Raga Justin reports in the Times Union that U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is asking the White House to hurry $3.1 billion in recent federal funding to small farms, saying inflation woes for farmers and drought conditions in New York. Altogether, there is $5.3 billion in loan relief and general financial assistance in the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act that is going to agricultural interests. Gillibrand wants to make sure they get it quickly. "By not defining who exactly will be eligible for relief, the Inflation Reduction Act creates the potential of countless small farms to be left out of the program, initially designed to help them," Gillibrand said. "Reduced demand, rising costs and supply chain disruptions have made it extremely difficult for many farmers to keep their businesses afloat.... For years, they've struggled to find and pay workers, maintain their equipment and put food on the table for American families." At a press conference on Sept. 14, Gillibrand also weighed in on the news that New York farmworkers would get overtime pay after 40 hours of work, like other employees ten years from now. "Obviously, this is going to have a big impact on the farms' ability to stay in business," Gillibrand said. "So we need to figure out how to get them more resources if that is made a requirement." Read more about this story in the Times Union.