Estate Tax Legislation a Priority for New York Farm Bureau

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — The New York Farm Bureau says its top legislative priorities this year include the governor's proposal to raise the exemption threshold on the state's estate tax from $1 million to $5.25 million.

According to the bureau, some 3,000 farms are above the $1 million mark and may be land rich, but cash poor.

President Dean Norton says the tax change is an opportunity to help farmers transition so the next generation can keep farming.

The bureau says its 2014 public policy agenda resulted from grassroots development involving its members from 52 county Farm Bureaus across the state.

The group says the rural economies in upstate New York and on Long Island depend on agriculture with nearly 200,000 jobs connected to farming.