At their Welcome Stock Farm, Bill Peck and his brother Neil are the sixth generation to carry on a family legacy of dairy farming in Saratoga County.

“Farming has been in our family since 1836, so you don’t want to be the generation that fails at it, and it’s become more difficult probably in each generation,” said Peck, whose farm is home to about 1,000 cattle.

Peck says the latest challenge to their business and the state’s agricultural industry is a proposal to bring the farm workers’ wage structure more in line with other industries by allowing them to earn overtime after 40 hours instead of the current 60.

“This is just another burden placed on the business community, the farmers in this situation, by the state of New York,” he said.

Peck has 18 employees and said changing the overtime law would cost him between $10,000 and $12,000 more each month.

Because milk prices are set at the federal level, he said he and many farmers won’t be able to recoup those funds, likely resulting in a drop in profits and available hours for staff.

“If you start limiting your workforce, limiting their hours, they are going to go find places where they can go make more money,” Peck said. “This becomes a lose-lose situation.”

While many local farmers like Peck fear the potential economic impact, advocates believe changes to the wage structure, which was put in place during FDR‘s time in the White House, will help reverse inequalities affecting a historically Black and immigrant farm workforce.

“I’m not saying individual farmers are racist, what we are saying is the policy, the policy that has allowed this exclusion to exist for over 80 years was rooted in racism,” said Lisa Zucker, a senior legislative attorney with the New York Civil Liberties Union.

Zucker says providing overtime after 40 hours will lead to more fair compensation to workers who often work in physically demanding conditions.

“If you are a crop worker, you are bending and picking, bending and picking, bending and picking for 10 hours a day or even eight hours a day, but 50 or 60 hours a week,” Zucker said. “They often suffer irreparable injury to their body from doing this kind of work.”

Under the current proposal, which still needs to be approved by the labor commissioner and then governor, the change would be phased in over eight years, starting in 2024.

While advocates believe it’s a step toward equality, many farmers remain concerned about the impact.

“We have received calls from other states who are interested in following our lead, and I think that’s a great position for New York to be in,” Zucker said.

“As you transition downward, it is going to be very difficult for farms, dairies, vegetable growers and orchards to even compete and stay in New York,” Peck said.