New York State Attorney General Dennis C. Vacco has distributed a one-time gift of $100,000 to Cornell's FarmNet program to help provide counseling to farmers affected by January's ice storm.

The ice storm decimated agricultural business throughout an area of the state known as the North Country, which is immediately below the Canadian province of Quebec and west of Vermont.

Unlike other programs, the money is not being distributed as grants to farmers but will be used to offset the costs of the unusually high demand for New York FarmNet services so early in the year.

"When the ice storm struck, we were able to deploy our services quickly," says Cathleen R. Martin, director of FarmNet. "But, with so much deployment, we were basically in a deficit. FarmNet was looking at being over budget."

The Cornell program provides farm families with a network of contacts, support services and information to help them develop new skills for dealing with the myriad of problems they face. In January, FarmNet responded to 452 calls, more than four times the calls in January 1997.

Martin said the money will be used to ensure there are enough financial consultants in the North Country area. "The farmers need objective help, and that's what FarmNet provides," says Martin. "Our consultants know the stress that farmers face, and we'll make as many visits as necessary to help them."

In addition to consulting with farmers directly, the money will also go toward sponsoring financial- and stress-management workshops for agricultural workers affected by the ice storm.

"New York FarmNet has been the life-support system that kept countless North Country farms alive, though many are still in critical condition," said Vacco in a statement Friday, March 6. "This emergency infusion will pump new lifeblood into FarmNet, just in time for the farmers who are still hurting so badly in the North Country."

Vacco's emergency funds were obtained in a June 1997 agricultural lawsuit settlement. The settling parties agreed that $100,000 would go directly to benefit New York's farmers.

For several days after the ice storm, dairy farmers were still without electricity to operate their milking machines. FarmNet stepped in with generators to keep the machines functioning until the Federal Emergency Management Agency took over.

New York FarmNet's toll free hot line is (800) 547-FARM.