New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard Ball met with local community leaders on Friday, March 7 to discuss the proposed 2026 budget and its potential impact on the agricultural industry in New York State. (Photo by Sarah Genter)

NORWICH ― On Friday, March 7, the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard Ball met with local community leaders to discuss New York State initiatives included in the 2026 Fiscal Year Executive Budget that may have an impact on the local agricultural industry.

In total, the proposed budget includes $364.2 million in appropriations for the Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Commissioner Ball covered a wide range of topics, including tax relief, getting state-grown food into schools, grant programs, farm worker housing programs, and more.

"The governor, we hear her say affordability quite a lot in many of her messages, and we’ve got a blueprint for what she believes will be a prosperous way forward for New York State. There’s about 200 initiatives in this budget," said Ball. "Her idea is to try to get money back in New York’s pockets."

One of the major topics at Friday's meeting was universal free school meals and getting New York State-grown food into schools across the state.

Ball discussed the Farm to School program, which incentivizes schools to include state-grown food products in their meals, and helps them acquire equipment to cook meals in-house instead of reheating frozen processed food.

He said since the program was launched in 2015, $8.7 million has been awarded to more than 100 projects across the state.