WASHINGTON - Upstate New York hunters are increasingly being squeezed out of good hunting farmland, Sen. Charles Schumer said Wednesday, saying it was time for Congress to help.

Schumer, D-N.Y., is promoting a piece of the massive, unfinished farm bill that would spend $20 million distributing grants to states to encourage farmers to allow hunters on their property.

“Land that was once empty and great places for hunters is now sort of getting occupied,” said Schumer.

The measure in the farm bill would distribute money to entice local farmers to agree to let people hunt on their land during hunting season.

Farmers would benefit by getting extra money, and a smaller deer population damaging their crops, Schumer said.

The farm bill is one of the most closely watched measures in Congress.

The Senate has begun debating the five-year, $288 billion bill, with opponents seeking to cut the billions of dollars in annual subsidies paid to growers of corn, wheat, cotton, rice and other major crops.

The Bush administration has threatened to veto the bill because it doesn't cut farm subsidies enough and might endanger World Trade Organization negotiations.