NEWARK, N.Y. -- Gov. Kathy Hochul said, "don't ever forget the farmers," during her budget address Wednesday.  

If not forgotten, members of the New York Farm Bureau have felt at least a bit ignored recently.

"We weren't listened to, I guess," El-Vi Farms owner Kim Skellie said.

Skellie, of Newark, New York, believes the industry provided ample evidence as to why lowering the threshold for overtime pay would hurt farmers. However, the Wage Board last year ultimately recommended gradually lowering the threshold from 60 to 40 hours and the Department of Labor is implementing those recommendations.

"I would say there's been a lot of hesitancy in farms to invest and grow their businesses, especially by younger generations who are early in their careers thinking there's other places in the United States where agriculture could be more easily done and more profitable," he said.

Compounding the reasons for farmers not to invest, Skellie said, were a steadily raising minimum wage and general inflation. New York did offer a 4% tax credit on investments like equipment, cattle or to upgrade facilities, but it was not refundable, meaning the savings only manifested if there was a tax bill to offset.

"If you have a down year or a down few years, reaping that benefit of investment gets either put off or doesn't come to fruition," Skellie said.

Last year, the state increased that investment tax credit to 20% and this year, the governor in her budget is proposing making it refundable for five years. Skellie said it's potentially a major lifeline for the industry.

"I would say it's a first step," he said. "The governor's making the effort. Will the Legislature also make the effort? Because a lot of these things started with the Legislature before she was governor."

The farmer said the industry would also like the state to hold the minimum wage flat for awhile although the governor has already proposed tying increases to inflation.