NYFB, NYTB applaud passage of limited liability legislation for New York farms
By Sarah Mace
The New York Farm Bureau (NYFB) and NYTB, in its capacity as an active member of the NYFB Equine Committee, are celebrating a legislative victory for farmers and breeders.
NYFB and NYTB have long made it a priority to secure relief for farmers and equine businesses from rising insurance premiums due to uncertainty about potential liability for activity that takes place on farms. The groups have been seeking a remedy in legislation to establish limited liability protections for the inherent risks of inviting the public onto farm business properties.
The New York Legislature has just passed a bipartisan bill to do just that. Following the Assembly’s passage of the bill (A00559A[1]) on June 8, which sponsored by Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, the State Senate approved a matching bill on June 13, 2017 (S01152-A[2]), which was sponsored by Senator Robert Ortt. The next stop for the legislation is the Governor’s desk, where it is hoped the bill will be signed into law.
The short title of the bill is the “safety in agricultural tourism act.” Recognizing that “agritourism is an important and growing sector of the rural economies in New York State,” the bill’s justification is that “the cost of liability insurance for farms with agritourism activities is becoming prohibitive, particularly for small farms.”
The bill creates explicit and uniform standards for farm owners and farm visitors which remove uncertainties about potential liability. Among the variety of activities cited in the legislation, such as u-pick Christmas trees, hiking, hunting, production of maple sap and winery tours, the bill expressly mentions “equine activities both indoors and outdoors.” “Equine therapy” is excluded.
If the bill is signed into law, farm owners and operators will have certain stated responsibilities, including posting conspicuous notices and written information warning visitors about the inherent risks of participating in activities on their working farms. Visitors must also be alerted to their own “responsibility to exercise reasonable care regarding the disclosed risks of the agricultural activity.”
In an NYFB Press Release dated June 14, 2017, NYFB President David Fisher offered the caveat that “the legislation will not provide New York farms with blanket immunity from responsibility. Instead, it will offer owners some protection from lawsuits by an individual who is taking no responsibility for his or her own actions while visiting a farm or equine facility.”
According to Fisher, “The bipartisan legislation will hopefully assist farmers looking to have a better handle on business costs in a competitive marketplace. The significance of that support cannot be understated.”
Endnotes:- A00559A: http://nyassembly.gov/leg/?bn=A00559&term=2017
- S01152-A: http://nyassembly.gov/leg/?term=2017&bn=S01152
Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2017/06/15/limited-liability-legislation-17/
Topped by City Zip filly, New Yorkers solid at OBS June
[1]By Sarah Mace
New York-breds made a solid showing at this week’s two-day Ocala Breeders’ Sales Company’s June sale of 2-year-olds in training and horses of racing age. The New York topper was a bay City Zip filly purchased by Bradley Thoroughbreds LLC, Agent for $150,000. Conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday, the OBS sale was the final major juvenile auction on the 2017 calendar.
The $150,000 City Zip filly was bred by West End Thoroughbreds and foaled at Rojan Farms in Schuylerville on March 24, 2015. Offered by Hoppel’s Horse & Cattle Co., Inc., Agent, and catalogued as Hip 90[2], the filly turned in a furlong work in :10 1/5 on the first day of the under tack show. Tuesday was her very first appointment with the auctioneer.
She is the first foal out of Karakorum Elektra, a New York-bred stakes winner by New York sire Freud. A winner of 13 races from 46 starts, topped by a victory in the 2009 Memories of Silver Stakes for trainer Linda Rice at six furlongs on turf, Karakorum Elektra earned $485,061. She delivered a full brother to the sale filly in 2016 and on March 22, 2017 foaled a colt by Flatter.
The top New York-bred colt at the OBS sale was Hip 465[3], a dark bay/brown individual by Quality Road purchased by Kirkwood, Agent for David Berman, for $130,000. Like the filly topper, this juvenile came under the hammer for the first time this week. Randy Miles, Agent, was the consignor.
The sale colt was bred by Lansdowne Thoroughbreds, LLC, foaled at Hidden Lake Farm in Otisville on May 2, 2015 and posted a co-bullet work in :10 seconds flat on the third day of the under tack show. He is the only reported foal from Villanella, a multiple winner by War Chant purchased by Lansdowne Thoroughbreds for $50,000 at the 2015 Keeneland November sale.
After 59 New York-breds passed through the auction ring over the sale’s two sessions, 49 found new homes (including five private sales) for a strong buyback percentage of 17.0%. The figure outdid the 18.8% RNA rate for the sale as a whole, which in its own terms showed considerable improvement from 24.3% a year ago.
The average price for this cohort of New York-breds was $32,082, while the median came in at $18,000. For the sale overall, the average was $35,889, up 23.9% from $28,968 in 2016, and the median price was $19,000, up 40.7% compared with $13,500 a year ago.
Endnotes:- [Image]: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/june-cc-7-sec.jpg
- Hip 90: http://obssales.com/juncatalog/2017/90.PDF
- Hip 465: http://obssales.com/juncatalog/2017/465.PDF
Source URL: https://www.nytbreeders.org/news/2017/06/15/city-zip-filly-obs-june-17-wrap/