Budget Includes Ag Center, Nysha Grants

The New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health and the New York Historical Society are in line for state help under the on-time state budget approved Friday, State Senator James L. Seward said today.

The New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAMH) at the M.I. Bassett Hospital has been designated to receive $200,000 for its roll-over protective structure (ROPS) program. The program is intended to provide partial grants to farmers to retrofit tractors with roll bars to reduce the incidence of death due to rollovers. Tractor overturns are the single largest cause of occupational fatality on the state’s farms. NYCAMH focuses on the health and occupational safety of farmers and farm workers on the state’s farms.

The budget includes $180,000 for the New York State Historical Association in Cooperstown to coordinate a statewide participation in National History Day. The program assists teachers and schools in meeting state learning standards by offering students a hands-on approach to the study of history. Students explore history through research papers, documentaries, performances and exhibits for evaluation by historians and educators. National History Day reaches 1,500 teachers and 100,000 students each year.

"Agriculture is still the state’s largest industry, and NYCAMH does a terrific job of helping improve farmers’ safety through its education and grant programs," Seward said. "I am pleased the state recognizes the value of the important work of NYCAMH and how critical it is to the health of the state’s number one industry.

"Students in our schools need to know more about history -- state, national and world. State participation in National History Day promotes academic achievement, intellectual growth and offers the personal reward of knowing more about our past. We have an Otsego gem in the state historical society, and the state grant will bolster their work," Seward concluded.

-30-