Farm Bureau president says labor rights would disrupt NY agriculture

New York's Farm Bureau announced this week it will fight to block bargaining rights for tens of thousands of agricultural workers. The group hopes to intervene in a court battle over the issue sparked by a labor dispute here in the North Country.  Farm Bureau president Dean Norton argued farming is different from other industries that have unions and collective bargaining. "Mother Nature decides our schedule for us," Norton said on the public radio program Capital Pressroom. "When we have to get our crop in the ground, we may have only a certain window of time to get it in. We could be facing a strike or a shutdown or a labor shortage at an inopportune time when we're trying to put crops in the ground or we're trying to harvest our crops."  The New York Civil Liberties Union is suing to overturn a state law that prevents farm workers from organizing. Governor Andrew Cuomo and the State's Attorney General have announced they won't defend the law. Norton described their decision as "disappointing."