Let me be direct: the federal government's tariff policies are hitting the farms of Wayne County hard.

The New York Farm Bureau has been clear — they oppose tariffs. Canola meal that feeds dairy cows comes from Canada and is now more expensive. Farm equipment parts cross the border multiple times before reaching a farm, and each crossing adds tariff costs. Energy costs are going up. And a 25 percent tariff on aluminum has a potentially devastating impact on farming operations that depend on it for equipment and infrastructure. Nystateofpolitics

New York's dairy and apple farms are grappling with rising costs, tariffs, and fluctuating market prices all at the same time. These farms are not corporations with hedging desks and financial cushions. They are family operations where a bad year means a real conversation about whether to sell the land. Nystateofpolitics

Here's where I'll put my energy at the state level:

I'll push for a state agricultural emergency relief fund that can be activated quickly when federal trade policy creates sudden cost shocks — not a slow-moving grant program that arrives after the damage is done.

I'll advocate for state-level buy-local procurement policies that guarantee Wayne County farms a percentage of state institutional purchasing — schools, prisons, hospitals, state facilities. When federal export markets dry up, the state should be absorbing some of that production.

I'll work to expand the farm-to-shelf pipeline I've already proposed so that local distribution infrastructure is strong enough that Wayne County farmers aren't entirely dependent on volatile export markets to survive a bad trade year.

I'll fight to make crop insurance and disaster assistance programs easier to access for small and mid-size farms that don't have the staff to navigate complex federal paperwork.

And I'll be loud in Albany about the fact that trade wars have consequences for real people in real places — and that the people growing food in Wayne County deserve to have that said out loud by someone who represents them.