| | The Voice Ledger - News - 08/07/2003 - Manning makes agriculture top priority (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-06) |
 | | According to Patrick Hancock, a farmer from Red Hook and a member of the Dutchess County Agriculture and Farming Board, family-run farms in the Hudson Valley have to contend with an ever-increasing property-tax burden, loss of interest and competition for land. |
 | | In addition, Assemblyman Patrick Manning (R, East Fishkill) said farmers are contending with competition from low-cost, lower quality imports from around the world that are eroding the farmer's ability to earn a living wage. |
 | | Manning is also the chairman of the Assembly Republican Task Force on Integrative Medicine and Agriculture, which is exploring the feasibility of developing an herbal agricultural industry in New York. |
| www.zwire.com /site/news.cfm?newsid=9959284&BRD=1721&PAG=461&dept_id=72149&rfi=6 (935 words) |