State Legislature Approve Family Farmers and Apple Growers’ Relief Act

Republican assemblymen Jim Tedisco, Pete Lopez and Steve McLaughlin called a special session of the legislature yesterday to pass a tax relief bill for New York’s apple farmers.

According to a USDA report last Friday, the state’s apple production is down 52 percent from last year, making it the state’s smallest crop since 1948. The cause is from an unusually warm spring, followed by late season freezes and this summer’s drought.

The Family Farmers and Apple Growers’ Relief Act would establish a tax credit for the 2012 tax year, allowing farmers to claim 35 percent of their crop losses.

The bill joins a long list of unfinished business from the spring that various groups of lawmakers would like to address in a special session.