Pirozzolo Slams Anti-Dairy Bill: ‘This Is A Joke, Not Policy’
Editor’s note: Assembly Bill A.6298 says: “Prohibits the department of environmental conservation from issuing or authorizing any permits to new or expanding large concentrated animal feeding operations.”
According to Wikipedia: “In animal husbandry, a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO), as defined by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), is an intensive animal feeding operation (AFO) in which over 1,000 animal units are confined for over 45 days a year. An animal unit is the equivalent of 1,000 pounds of “live” animal weight.[1] A thousand animal units equates to 700 dairy cows, 1,000 meat cows, 2,500 pigs weighing more than 55 pounds (25 kg), 10,000 pigs weighing under 55 pounds, 10,000 sheep, 55,000 turkeys, 125,000 chickens, or 82,000 egg laying hens or pullets.”
Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo (R,C-Staten Island) today joined his fellow legislators and agricultural leaders to denounce Assembly Bill A.6928, legislation that would place a cap on the number of cows allowed on New York’s dairy farms, as an embarrassment to the state and a slap in the face to every hard-working farmer.
The bill, backed by New York City lawmakers, would effectively penalize growth in one of the state’s most important industries, dairy, which generates billions in economic activity annually and sustains thousands of jobs.
“This bill is ‘udderly’ ridiculous. We live in one of the most expensive, overregulated states in the country, and instead of making it easier for people to grow food and run a business, we’re now talking about limiting how many cows a farmer can have? It’s a joke, and not a funny one.
“Just because you don’t see cows on Staten Island, that doesn’t mean this doesn’t hit home. Every time someone in my district picks up a container of milk, a stick of butter, or a block of cheese, they’re depending on our New York dairy farmers. We should be doing everything possible to expand agriculture in this state, not shrink it. The only thing getting milked is going to be the taxpayers.
“Why wouldn’t we want more New York cheese on the shelves? Why wouldn’t we want our own farmers supplying our own communities? This bill is a perfect example of ideology running wild with no regard for economic consequences or common sense, by people who aren’t farmers and have no experience farming,” said Pirozzolo.
Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo represents the 63rd Assembly District, which encompasses parts of the North Shore, including Emerson Hill, Sunnyside, Bloomfield, Travis and Chelsea.
Banner Image: Cows at a factory farm. Image Credit – Annie Spratt
Assemlymember Sam Pirozzolo
Sam Pirozzolo is a native Staten Islander. He is a frequent contributor to the Staten Islander, and is well-known and loved by people on both the Right and Left, in his North Shore community. Sam brings people together, instead of dividing, by speaking common sense and analyzing our island's, and city's, issues, with intelligence and concern for all. Sam Pirozzolo was elected to the New York State Assembly on November 8, 2022. The 63rd Assembly District represents parts of Richmond County. Sam has successfully operated his family’s optical practice for 33 years. He is the past president of Community Education Council 31 where he served for seven years. Some of his most notable accomplishments include the creation of a Gifted and Talented program for middle school students, the recommendation for the NYC Department of Education to hire retired police officers as school resource officers, and the successful fight for the immediate cleanup of toxic PCBs leaking from the light fixtures in school classrooms. As an education advocate, Sam has participated in historic litigation that led to the return of more than $4 billion to New York public schools. He also fought to ensure that co-located charter schools receive the same capital funding as their host public schools. While serving in the Legislature, Sam will work to support law enforcement officers with proper funding, fix broken bail and parole policies, and help small businesses grow and thrive in a stronger, more resilient economy.