Senate BillIntroduced
S 3578: Requires the department of agriculture and markets to facilitate and expand an initiative to promote opportunities for farm ownership to farmers who are black, indigenous and people of color; requires the department to submit a triennial report to the governor and the legislature regarding such initiative.
What S 3578 does, verified January 8, 2026
The bill aims to promote opportunities for farm ownership among black, indigenous, and people of color farmers in New York State. The legislature finds that only 2.1% of farmers in the state are black, indigenous, and people of color, and seeks to diversify the profession of farming. The bill requires the Department of Agriculture and Markets to facilitate and expand an initiative to promote opportunities for farm ownership among these groups. This initiative should provide financial and technical support, promote products and services from these farmers, and establish opportunities for farm ownership. A report will be provided triennially to the governor and legislature detailing the progress of the initiative, including the type of initiatives undertaken, funding distributed, and the percentage of farms owned by black, indigenous, and people of color. The bill takes effect on the nine…
Bill journey
1IntroducedCurrent
2In CommitteePending
3First Chamber FloorPending
4Second ChamberPending
5GovernorPending
6ChapteredPending
Last action: REFERRED TO AGRICULTURE (2026-01-07)Alert me
Quick answers about S 3578
- What is the current status of S 3578?
- As of January 8, 2026, S 3578 is recorded as "Introduced": it has been introduced and is waiting for its first committee hearing or floor vote. The last recorded action, on January 7, 2026, was "REFERRED TO AGRICULTURE".
- Did S 3578 pass?
- Not yet. S 3578 has been introduced and has not passed either house.
- Who wrote S 3578, and where is it now?
- S 3578 was authored by Sen. Cordell Cleare. Its committee of record is Senate Agriculture.
Author and sponsors
Full contact details, staff, and committees with Connect, $16/moUnlockRecent actions5 total · showing 5
| Jan. 07, 2026 | REFERRED TO AGRICULTURE |
| May. 14, 2025 | REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO FINANCE |
| May. 08, 2025 | AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO AGRICULTURE |
| May. 08, 2025 | PRINT NUMBER 3578A |
| Jan. 28, 2025 | REFERRED TO AGRICULTURE |
Latest bill textIntroduced version, January 28, 2025 · 378 words
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3578 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 28, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. CLEARE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Agriculture AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law, in relation to requir- ing the department of agriculture and markets to facilitate and expand an initiative to promote opportunities for farm ownership to farmers who are black, indigenous and people of color The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Legislative intent and findings. The legislature finds that 2 black, indigenous and people of color farmers make up approximately 2.1% 3 of all farmers in New York state. Using data from the 2017 census, that 4 means that only 1,228 out of 57,865 farmers were black, indigenous, and 5 people of color. It is the intent of the legislature to diversify the 6 profession of farming within the state and to encourage black, indige- 7 nous, and people of color to pursue farm ownership. 8 § 2. Section 16 of the agriculture and markets law is amended by 9 adding a new subdivision 53 to read as follows: 10 53. Facilitate and expand, with financial and technical support, an 11 initiative to promote opportunities for farm ownership to farmers who 12 are black, indigenous and people of color. The department shall promote 13 a consistent demand of products and services from farmers who are black, 14 indigenous, and people of color and re-establish opportunities for farm 15 ownership for such farmers. A report shall be provided annually to the 16 governor and the legislature detailing information including, but not 17 limited to, the type of initiatives undertaken, the funding distributed 18 by region, the percentage of farms owned by farmers who are black, 19 indigenous, and people of color by region, and the various products 20 distributed to and from each region. 21 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 22 have become a law. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD08105-01-5
Text of S 3578 as introduced, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions