A Federal Election Commission filing shows Rep. Josh Riley accepted $1,000 from the NRDC Action Fund, and conservatives are calling out the donation as evidence he’s out of touch with Upstate New York farmers.

The FEC document lists a $1,000 contribution from the left-leaning NRDC Action Fund to Democrat Rep. Josh Riley. That single line on a report has sparked sharp criticism from Republican operatives who say the gift conflicts with Riley’s public stance on protecting rural communities.

The NRDC has pushed policies that target farming land for new energy projects, a move that worries many local producers. In New York, over 30,000 farms span more than 6.5 million acres and support upward of 56,000 jobs, so any policy that affects land use matters to a lot of families.

On its blog the NRDC said it must “move far faster” to build solar farms, and its plans include leasing farmland to install panels. For cash-strapped owners, leasing land can look attractive, but experts warn the trade-offs are serious and long lasting.

One analysis suggested solar installations on prime soil can require decades of remediation, with estimates as high as 50 years before land returns to its previous fertility. That finding echoes concerns that converting productive acreage to solar arrays can create costly, long-term headaches for farming operations.

Another study noted that “good quality farmland” is the “first-choice site for solar development,” language that underlines the real danger: developers naturally target flat, productive ground, and that can be “devastating to a farm business.” When the best acres disappear under panels, the economic backbone of small farms erodes quickly.

The American Farmland Trust found that between 2001 and 2016 more than a quarter of a million acres of farmland were developed or fragmented by residential growth. In surveys, roughly 61 percent of farmers said solar development harmed farmland rentals, nearly 75 percent reported increased land scarcity, 68 percent said rents rose, and 36 percent said they lost rented land they previously relied on.

New York farmers use their land to grow crops and raise livestock, and the state has about 1 million head of cattle. At the same time, environmental groups have pushed messaging that includes calls to limit beef consumption as a way to cut greenhouse gases, a stance that sits uneasily with producers who depend on cattle for their livelihoods.

The USDA reported that Riley’s district ranks among the top cattle-producing districts, with 161,805 cattle and calves and roughly 4,547 farms totaling 909,643 acres. Those numbers make clear why local leaders and neighbors react strongly when policy proposals or outside funders threaten how land is used and how rent and lease markets behave.

National Republican Congressional Committee Spokeswoman Maureen O’Toole said that Riley is bought by solar companies while he claims to fight for farmers. “Out of touch Democrat Josh Riley is a complete fraud,” O’Toole said. “He wants voters to believe he’s fighting for Upstate farmers, but the truth is, he’s bankrolled by radical groups trying to undermine them. Riley is completely out of step with Upstate voters’ values, and he has no place representing them in Washington.”

Riley insists he opposes corporate interests and pledges to stand up for New Yorkers, but the donation trail tells a different story when groups that back aggressive land-use policies are in the mix.

https://x.com/RepRileyNY/status/2077448806707200414?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw