Increased conservation funding is high on his list, and he emphasizes how fruit and vegetable growers in his state have been left out of farm bill spending in the past...in other words, neither Schumer nor his farmers want to end up being a...

“Despite the fact New York and 11 other Northeastern states bring in billions of dollars in revenue, past farm bills have only supported a select few Midwestern and Western states,” Schumer said. “Upstate New York farmers and farmers across the Northeast have unique needs that differ, sometimes significantly, from their Midwestern and Western counterparts. I am going to fight to ensure that the needs and concerns don't get plowed over in the 2007 Farm Bill.”

Just one more sign that the farm bill is turning into a classic "formula fight" now that farmers and ranchers who don't receive--and don't want--traditional commodity subsidies have nonetheless determined they do have government support needs that only the farm bill can meet. And no one is more dogged in the pursuit of his constituents than Chuck Schumer.

Rob Montana has the story in The Evening Tribune (Hornell, NY).

Schumer said all of his proposals are important cogs in the machine to protect New York's farmers, and he's going to spend plenty of time pushing for that to happen.

“I'm rolling up my sleeves to get to work on this,” he said.