Urban NYS Dems want to limit cow farts by capping number of heifers upstate farms can own — sparking upstate-downstate beef

This new dairy farm bill is an udder failure.

Cityslicker state lawmakers from the Big Apple want to limit the number of cows on New York’s dairy farms – a green push that opponents argue would cripple an industry that needs to be beefed up.

The bill would prohibit dairy farms from reaching or exceeding 700 cows as a way to keep bovine farts from spewing the greenhouse gas methane into the atmosphere, as well as “billions of pounds of manure” from polluting waterways.

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But Chris Noble, co-owner of the 1,800-cow Noblehurst Farms in Livingston County, argued the “arbitrary” cow cap would create an economic burden on dairy farms such as his. 

“That would put us in the bulls-eye,” he said. 

The proposed moo-ve has also sparked an upstate-downstate beef between lawmakers from rural and urban districts — with even Gov. Kathy Hochul viewing the bill as “insane,” according to a source close to the Democratic leader.

“Let’s be clear: this bill makes no sense,” Sen. Mark Walczyk (R-Jefferson) said in a statement.

“By restricting dairy farm expansions, we are undermining successful farmers in an industry that is already incredibly challenging. Why are New York City lawmakers trying to create mandates for farmers in our rural communities? They have no business doing so.”

The bill’s sponsors are Democratic Socialists of America member state Sen. Jabari Brisport (D-Brooklyn) and Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan). Other supporters include fellow DSA member Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher (D-Brooklyn) and downstate Democrats, including Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan) and Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon (D-Brooklyn).

The lefty lawmakers argue large-scale factory farms, which are given Concentrated Animal Farming Operations permits, wreak havoc on the environment.

Manure runoff creates harmful algal blooms; ammonia and nitrogen oxides wafting from the facilities diminishes air quality; and methane contributes to climate change, they argued in the bill’s memo.

“Factory farming is rapidly taking over in New York, and it’s creating dangerous contamination of our water and air. We have to stop the out-of-control growth of these industrial mega-farms,” Brisport said in a statement.

The lawmakers also contend that sprawling dairy farms hurt smaller, family-run farms. 

Brisport’s office said the state has lost about two-thirds of family-scale dairies between 2002 and 2022 because of the rise of factory farming.

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But critics such as Wyoming County dairy farmer Eric Dziedzic noted that many large farms are family owned.

Dziedzic himself owns the 1,400-cow Dziedzic Farms with his parents, and has several family members working on the farm. He noted Chobani yogurt, Great Lakes Cheese and Fairlife milk are all setting up massive operations in New York – and are in need of milk.

“Limiting dairy size doesn’t make sense,” he said. “It just seems like a backward move,

“I am not against small farms or large farm, each has their place and are important to the community,” he added.

Dairy farms with 500 or more cows accounted for roughly 11% of all such farms across the state, the USDA’s 2022 census found. 

And 95% of dairy farms in New York – which is the fifth largest dairy producing state – are family-owned, according to the Northeast Dairy Producer Association.

Likewise, Noble said his farm – a family-owned operation for seven generations – has been eyeing an expansion to meet expected demand from Great Lakes Cheese and Fairlife. 

He argued that the bill pretends as if large-scale New York dairy farms don’t run under state environmental regulations that are more restrictive than federal ones. 

The bill, which would not force farms to lose any cows they already have, has little chance of clearing the state Senate and Assembly — and even if it did, Hochul would not sign it, according to the source close to the governor.

The governor’s office declined comment on the legislation.

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Upstate Democrats also rallied against the bill, deeming it wrong-headed and misguided.

“As Chair of the Assembly Committee on Agriculture, I am disappointed that a bill like this was introduced without consulting anyone involved in the dairy industry,” Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo (D-Broome) said in a statement. “These hard-working men and women are some of the best stewards of the land I know.”

Critics claim Brisport and Rosenthal – the two sponsors of the bill – don’t understand how farming and upstate agriculture work.

“Our family-run, sometimes women-owned farms take great pride in caring for our land, animals, and communities,” said Jefferson County Agricultural Coordinator Jay Matteson in a statement provided by Walczyk’s office.

“Many of these farms provide important income to minorities and disadvantaged people.”

GOP House Rep. Elise Stefanik, who is eyeing a run for governor, called out the legislation as did a rival looking to pick up her congressional seat.

Stefanik complained “New York City Dems don’t get agriculture.”

Walczyk said state lawmakers from the city should focus on the five boroughs and “leave Upstate out of it.”

“Our farmers deserve support, not obstacles,” he stated. “This legislation will drive farms out of New York altogether.”