U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced $599,147 in federal funding for Cornell University. The federal funding was allocated through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program.

“To sustain our vital agricultural sector, we must ensure that young and beginning farmers have the tools and resources they need to lay the groundwork for successful farms,”said Senator Schumer. “This funding will help plant the seeds of a long, prosperous future for the state’s agricultural industry. I’m proud to stand with New York’s farmers, and I’m committed to securing the resources they need to succeed.” 

“We need to ensure that the next generation of New York farmers and ranchers are fully prepared to succeed,” said Senator Gillibrand, a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. “Agriculture is vital to New York’s economy, and I will continue to support programs that create opportunities and training for our farmers and ranchers to be successful in this industry.”

NIFA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program aims to address the issues of rising age and the decrease of U.S. farmers and ranchers in the agriculture industry. Grants are awarded to projects that deliver education, mentoring, and technical assistance programs that help beginning farmers and ranchers enter, establish, build, and manage successful farms.

–The office of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer

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