Verona, NY — Providence Farm Collective (PFC) celebrates the New York State Farm Bureau’s adoption of two planks to expand the legal definition of a “farm operation.” Executive Director Kristin Heltman‑Weiss and Deputy Director Hamadi Ali attended the Farm Bureau’s State Annual Meeting in Verona on December 4 to support PFC’s and Erie County Farm Bureau’s proposal for an updated definition. The planks, as noted in the 2026 NYFB Policy Book, read: “We support expanding the definition of farm operation in NYS law to include nonprofit farms, urban agricultural operations and hydroponic and aquaponic systems.” Additionally: “We support expanding the definition of farm operation in NYS law to include agricultural enterprises operating through cooperative ownership models including: worker cooperatives, nonprofit held land with long term farmer leases and multi-member farming partnerships engaged in commercial agriculture.”

  “How ‘farm operation’ gets defined can be weaponized against small farms and collectives like ours,” said Kristin Heltman‑Weiss. “Over the past several years, PFC faced concrete barriers where the organization was not afforded the protections of New York State Agriculture and Markets Law because PFC did not meet the definition of farm operation. Consequently, PFC was delayed in building its barn hub and in accessing public water. Similarly, there are stories of small farms across our region having difficulty getting permits for something as basic as putting up a shed on land zoned for agriculture. For all farmers, navigating the municipal process and the ensuing legal battles for resolution are prohibitively costly and a threat to our local and state food production.”

Adoption of these planks means that the NYFB policy team will be working with State lawmakers in 2026 to write a bill for expanding the definition of farm operation, thus strengthening the State’s agriculture and food systems. New York Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball was present at the meeting and congratulated the Providence Farm Collective team on their work in supporting agriculture in NY.