We're only a few weeks away from the feeding frenzy that is the state budget.

Requests, naturally, are beginning to flow in.

State Sen. Patty Ritchie and fellow members of the Agriculture have penned a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, essentially saying, Leave our agriculture subsidies alone!

Mr. Cuomo's 2011 budget all but eliminated the programs, which, farm groups said, would have been really bad for agriculture, a major north country industry.

They're getting proactive about it this time, launching the first salvo in one of the tiny little niche issues that really doesn't have much of an affect on the budget's $100-billion-plus bottom line, but it's a tiny little niche issue that inspires passion among our state legislative delegation.

It's actually going to be an even bigger issue this year, and these cows just got a little bit more sacrificial. Tropical storms that hit rural parts of the state took a toll on the state's agriculture industry.

Here's the letter, on which budget director Bob Megna is CCed:

Ritchie Ag Letter

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