Cyrus Conrad is the owner of Ridgedale Farm in Sharon Springs, a family business for more than 50 years. These days, he says being a farmer is getting tougher.
“The rising cost of everything; this year, the cost of fertilizer will be almost double,” Conrad said. “The supply chain has definitely impacted us, not being able to get parts for our equipment.”
What You Need To Know
- The state farm laborers wage board will determine the overtime threshold for farm workers, possibly lowering it from 60 to 40 hours
- While farm workers and labor unions welcome the idea, farm owners say it would cripple business
- Three hearings on the proposal will be held virtually this month
Conrad clocks in nearly 50 hours a week alongside his dad, brother and two other employees.
“It puts more stress on me and my family. Being the owner of the farm, I have to pick up the slack wherever there’s missing pieces,” Conrad said.
In addition to a labor shortage, the cost of doing business is proving costly. Over the last decade, 2,000 farms across New York State had no choice but to close up shop.
It is why, Conrad claims, a proposal to change how farm workers are paid could be the final straw for the business.
“Milking cows right now, there’s not hardly any profit in it to begin with, and with these labor issues, it's hard enough to find people to work for us anyways, and now to put more parameters on that, it's not going to work,” Conrad said.
The state’s Farm Laborers Wage Board will hold three public hearings this month to consider changing how overtime is paid to farm workers. Right now, workers get overtime pay after 60 hours. If approved, farms would have to pay overtime wages to their workers after 40 hours.
Farm owners like Conrad say they don’t want this to happen, because they barely break even as it is.
“It’s a challenge. I wish we could afford more employees, but it’s not in the cards right now,” Conrad said.
On the other side of the debate, farm workers themselves and labor unions say overtime after 40 hours a week is about equality, fair wages and safety.
“It needs to stop. It’s a policy rooted in racism and farm workers deserve full equality,” said Lisa Zucker, attorney for the New York Civil Liberties Union.
“Farm workers worked through a deadly pandemic for nearly two years, often at a great personal risk to keep our families fed,” said Frankie Miranda, president and CEO for the Hispanic Federation.
But despite a possible shake-up to how he does business, Conrad remains hopeful that his farm can stay open.
“It’s scary sometimes, but I have faith we’ll figure it out and adapt,” he said.