Encourages farm product dealers to apply and those with expired licenses to renew

New York State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball today reminded farmers that in order to protect themselves against non-payment and to ensure they are paid in full and on time, they should sell only to licensed farm product dealers. The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets maintains a current list of licensed farm product dealers on its website and will provide a hard copy upon request.

The Agricultural Producers Security Law, under Article 20 of the Agriculture and Markets Law, requires that farm product dealers must be licensed in order to buy or receive farm products from New York producers in excess of $10,000 annually to resell at wholesale.  They must also provide security in the form of a bond or letter of credit, and they must contribute to a security fund, offering additional financial protection to farmers in the event of a default in payment.

In order to preserve a producer’s eligibility for the financial protections available under the Agricultural Producers Security Law, the producer must:

·       Sell only to licensed farm product dealers.

·        Stop selling product to a farm product dealer who is 120 days delinquent on payment.  Unpaid transactions that occur after the 120-day period will not be eligible for financial protection.

·       File a claim of nonpayment with the Department within 365 days of delivery of the farm products.

Farm product dealers’ licenses expire April 30 each year and must be renewed for the license year beginning May 1.  Forms to apply for the license are available at www.agriculture.ny.gov/programs/apsf.html.  To renew an existing license, farm product dealers can call 518-485-0048. 

For up-to-date information about the law, a copy of the brochure or a list of licensed farm product dealers, please visit the Department’s website at www.agriculture.ny.gov/programs/apsf.html or call the Department at 1-800-554-4501.