N.Y. EDN Law § 679-F

§ 679-f. New York state young farmers loan forgiveness incentive\nprogram. 1. Purpose. The president shall grant student loan forgiveness\nawards for the purpose of alleviating the burden of student loan debt\nfor young farmers. Such awards shall be made on a competitive basis, in\naccordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the corporation for\nsuch purposes, to applicants who meet the eligibility criteria. Such\nrules and regulations shall include provisions for the consideration of\napplicants who are economically disadvantaged.\n 2. Eligibility. To be eligible for an award pursuant to this section,\napplicants shall: (a) have graduated and obtained a degree from an\napproved New York state college or university; (b) have an outstanding\nstudent loan debt from obtaining such degree; (c) operate a farm in New\nYork state on a full-time basis; (d) agree to operate such farm for the\nduration of no less than five years; (e) have produced an "agricultural\nproduct" as defined by section three hundred twenty-eight of the\nagriculture and markets law, for no more than ten consecutive years; and\n(f) comply with subdivisions three and five of section six hundred\nsixty-one of this part.\n 3. Awards. Awards shall be granted to qualified applicants in the\namount of up to ten thousand dollars per year, per applicant, not to\nexceed a duration of five years and not to exceed the total amount of\nsuch applicant's student loan debt. The corporation shall grant such\nawards within amounts appropriated for such purposes and based on the\navailability of funds. No one applicant shall receive more than a total\nof fifty thousand dollars upon the end of a five year period.\n 4. Priority. First priority shall be given to applicants who are\ncompleting the second, third, fourth or fifth year of full-time farm\noperation and are re-applying to receive an award under this program.\nSecond priority shall be given to an applicant who can demonstrate\neconomic need but did not receive an award during a previous application\nperiod. If larger numbers of applicants are eligible pursuant to this\nsubdivision than funds available, applicants shall be chosen pursuant to\nrules and regulations promulgated by the corporation. Provided, however,\nthat each applicant chosen shall receive an award of up to ten thousand\ndollars in each year such applicant is accepted into the program.\n