New York farmers including those in Dutchess, Orange and Ulster counties are under increasing economic and financial pressure because of federal policy changes, including higher tariffs, cuts to certain agricultural programs, and stricter immigration enforcement policies, according to a new report by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
These challenges could diminish farm production, squeeze profits, and lead to higher prices for consumers, DiNapoli warns.
“There is real concern in rural New York about federal cuts, tariffs and labor shortages,” said DiNapoli. “New York’s farms are a vital part of the state’s economy and our local food supply, and we need policies that strengthen, not undermine their production and that lower, not drive up, prices in the grocery store.”
DiNapoli’s report identified impacts to the financial viability of family farms in the state from recent federal actions. It said the state could see diminished farm production, a squeeze in farm profits, and higher prices for consumers.
DiNapoli found that in 2022, 3,275 farms in New York received $66.3 million in direct federal payments from Washington, excluding crop insurance payments. In addition, the state received $382 million in USDA payments from three major programs: the Natural Resource Conservation Service; the Farm Service Agency; and Rural Development. These programs fund a wide variety of projects on and off the farm, including housing, community water systems, renewable energy projects, guaranteed farm loans, conservation reserve programs and technical assistance for environmental projects. Nearly every county in New York receives assistance from at least one of the programs, DiNapoli’s report said. It identified a cut of $84 million in federal fiscal year 2026 appropriations for the Farm Service Agency.
DiNapoli found that Trump’s tariffs are impacting farmers, affecting their ability to sell their products around the world, and increasing the cost of supplies and equipment for farms that already operate on thin margins. New York dairy exports declined by as much as 12% in the first half of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, and U.S. soybean sales to China dropped from 985 million bushels in 2024 to 218 million in the first eight months of 2025.
DiNapoli’s report found that prices have climbed for imported fertilizers, steel and farm equipment. Fertilizer went up as much as 37.6% during the first six months of 2025.
According to DiNapoli’s report, New York farms employed more than 56,000 people in 2022. Many of the workers were immigrants who plant and pick crops and work with farm animals. In 2023, nearly 10,000 were employed through the seasonal H2A federal guest worker visa program. A portion of the farm workers were undocumented. The report noted that the loss of farm employees at crucial points in the growing season, or in the case of dairy farms, at any point in the year, could devastate individual farms.
DiNapoli’s report cited the U.S. Department of Labor as expressing the opinion that “The near total cessation of the inflow of illegal aliens combined with the lack of an available legal workforce, results in significant disruptions to production costs and threatening the stability of domestic food production and prices for U.S consumers.”
