Every year, Chuck commits to traveling to all62 counties in New York to meet with constituents.
On July 22, 2019, standing amidst a swarm of advocates, at the Radix Ecological Sustainability Center in Albany, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer revealed how a recent under-the-radar decision on bees could sting Upstate, the Capital Region, its local Ag efforts, and even a budding jobs niche that supplies summer farmers’ markets and local restaurants. Schumer detailed a recent fed decision by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to stop collecting data on honey bees that could put both the species and the Upstate region’s economy, at risk. Schumer said that the Capital Region is a hive of productivity, but that this recent decision by the feds could derail much of what keeps Upstate competitive and robust as an agricultural hub. Schumer called on the USDA to reverse course immediately, and instead, step-up its work on bee populations. Schumer revealed numbers that prove his point and hit home the critical importance of the honey bees to Upstate and the Capital Region’s agriculture sector.