It's hard to overstate the importance of New York State's farms. Besides feeding us, the state's agricultural industry employs thousands of people and generates $5 billion in economic activity each year -- comprising one of the largest sectors in the state's economy. However, New York's farms are struggling to survive. Because of the intense pressure to develop, over 613,000 acres of farmland were lost between 1997 and 2007. It is now estimated that a New York farm is lost every three and a half days.

NYLCV's Legislative Director, Ricardo Gotla, participated in a roundtable discussion in Albany this week with stakeholders regarding the proposal to sell wine in grocery stores. For the first time, thanks to the work of NYLCV and the American Farmland Trust, there's a farmland protection component to the legislation.

In a recent bill sponsored by Sen. Thomas O'Mara and Assemblyman Joseph Morelle to allow for the sale of wine in grocery stores, there's a farmland protection component that signals to our farmers that New York State is taking steps to protecting working farms from being lost to development.

Check our NYLCV's Legislative Director, Ricardo Gotla, in the video below (at the 1 hour 10 minute mark) make the case for the farmland protection component in the new and improved Wine Industry and Liquor Store Development Act.

Here's how the bill would help: First, the increased availability of wine will bolster New York's wine industry and create up to 6,000 new jobs in wineries and retail and wholesale sectors. It's also a no-cost, revenue-generating solution that would lead to no extra taxes for New Yorkers.

But the benefits of this bill go far beyond economic considerations. The bill would also help precious farmland stay farmland, instead of falling prey to environmentally unfriendly developments that drive up property taxes, increases energy consumption, and destroys fragile habitat.

By allowing for the sale of wine in grocery stores, lawmakers will not only be helping New York wineries, but also saving the farmland that feeds New Yorkers. Considering how important farms are to the future to New York's economy and environment, we can't afford to let this opportunity pass us by.