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…extends benefits to comparable operations that provide horse training, trail riding, and riding lessons

To:        Equine business operators in N.Y. State
From:   Dean Norton, president, New York Farm Bureau
Date:    October 24, 2011
Subject:  Thanks to you, an important equine bill is now law

We like to say that New York Farm Bureau is a grassroots organization. It’s our members who make things happen. And now the “horse people” in Farm Bureau have demonstrated it again.

By using Farm Bureau’s Web-based “e-lobby” service, you have successfully advocated for important new legislation for the equine industry of New York.

Because of Farm Bureau efforts—your efforts through Farm Bureau’s e-lobbying—the legislature passed (and the governor signed) “An Act to Amend the Agriculture and Markets Law, in Relation to Commercial Equine Operations in Agricultural Districts.”

What does this mean in plain English? Prior to the amendment, commercial horse boarding operations were eligible for agricultural district protections and agricultural assessment tax benefits if they have at least seven acres, board ten or more horses, and gross $10,000 annually. This amendment now extends benefits to comparable operations that provide horse training, trail riding, and riding lessons.

This piece of legislation was born in NYFB’s policy development process—with members. It’s a legislative victory for Farm Bureau, but more truly it’s a legislative victory for you, a testimony to your efforts and your trust in Farm Bureau. Congratulations!

But . . .
There is a still-larger legislative mountain to climb: “inherent risk” legislation, legislation that recognizes the inherent risk that trail riders, horse, boarders, equestrian students, and event participants “inherently” accept because, after all, they are dealing with a known risk: horses. Other states have such legislation and the fact that New York does not puts our horse businesses at a competitive disadvantage.  Many of us have already e-lobbied and talked to legislators face to face on this topic.  While we congratulate ourselves on a job well won, let’s recommit to working hard on inherent risk legislation. It, like Farm Bureau, is worth our commitment.

Thank you!

Horse Tests Positive for EEE in New York State

by: Edited Press Release
August 04 2011, Article # 18635

The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (NYSDAM) has confirmed 2011’s first case of Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) in an Oneida County, N.Y., horse. The 9-year-old mare had lived at its current home for several years and had no recent travel history. The horse was unvaccinated. here is one other horse on the same premise that is not showing any signs of EEE, and that horse has since been vaccinated.

A viral disease, EEE affects the central nervous system and is transmitted to horses by infected mosquitoes. The fatality rate for EEE in horses is 75-95%. The course of EEE can be swift, with death occurring two to three days after onset of clinical signs despite intensive care. Horses that survive might have long-lasting impairments and neurologic problems.

Understanding Equine Medications is your A-Z guide to learning more about generic and brand-name pharmaceuticals, possible side effects and precautions, and proper dosage.

Clinical signs for EEE include moderate to high fever, depression, lack of appetite, cranial nerve deficits (facial paralysis, tongue weakness, difficulty swallowing), behavioral changes (aggression, self-mutilation, or drowsiness), gait abnormalities, or severe central nervous system signs, such as head-pressing, circling, blindness, and seizures.

Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets, Darrel J. Aubertine, reminds horse owners that West Nile virus causes neurologic symptoms similar to EEE and is also spread by mosquitoes. Commissioner Aubertine urges all horse owners to discuss vaccination against both diseases with their veterinarian's assistance. New York State Veterinarian David Smith, DVM, added that any horse exhibiting neurologic clinical signs should always be handled with great caution. The risk of physical injury to handlers is greater when horses are unsteady on their feet and also rabies needs to be ruled out as a cause of the signs. The horse's veterinarian should be contacted immediately at the onset of clinical signs to evaluate the animal.

Vaccines currently available drastically reduce the incidence of EEE in horses and are effective for six to 12 months, so horses should be vaccinated at least annually. In an area where the disease occurs frequently, most veterinarians recommend vaccination every six months. For the vaccine to be effective, it must be handled and administered properly and ideally given at least two weeks before the horse is exposed to the virus. Additionally, to stimulate full immunity, horses must be vaccinated twice, about 30 days apart, the first year that the horse is vaccinated. While it’s best to have horses vaccinated well before potential exposure, vaccinating horses now will still provide protective benefits for this year’s mosquito season.

Other prevention methods include destroying standing water breeding sites for mosquitoes, using insect repellents, and removing animals from mosquito-infested areas during peak biting times, usually dusk to dawn.  

The year's first case of EEE has been confirmed in a horse from Oneida County, New York. The mosquito-borne virus can also infect people.

http://www.suite101.com/content/first-case-of-eastern-equine-encephalitis-eee-confirmed-in-ny-a383243

Aug. 03, 2011. The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (NYSDAM), has confirmed 2011's first case of Eastern Equine Encephalitis in Oneida County, NY. The nine year old mare, who had no history of travel, had not been vaccinated against the virus and subsequently died.

EEE poses high mortality rate

EEE is a brain disease transmitted to equines and humans by infected mosquitoes. Commonly called sleeping sickness or Triple E, the virus boasts a high mortality rate. While the virus cannot spread from horse-to-horse or horse-to-human, NYSDAM says, "The presence of an infected horse in the area indicates that mosquitoes carrying EEE are present and pose a threat to both humans and horses."

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), reports that although EEE infection in humans is rare, the virus is considered to be one of the more serious mosquito-borne diseases in North America. Between 1964 and 2010 says the CDC, cases of EEE in humans across the Eastern US, have varied, "Markedly from year to year." In 2005, for example, 21 cases across the US were confirmed, yet in 2007 only three cases were diagnosed.

Farm Bureau: New law provides parity in equine industry

http://polhudson.lohudblogs.com/2011/08/08/farm-bureau-new-law-provides-parity-in-equine-industry/

Posted by: Cara Matthews - Posted in Uncategorized on Aug 08, 2011

The New York Farm Bureau is praising a new law signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that gives commercial equine operations the same legal protections and tax-assessment benefits as breeding and commercial horse-boarding operations already have.

Commercial equine farms offer horse training, trail riding and riding lessons. Until now, they were excluded from protections that agricultural districts receive and agricultural tax assessments.

“This legislation is great news for horse businesses, which are a thriving and growing segment of the rural economy,” said Dean Norton, President of New York Farm Bureau.

The state’s equine industry is valued at $1.83 billion, and its equine-realated assets are valued at roughly $10 billion, a 2005 National Agricultural Statistical Service Equine Survey found in 2005, the most recent data available.

“This legislation fixed a big inadequacy in agricultural assessment laws among horse operations and is profound investment in the equine industry in New York State,” said Norton, whose group is a statewide lobbying and trade organization that represents thousands of farm families.

NY horse businesses get
farm tax breaks

http://www.syracuse.com/newsflash/index.ssf/story/ny-horse-businesses-get-farm-tax-breaks/346242fb6d0045e3abc8ae734307893a

Aug. 9, 2011, 3:01 a.m. EDT Associated Press

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signed a new law giving horseback riding and training operations the same tax breaks that horse breeding and boarding farms get.

Sponsors say the agricultural district protections and tax assessments apply to operations that have at least seven acres, stable 10 horses and gross at least $10,000 annually.

A survey in 2005 showed approximately 200,000 horses in the state with a value of more than $1.8 billion.

The New York Farm Bureau says this change, which it lobbied for, fixes a disparity in the law.