Robert Downen is reporting in the Times Union New York farmers and food bank operators have won a long-sought tax credit for food donations. The credit gives farmers a 25 percent exemption on the cost of donations to food banks and emergency food programs, in amounts up to $5,000. The measure was adopted as part of the 2017 state budget. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo long opposed such a measure, saying it would duplicate existing tax benefits, but he encouraged the New York Farm Bureau to push for the credit through the state budget. In 2016, state farmers donated more than 13 million pounds of food, the second highest amount for any state in the country, according to the American Farm Bureau. New York food banks praised the bill as a way to encourage fresh, nutritious food donations. Read the full story in the Times Union.