President's Pen: Agriculture Faces New Challenges from Tariffs

Charlie Elrod, Ph.D., NEAFA President

As if agricultural producers don’t already cope with lots of volatility in both their input costs and the markets in which they sell their products.  Add to that a chaotic, on-again, off-again, on-again with exemptions, tariff regime and most producers will be forgiven if they can’t quite put their finger on the implications for their businesses.  The consensus from national organizations, from the American Feed Industry Association to the American Farm Bureau Federation, seems to point to a rough few years ahead for agriculture.

Canada and Mexico are our two largest trading partners for agricultural products and will have tariff-free entry for those products covered under the USMCA Agreement which will include most ag products.  However, the 25% tariffs on automobiles, auto parts, steel and aluminum will certainly add significantly to the cost of farm vehicles, equipment and their maintenance.  For those automobiles and auto parts which come from countries other than Canada or Mexico, a 25% tariff will be in effect.  Similarly, steel and aluminum products from all other countries will also face a 25% tariff.

Conversely, destinations for the 20% of US ag products which are exported have retaliated with tariffs on US goods.  The EU, for instance, is placing tariffs on $30 billion dollars of US products coming into Europe.  Of the 99 pages of listed items, the first 3 pages cover meats and meat byproducts, the next 8 pages cover foods of dairy origin and the next 20 pages cover other ag products such as grains, fruits and beverages.  China, which is facing a 145% tariff on all goods exported to the US has reciprocated with a 125% tariff on everything from the US.  These actions will, of course, price those US goods out of the marketplace.  Markets which our ag-related trade groups and government agencies have spent decades cultivating to accept and favor our superior US-grown ag products are now being pushed into the waiting arms of competitor industries from other countries.

Every industry will feel the pain of these tariffs and the retaliatory countermeasures.  But all too often agriculture seems to bear the brunt in trade disputes like this.  In agriculture, we already cope with price volatility on the input side of our businesses and the prices we get for our products are also at the vagaries of the markets.  Add to that having to cope with weather extremes, disease pandemics and regulatory pressure and we can anticipate that our farms and farm-related businesses will definitely feel the squeeze.  That is one reason why organizations like NEAFA, NEDPA, NYFB, AFIA exist.  We will do everything in our power to help our members and their customers weather these storms and hopefully come out stronger on the other side.

NY Legislative Update - April 2025

By Julie Marlette, Hinman Straub

As of the writing of this article, the New York State budget is officially 22 days late. Negotiations over non-financial policy issues that are priorities for the Governor are the sticking points that have, to date, delayed any meaningful conversation on traditional financial issues. The key issues that that the Governor has prioritized are:

·         Discovery reform.

·         Changes to involuntary commitment.

·         A ban on wearing masks in public/enhanced penalties for wearing a mask during the commission of a crime.

·         Adoption of a mandatory bell to bell cell phone ban in schools.

 These four issues have been driving the  conversations for the last month, however the Governor has also floated a proposal  to change the way in which the lieutenant governor is elected (current this is a stand-alone statewide election – it has been suggested that the governor and lieutenant governor should run together on a ticket), and it is rumored than language to overrides State Education Department regulations with regard to “substantial equivalency” for certain nonpublic schools (the requirement that nonpublic  schools meet educational standards is a  way that is equivalent to the education students would receive in a public school has also been floated.

At this time it is as likely as not that an 8th extender will be adopted on Thursday when they return to session though it is not year clear for how long that extender will be.

To date, regular legislative activities have not been significantly disrupted. This week and last were slated to be “break weeks,” generally a break from session, post budget usually aligned with observance of Easter and Passover. Those break weeks because session weeks with the houses  here in Albany to passed budget extensions every few days.

Next week however, when the Legislature would normally be returning “post-budget” attention would generally shift exclusively to  regular legislation and committee work. While committee meet all session and bills have been passed throughout the session, the bulk of the bills that pass, generally do so in the last 5 weeks of session. However, with the state budget still unresolved, it is almost certain that the usual processes will be disrupted  and the process of advancing legislation will be even more challenging in the final weeks of session.

We will keep NEAFA leadership apprised of activity as it occurs.

Biomethane Potential in New York

Lauren Ray

Environmental Engineer, PRO-Dairy, CALS

Biomethane from New York’s dairy manure and food waste could fuel over 30,000 tractor trailers annually*, displacing at least 300 million gallons of diesel.  Currently, 

• 12 percent of the NY dairy herd has implemented manure anaerobic digestion (AD) to biomethane.

• This energy (with its GHG reduction) has market value under California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard.

• But it could be meeting NY's needs instead.

Bioenergy is necessary to reach NY climate targets and is part of moving to a circular bioeconomy where organic resources are best utilized.  Manure and food waste anaerobic digestion (AD) are complementary in that they produce energy and recover valuable nutrients to enhance NY’s soil health and fertility.3  Current management practices of livestock manure and landfilling organics are responsible for over 25 percent of NY’s anthropogenic methane emissions.4  Smartly designed and maintained bioenergy systems capture this methane and put it to productive use as a flexible and non-fossil fuel energy resource.  This industry requires distributed job creation in rural, populated, and disadvantaged communities, including local construction trades, operation and maintenance personnel, and engineers.5  Bioenergy technology is already commercially available at many scales, and enhanced energy recovery processes are being innovated. The potential value of our organic resources, a necessary part of our food and agriculture system, will only grow over time.

In order to encourage homegrown renewable energy in New York State, we need to develop mechanisms that establish a competitive market within New York by properly valuing the lifecycle GHG reduction and the energy output.  To accomplish this goal, we need to:

• Maximize methane capture (i.e., minimize methane loss) through high quality design, equipment, construction, and most importantly, ongoing operations and maintenance. This also harvests the most energy.

• Enable simple and science-based treatment of GHG accounting for food processing and consumption waste that is diverted from landfills to AD for energy. 6

• Consider how NY can meet net zero targets by utilizing the steady and controllable sources of bioenergy that the electric demand system will require.

• Allow haulers to diversify their vehicles and fleets to include compressed natural gas (CNG) engines (that can utilize biomethane), biodiesel engines, electric motors, and additional innovative technologies.

• Create workforce training programs and recruit talented engineers. Enhance public education on bioenergy, anaerobic digestion, biogas, hydrogen, biomethane, biodiesel, combustion, vehicle types, etc.

References

1. Lerner, M.S. and Tomich, M.P. (2023) Putting New York’s Organic Waste to Work. Energy Vision. https://energy-vision.org/research-reports/.  (Independently verified by PRO-DAIRY energy engineer.)

2. US DOE. Average annual fuel use by vehicle type. https: //afdc.energy.gov/data/widgets/10308.

3. Gooch, C.A. and Wright, P.E. (2018) Benefits of Anaerobic Digestion on Farms. https://hdl.handle.net/1813/66954.

4. NYS DEC, 2024 Statewide GHG Emissions Report. (Over 25% is used because solid waste and exported waste management combined account for 28% and livestock manure management accounts for 4.6% of all NYS anthropogenic methane emissions.)

5. Milbrandt, A. (2021) Comparison of Select Food Waste Utilization Options. Golden, CO: National Renewable Energy Laboratory. NREL/BR-6A20-81024. https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy22osti/81024.pdf.

6.Generate Upcycle. (2003) Food Waste Infrastructure Recommendations from a leading investor/operator. https://generateupcycle.com/white-paper/.

NEAFA Highlight: Lon Stephens, Co-Operative Feed Dealers

Jon Beatty and Lon Stephens, Co-Operative Feed Dealers. Beatty took over as the General Manager after Stephens retired in February, 2025. Photo provided.

NEAFA would like to congratulate Lon Stephens on his retirement from Co-Operative Feed Dealers after forty years of service to the company and agriculture at large. Stephens started his career as a  territory sales representative in 1985, and took over as the General Manager Co-operative Feed Dealers in 1991. “It was a unique opportunity to be given such a free hand to do what I thought best,” said Stephens. “CFD just celebrated its 90th anniversary in February, and during my tenure I had the opportunity to lead the company in a few different directions. I appreciated being given the chance to help the company grow in my own way. I worked for nine board members, just a great group to work for and under. We’d have a meeting every month to review the company. We represent a great group of feed dealers and farm supply stores.”

Stephens was no stranger to agriculture before joining CFD. “I was always interested in agriculture, my brother as well,” said Stephens. “I used to work on a farm during the summers in Northern NY,” said Stephens. “I went to Canton ACC for two years, and then transferred to Cornell for a bachelor’s in Ag Engineering.”

CFD and Stephens have a long history with NEAFA as well. “When we first joined, I knew it as the Eastern Federation of Feed Merchants, before they merged with the New England Grain and Feed Council,” said Stephens. “I served on the EFFM board at one point as well. NEAFA has had great leaders along the way. Rick Zimmerman took the association in some good directions as the Executive Director and his lobbying efforts in NYS were always appreciated. It’s very important that this segment of the ag market be represented, and NEAFA is sincere and doing the work. They’re serious in following their mission in education and representation.”

Looking towards the future, Stephens has a message for agricultural leaders and businesses. “Everyone in this industry has to continue to innovate,” says Stephens. “It’s very important, and some may not be able to see it all the time. I’m not a visionary, but if we hadn’t innovated in the 90’s, I’m not sure how successful we would be today. There’s been a lot of consolidation in the market. There are fewer customers and dealers as well. We had to come up with ways to keep our position. One thing for example, we were the first Muck Boot distributor. We got on board with that, and it took us in a lot of different directions. The core is still in farming and agriculture, but it opened markets for us into sporting, casual, and even fishing industries now. We had to innovate and find new products and strategies to bring to our clients so that they can innovate and get into different things. A large part of what I consider successful about my time as the general manager at CFD was that I hired good people, and gave them the space to manage their departments and grow their business.”

Looking to his retirement, Stephens still sees agriculture being a part of his life. “I would like to keep my hand in it to some degree,” said Stephens. “It took me about a month before I stopped worrying about the day-to-day things at the company that I looked after for 34 years. I retired at the end of February, and honestly right now it just feels like the longest vacation I’ve ever had. I am enjoying it, but I would step back into it part time if the opportunity came along.”

Vermont Legislative Update

By Emma Shouldice

Vermont’s democratic legislators are busy playing “chicken” with the Governor regarding the budget adjustment bill, setting the property tax, and education funding. It has made for a fiery first half of the session and shows it could run longer than the normal budgeted eighteen weeks.


To add a little spice to all things legislative, Sarah Clark, Secretary of Administration released a letter which lambasted the Chair and committee members of House Appropriations last week. The words on the page were a bit cringeworthy and a direct punch to the gut if you were the one being called out for your actions.

“While we have appreciated the face-to-face negotiations over the last several days, it appears you prefer to start putting these negotiations in writing, and making them public, so we will follow suit. It is unfortunate that I was uninvited to testify in your Committee this morning to present our feedback on the budget adjustment and provide clarity on our compromise proposals.

Given some of the misinformation we have seen in the last 24 hours, I think it’s important to level-set where this discussion stands, from the Administration’s perspective.”

Potential areas under consideration are modernizing the property tax structure, property tax categories, foundation formula, and the homestead exemption. This is effectively re-arranging the money, but it is uncertain how that will lower property taxes or costs for Vermonters. In short, with costs increasing, any measure that is passed is unlikely to reduce property taxes but may hold it steady from the 2025 increase. Will that be enough for Vermonters? That question is one that nobody currently has the answer to.

It is the time of year when committees try to fill their day while they wait for the budget bills to be finalized in preparation for long floor debating these bills. The House Agriculture Committee is looking at many different agriculture related bills to determine if there are any that have enough interest from members to work on for the remainder of the biennium. Protecting farms is of utmost importance to VDPA and we look forward to supporting legislation that helps farmers continue to live and work in Vermont. The agriculture committees are very busy working on the right to farm, CAFO permits, and expanding provisions for selling goods produced from the farm at a farmstand.

Importantly, the Right to Farm bill is making its way through the legislative process and we look forward to strengthening the law, as Vermont has one of the weakest right to farm laws in the country. Meaningful testimony has been taken in the House and Senate to support farmers from nuisance suits when they are following the required agricultural practices.

The legislative session is theoretically at the halfway point and there has been no discussion regarding the ban on neonicotinoids, but we are hopeful that the education of new committee members will begin, and we can gear up for thorough discussions to come.

New York State Budget Update

By Brianna Wagner, Hinman Straub, Special to NEAFA

The New York State budget negotiation process is underway with the Assembly and Senate releasing their Legislative budget proposals on March 10, 2025. As negotiations continue, there is a consensus among advocates that the final budget is unlikely to be finalized by the April 1 deadline as Legislative session is scheduled to continue during the first two weeks of April, followed by a two-week break (over the Passover and Easter holidays). 

What Was Added

The Assembly matched the Executive proposal by allocating $1.463 million for Pro-Dairy to enhance support for dairy farmers, while the Senate increased this amount to $2 million. The Senate proposal also included an additional $126,000 for dairy profit teams, which was not included in the Executive or Assembly proposals. Unlike the Executive and Assembly proposals, the Senate included $250,000 for Pro-Livestock positions at Cornell to assist farms in silvopasture practices and carbon sequestration efforts. 

While the Assembly accepted the Executive’s proposed $9.56 million for the Occupational Health Clinic Network (OHCN), the Senate significantly increased the funding to $20 million. The Senate also raised funding for Future Farmers of America (FFA) to $1.375 million, which is slightly higher than the Executive’s proposed $1 million. 

Both the Senate and Assembly increased funding for farm-to-school initiatives to $1.508 million, doubling the Executive’s proposed $750,000. The Senate allocated $3 million to the New York Farm Viability Institute—$2 million more than the Assembly and Executive proposals—to support research and innovation in farm profitability and sustainability. Additionally, both the Senate and Assembly included $1 million for grants to support beginning farmers and another $1 million for grants to assist disadvantaged farmers, neither of which was included in the Executive proposal. 

The Senate’s proposal included major initiatives such as the NY Home Energy Affordable Transition (HEAT) Act, the Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring and Prevention Program, the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act, the Safe Water and Infrastructure Action Program, and the Floating Solar Incentive and Education Program.

Additionally, the Senate proposed increasing the maximum loan amount given to a single agricultural producer for farmworker housing projects from $200,000 to $400,000 annually. Both the Senate and Assembly recommended amending the tax law to allow professional employer organizations in contractual relationships with farm employers to qualify for a tax credit. The Senate proposed extending the Farm Workforce Retention Credit by five years, while the Assembly proposed a three-year extension.

Lastly, the Senate aims to expand the tax credit for farmers to cover standard construction materials and labor costs for farmworker housing.

Advocacy

As budget negotiations progress, NEAFA remains engaged with New York policymakers to ensure that agriculture remains a priority in the final budget.

NEAFA Member Profile: Sebastien Fortier, Manuchar, Inc.

Sebastien Fortier, President of Manuchar, Inc. Photo Provided

By Eric Jenks, Special to NEAFA

NEAFA had the chance to catch up with Sebastien Fortier, President of Manuchar Inc., the Canadian branch of Manuchar, for this month’s member highlight. “Manuchar is a very old company,” said Fortier. “It was founded in 1880 in Antwerp, Belgium, about 35 miles north of Brussels. We started as a logistics company, and then add the chemical portion as time went on. Manuchar sold 2 years ago to Lonestar Fund, so while we operate internationally, we are now an American owned company. We started operating in Canada in 2015. I used to be a customer of Manuchar at my former job from 2005 to 2015. When I saw the quality of the products and the professionalism that Manuchar had, I said to my boss that it would be a good idea to partner with them, but the company I worked for didn’t want to make that commitment. I saw the opportunity, and had to take the leap myself. I own 20% of the company. We work in Canada and the US, and handle 10.4 million tons of product per year. Throughout the world, Manuchar employs 2800, and works in 140 countries, doing approximately $2.4 Billion per year business. In the agricultural sector, we work primarily in animal nutrition and feed additives.”

For Fortier, agriculture is a lifelong love. “My grandmother had a farm, my mother was raised on the farm, and that farm is still owned by family members,” said Fortier. “They had a dairy, but now focus on corn, oats, etc. under the Semican name. My uncle, Jacques Beauchesne, was president, but he sold recently to retire. When I finished University in Commercial Marketing, I did my MBA in International Business, and I started to cover Semican territory in New England. At that time, it was more for bird seed and animal feed. My background wasn’t there though, and my uncle suggested that I switch to a company where I could work in animal nutrition and with feed additive chemicals. I did, but I’ve also wanted to be an entrepreneur since I was born. I enjoyed the industry, but wanted to do it on my own terms. When the opportunity with Manuchar came up, it was an easy decision to partner with them.”

Location plays a large role in how Fortier and his company work throughout Canada and the Northeastern region of the US. “We are blessed to be surrounded by water here in Trois-Rivieres Quebec, Canada,” said Fortier. “It is an easy and low-cost transportation mode for chemical products; it links us to all over the world. I wanted to take advantage of that opportunity, which I think is underutilized. Rail and truck can be expensive, but by using the river, we can reduce the need to rely on those modes of transportation, and keep our carbon footprint lower as well. This is why we established ourselves here in Trois-Rivieres. we have the port readily available. Our offices are surrounded by water, and I can see the activity at the port every day. Cargo carried by boat is very cost effective. While you may be able to move 44,000 lbs with a truck, a vessel can carry 44,000 tons.”

Part of what has made Manuchar so successful is their hands on approach to working with their clients. “These days, a lot of chemical companies are massive,” said Fortier. “We’re a boutique service. We’ll be able to answer a phone call, so that you’re talking with a person, and with someone that knows what you need. We work hard to make it easy for our customers to get a product to their specifications. We have a large capacity to purchase, but we’re a small enough company that you can always get the person you’re used to working with. We’re flexible, local to the Northeast, reliable, and professional. We try to do everything with a smile to make it easier on everyone. I haven’t lost a customer in 10 years. There is nothing more rewarding than working in agriculture. I’m just a small player trying my best to help feed the word. It helps drive me every day. I’m not saying I’m changing the world, but we keep your production running, anytime, anywhere, because we know the importance of what agriculture is. In agribusiness, you see families working together more often than in other fields. It makes for better relationships, because at the end of the day, your customer becomes your friend. And that makes it less like a job, and more enjoyable.”

Manuchar’s interest in NEAFA came from their relationship to the northeast. “NEAFA provides an enjoyable atmosphere for us to meet our clients face to face with events like their annual meeting,” said Fortier. “I enjoy getting to meet people in person, and NEAFA helps us do that. The St. Lawrence River lets us get goods throughout the Northeast and New England. It provides a natural route for us to serve so many of the membership that NEAFA caters to.”

For more information about Manuchar, visit www.Manuchar.com

2025 HHNC: Industry experts share insights and research updates

Nearly 150 dairy industry professionals gathered in East Syracuse, NY last week to hear from industry experts about the latest trends and research related to dairy herd health and nutrition.   Participants gained insights about the use of high oleic soybeans in dairy cattle diets, strategies to improve transition cow health and productivity, and how automated monitoring technologies can be used in herd health monitoring and management. A series of thematic sessions explored the impacts of late gestation heat stress on dairy cow performance and the long-term effects on their calves, while also highlighting effective heat abatement strategies that have been implemented on-farm. Attendees gained practical insights and expert perspectives on reducing heat stress, including ventilation, soakers, and structural evaluations, to enhance dairy cattle health and productivity. For nearly 20 years, this conference has been hosted by Cornell CALS PRO-DAIRY and the Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance (NEAFA).

“The Herd Health and Nutrition Conference is a great venue to network while being exposed to the latest research around dairy nutrition, management and sustainability,” said Jenny Mills, NEAFA Board Past-President.  “The Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance is proud to collaborate with Cornell CALS PRO-DAIRY to provide a program of research backed solutions that can be implemented on dairy farms immediately. In addition, the opportunity to network with our colleagues across the agriculture supply chain in one place helps us all continue to learn, grow and improve our industry.” 

“We were excited to have our industry professionals join us in Syracuse once again for this conference. We greatly appreciate the continued partnership with NEAFA.” said Tom Overton, Cornell CALS PRO-DAIRY Director. 

PRO-DAIRY and NEAFA thank the industry sponsors whose contributions helps make this event possible.  The next Herd Health and Nutrition Conference will be hosted on March 31, 2026. To join the mailing list and for more information, visit cals.cornell.edu/pro-dairy. PRO-DAIRY is a nationally recognized extension and applied research leader serving dairy farms for more than 35 years.

President's Pen: The Dairy Toolbox is available to help us tell our story

By Charlie Elrod, NEAFA President

How many times have you heard complaints about how far-removed society is from the realities of modern agriculture?  How often have you wished for a concise and informative educational piece to help you communicate all our many positive contributions to the health and well-being of society or to tell our sustainability story?  Thanks to the collaboration of several ag organizations, The Dairy Toolbox is now available to do just that.

Thanks to this creative collaboration, the Dairy Toolbox provides about ten short videos, from 1 to 5 minutes long, highlighting different aspects of dairy management, research, cropping, and sustainability.  You might think about putting them all together into a video loop to play at a company, customer or community meeting.  The video clips could also be incorporated into a presentation you’re making as a “public service announcement” to help enlighten your audience. 

There are also a couple of great infographics highlighting the opportunity provided by anaerobic digestion on dairy farms and the many ways that water is conserved and recycled in daily dairy operations.  Similarly, there are several one-page fact sheets on different aspects of dairying such as recycling as an integral part of dairy farming, practices used to reduce emissions, efficiency gains in agronomic practices and milk production, and sources of feed and bedding used in dairy production.  All provide informative, fact-based insight into modern dairy management.

Lastly, there are several resources designed to be used in your social media efforts.  Many of these are NY-focused and communicate facts about the industry in NY, while others are more broadly oriented.  The graphics are attractive and quickly convey key messages such as “up to 80% of a cow’s diet cannot be eaten by humans”, an effort to push back on the misguided idea that cows consume feedstuffs that could otherwise be used to meet the nutritional needs of people.  There are also multiple posts that could be used in your social media feeds to help expand the reach of this messaging. 

All the materials available in the toolbox can be downloaded for your use in whatever way you can imagine to help tell the dairy industry’s story.  Consider sharing the link with your customers to further spread the word.  Spanish translations of the materials are being developed and additional pieces will be forthcoming as the needs arise.  I hope you’ll check out the Dairy Toolbox and use those resources to help tell dairy’s amazing story.

NEAFA 2025 Annual Meeting a Success

By Eric Jenks, Special to NEAFA

NEAFA hosted its annual 2025 Annual Meeting February 4th and 5th, 2025 at the Albany Marriott Hotel in Albany, NY. The theme this year focused on “Growing Our Industry,” and featured presentations outgoing NEAFA President Jenny Mills, NYS Department of Agriculture & Markets Deputy Commissioner Elizabeth Wolters, a dairy markets update and outlook from Chris Wolf, research updates from Kristan Reed and Joe McFadden, Vermont and New York Legislative updates from Emma Shouldice and Matt O’Connor respectively, an update from AFIA VP of Public Policy and Education Leah Wilkinson, and a keynote from Kim Bremmer.

“We declared three years ago that advocacy would be the key driver for NEAFA,” said outgoing NEAFA President Jenny Mills. “In NY, we’re pleased with the relationship that we’ve made with Hinman Straub, and the relationships that we’ve made with legislators up and down the state that we haven’t had before. More of our committees are in touch with the Department of Agriculture, which is very important, and we’ve recently established relationships with the Department of Labor as well, with workforce initiatives that include transportation, and I’m proud of the work that NEAFA has done there… We can take pride in the collaboration that NEAFA has with Cornell, Pro-Dairy, or our friends at NEDPA. Collaboration with groups like this help us spread our voice and make sure that legislators understand what’s happening in our industry.”

Deputy Commissioner Wolters focused on the importance of Dairy for New York agriculture. “Dairy allows New York to rank in the top 5 states for agriculture,” said Wolters. “We’re dedicated to helping NY farmers to grow, and adapt with the goal of making New York the most sustainable dairy farmers and processors in the country. New budget lines are in place to help with that. (NY) Gov. Hochul has made strides to expand dairy processing, with applications opened for NY Dairy farmers to expand on farm milk processing and help with dairy storage and transportation. There are over 300 world recognized dairy processing facilities in the state. We continue to look to the horizon, and are focused on building a stronger, sustainable workforce. We want to continue to help farmers address aging infrastructure and housing, with more money in the budget towards meeting those goals. NY is committed to helping our farmers get through the challenges ahead.”

Wolters also touched on grants available to NY farms looking to reduce their carbon footprint and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. “We’re in our 8th round of funding,” said Wolters. “Over $49 million of applications were submitted, with $33 million given out. I’m excited about that. We keep putting more money out and we get more requests. It shows the dedication from our farmers to reduce their carbon footprint.”

Chris Wolf, Ph.D, and the E.V. Baker Professor of Agricultural Economics in the Dyson School of applied Economics and Management at Cornell University, gave an update on Dairy Markets, and an outlook for 2025. “2024 started poorly, but had a good recovery in the fall,” said Wolf. “US Milk Production was a bit down by 0.5% year over year (yoy) in December 2024. That’s not the real story however. When you look at components, butterfat was up 1.47% in 2024… butter stocks were up 11.6% yoy in warehouse storage. Butter consumption has been strong, but it may be plateauing. Nonfat dry milk stocks are also up 19%, but we had low inventories a year ago.”

Wolf also addressed the needs that new processing centers may have in 2025. “New milk sources are necessary for new capacity,” said Wolf. “There are four new processing centers in NY alone, really big ones. There’s also a big investment in a cheese plant in South Dakota, as well as big ones in Kansas and Texas. Is there enough supply to fill these plants? Historically, they’ve figured it out. But if we’re going to produce that much more cheese and products that go with it, we have to figure out where it goes, including exporting. It takes a while to ramp up these big plants, they won’t immediately be producing a lot of cheese every day. It’s also a question of if other smaller plants will be shutting down. It’s good to see co-operatives in the northeast investing and revitalizing for the future.”

For 2025, the main concerns for Wolf are related to HPAI reducing production in the US, bluetongue in Europe reducing production there, and the potential impact that tariffs could have on trade going forward. “Trade is a big deal for dairy,” said Wolf. “18% are exported, more protein components than fats. 43% of exports went to Mexico and Canada. Tariffs in 2018 to 2020 with China lead to a decrease in exports there. US Dairy exports eight billion dollars’ worth of trade annually, about four percent of all agriculture. Potential trade wars could effect corn and soybean prices, and we currently get 80% of potash from Canada.”

Kristan Reed, Ph.D., spoke on the RuFaS Model that she works on as the Scientific Director. Her position at the USDA was unfortunately terminated 2/14/2025. RuFaS, short for Ruminant Farming Systems, “is a next-generation, whole-farm model that simulates dairy farm production and environmental impact. We are using modern, modular coding and development practices to build a flexible, adaptable, interoperable research and decision-support tool for sustainable ruminant production,” according to the RuFaS website. “We’re currently making sure that RuFaS can handle the diversity of farming practices across the country,” said Reed. “No two farms are alike. So we’ve developed methods for collecting inputs. The model was challenged, but after many iterations, it works, and we’re very happy with how it works.  There are a wide range of foot prints that aligned with previously reported values, and emissions trends also followed expected patterns in response to production and management factors.”

Joe McFadden, Ph.D., the associate professor of dairy cattle biology and the NEAFA Faculty Fellow in the Department of Animal Science at Cornell University, gave an update on Methane Mitigation. “There are 100 people working in the lab now,” said McFadden. “We have Post Docs in the lab, graduate students, and we’ve been hiring more senior staff. The focus for 2025 is on infrastructure development. Our animal respiration chambers are active and climate controlled, we’ve acquired five GreenFeed units and we have 68 Galan gates ready for use. We’re gathering daily emission data on 68 cows. We’re running 40 tests a day along with a manure greenhouse gas analyzer.”

McFadden and Cornell have also been focused on establishing the program in India. “The interest there is because they produce a lot of methane,” said McFadden. “I’ve spent three years working to gain trust, negotiate with and talk to people there. We’re taking a holistic approach; improve veterinarian health, understand the barriers to implementing productive strategies, and what is unique about foraging there. Maharashtra has the same number of cows as the entire US. We have the support of the government there to work with NGOs to bring down methane 30%, and then the goal is to scale that out across all of India.”

Emma Shouldice, of William Shouldice & Associates LLC, and Matt O’Connor from Hinman Straub gave updates on legislation in Vermont and New York respectively, including on neonics and the ramifications of the bill passed in Vermont. For more in-depth coverage, look for articles from Shouldice and Hinman in the upcoming newsletters.

Leah Wilkinson, the Vice-President of Public Policy and Education for the American Feed Industry Association, gave an overview of upcoming AFIA events, studies, and legislative work on the national scale. Upcoming events include an AFIA 600 course focused on designing, implementing, documenting an animal food safety plan. The next dates for the course are March 11th to April 15th, and September 16th to October 21st. There will also be a PCQI refresher course December 9th and 10th. With regards to legislation, “The 119th Congress To Do list is long and growing,” said Wilkinson. “They have to process nominations, raise the debt ceiling, tackle Trump Tax Extenders, and work on appropriations for FY 25 and 26, the National Defense Authorization Act, the Farm Bill, etc. The tariff conversation isn’t done, but we currently have to sit back and let the dust settle to see where things fall.”

The Annual Meeting wrapped up with a presentation from keynote speaker Kim Bremmer of Ag Inspirations, LLC. Bremmer focused on the need of agribusinesses to get positive messaging about agriculture out to the public more, since misinformation and context is often missing from organizations and legislators outside the industry.

NEAFA Joins Fellow Agriculture Advocates in Calling for Investment to help the Industry Move Towards Net Zero

By Hinman Straub, Special to NEAFA

This year, a number of agriculture related groups joined Cornell in asking for a significant state investment support “Net Zero Dairy”.  While many of the funding streams and programs included in this proposal are not new, but steady or moderately increased investments in those programs, the focus of the new investments is being directly focused and linked to the investments and changes needed to support  farms, farmers and agriculture related programs in the transition to emission reduction and  evenly net  zero.

New York has set strong goals around greenhouse gas reduction, maintaining clean water and other environmental targets. To best serve the New York State economy, New York dairy farmers should be the primary providers of the milk needed to support the first goal. To do so and remain strong environmental stewards and partners for the state, a significant investment in the transition to net zero is needed.

To support these changes, NEAFA is seeking support for the following investments as a part of this package. Some of the components of this package include:

$2.463 million total PRO-DAIRY funding The Executive budget proposal would provide $1.463 million for Pro Dairy, an amount equal to last year’s enacted budget. NEAFA, with partners is seeking and additional $1 million. If appropriated, the funding would be utilized as follows:

•              $500,000 would fund four new positions.

o   Two Farm Business Management specialists

o   One Dairy Nutrition specialist.

o   One Animal Well-Being specialist.

•              $500,000 for applied research and extension support.

These positions and the research that would be supported are critical to addressing the unique needs of the dairy industry and the knowledge and information needed to reduce diary related emissions while also protecting that health of cows and maintaining production.

$1.190 million in total funding for Dairy Profit Teams. The Executive proposal would continue to provide $700,000 for the Dairy Advancement Program (DAP) and $374,000 for Dairy Profit Teams, which is constant with the funding provided in the last enacted budget.  However, demand for the services offered by these programs exceeds the supply supported by current funds. DAP funds are used by small farmers that are seeking to grow their businesses and adapt to the current financial and business environment. Along with partners we are seeing an addition investment of $150,000 in this program.

$750,000 for the Cornell University Ruminant Center (CURC). CURC is the leading American university dairy research facility that is best equipped to conduct studies at the scale needed to identify strategies that will improve the production of milk and milk-components, decrease the intensity of GHG emissions, and safely evaluate the true capabilities of what the dairy industry can accomplish while improving milk production efficiency and mitigating climate-related challenges. This funding would be a new state investment.

$1M to establish a Dairy Foods Innovation Hub. Building on Dairy Promotion Order Funds to create an Innovation Hub would create a platform to develop new dairy products, while increasing processing capacity, training the next generation of entrepreneurs and increasing access to local foods. This funding would be a new state investment.

Additional information on these programs can be found here, in a joint communication released by partners in the industry, including NEAFA.

2025 NEAFA Legislative Advocacy Day

By Jenny Mills, NEAFA Past President

On Tuesday February 4, ten NEAFA members and the Hinman Straub team met with 15 NYS legislators to review budget priorities.  This year, the Executive budget released in January was more favorable to agriculture than in the past.  NEAFA’s collaboration with the Northeast Dairy Producers Association, NY Farm Bureau and Cornell PRO-DAIRY and College of Agriculture and Life Sciences was appreciated as most of these asks are within all the groups talking points.

A huge thank you to Julie Marlette, Jim Carr and Carla Downie from Hinman Straub who accompanied our teams and organized visits with a variety of legislators. 

A summary of NEAFA’s legislative budget priorities are below.  Please reach out with any questions, or if you have interest in participating in our next Lobby Day!  We plan on returning to Albany for another formal Lobby Day in May, focused on policy issues.  

NEW, INCREASED AND RESTORED NEAFA SUPPORTED FUNDING REQUESTS

$4.73 million for Net Zero Dairy. New York’s farms are a critical part of the state’s economy. Dairy farms are the largest segment of New York agriculture and generate over $4 billion annually in farm gate revenue and more than $12 billion total. New York has supported expansions in dairy processing capacity that are projected to require 20 percent more milk (three billion pounds) to supply recent, pending and anticipated expansions. At the same time New York has set strong goals around greenhouse gas reduction, maintaining clean water and other environmental targets. To best serve the New York State economy, New York dairy farmers should be the primary providers of the milk needed to support the first goal. To do so and remain strong environmental stewards and partners for the state, a significant investment in the transition to net zero is needed.

$100,000 in Additional Funding for FarmNet. In addition to supporting the Executive Proposal to provide $1.4 million, a restoration of the $100,000 to this network of 46 consultants across the state is needed. These practitioners are in place to respond to farmers’ requests for assistance. Professional financial and mental health consultants help farm families and businesses deal with the financial and emotional issues characteristic of an industry under severe stress. In 2021, FarmNet professionals worked with over 729 farmers on issues ranging from economic and mental health to business and estate planning.

NEAFA SUPPORTED EXECUTIVE PROPOSED APPROPRIATIONS

Farm Labor Specialist - $702,000. State support has allowed for a professional farm business / human resources cooperative extension specialist to provide timely, valuable information and guidance to employers of farm workers throughout the state. Recent increases in state investment have allowed the program to expand career growth and services for the Hispanic farm workforce, to improve farm employee housing management, and to improve employee training and workforce availability in New York agriculture.

New York State Occupational Health Clinic Network (OHCN)- $9,560,000. OHCN, through its nine member centers, serves as an essential resource for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of occupational disease and other work-related injuries and illnesses.

New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAMH) - $1.25 million. NYCAMH at the Mary Imogene Basset Hospital runs several on-farm health and safety initiatives. This includes safety surveys, as well as training on topics including, but not limited to, ladder and chainsaw safety, large vehicle handling, sun and hydration and other topics upon request. 

Dairy Farm Modernization Grants - $10 million (Capital). The Executive Budget proposal includes a new $10 million capital allocation to implement the Dairy Farm Good and Growth Fund to allow for increased investment in on-farm milk storage capacity and improve efficiencies in milk transfer systems and cooling technologies. This investment would, among other things, allow for investment in on-site storage and processing of milk during extreme weather situations that prevent milk from being transported safely.

Agricultural Education and Outreach Programs $3 million. These programs, including Future Farmers of America (FFA), Agriculture in the Classroom, Agricultural Educators, and other outreach programs to create a pipeline for the next generation of farmers, agribusinesses, food companies, and industry leaders. Significant private industry support is bolstered with public funds to maximize the success of these programs. These funds would support the following programs:

·         $1 million for Future Farmers of America.

·         $1 million for Agriculture in the Classroom.

·         $500,000 for Agricultural Educators.

·         $250,000 for Cornell 4-H.

·         $250,000 for the New York City Urban Agriculture education and outreach.

New York Farm Viability Institute - $1 million: The 302 projects that this program has supported have returned nearly seven dollars to the State’s economy for every dollar invested, and farm profitability has been enhanced by approximately $149 million. Projects have included the development of IPM practices in onions, reduced tillage on vegetable farms, biological controls for pest management, and the use of profitable winter forages as cover crops. They are also expanding to include climate change and green operations.

Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution Control – $20 million: This program provides essential funding for assisting New York’s animal agriculture industry facing costly water quality regulations prescribed by the DEC and EPA. Farmers are stewards of soil and water resources, yet comprehensive nutrient management plans can require more than what a farm business can reasonably afford.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) - $5.5 million: For over 32 years, this nationally recognized program has provided the research and education necessary to develop and employ a “toolbox” of options that provide effective pest control in dairy barns, crop fields, orchards, vineyards, greenhouses, farmsteads,     golf courses, and gardens. Reducing pest threats, protecting the environment, and protecting New Yorkers are a major part of the IPM Program’s mission.

This funding would support the following programs:

·         Within Cornell University Integrated Pest Management program, the proposal would allocate $4.25 million to support this work, including support for farmers for adopting integrated pest management practices and field trials.

·         $1 million proposed to be available through community nonpoint pollution control for community integrated pest management.

·         $250,000 proposed for Cornell for pesticide pest management control.

2025 NEAFA Scholarship for Future Agriculturists Recipients

By Jenny Mills, NEAFA Past President

This past week at the New York Farm Show, NEAFA Good Works Chair John Clark and the FFA team recognized the following students as the four NEAFA Scholarship for Future Agriculturists Recipients:

Andrew Curtis-Szalach– Cazenovia NY

Proud member of the Cazenovia Aggies FFA

Currently serving as the NY State FFA Treasurer

Future Plans:  I plan to study Agricultural Systems Management

About Andrew:

“Andrew was raised on a 7th generation dairy farm in Cazenovia NY.  While he loves animals he discovered his true passions revolved around the growth of crops, and the operation of machinery to support field operations.  His SAE was in the area of repairing equipment and maintaining machinery vital to farm operations.  He hopes to one day become an agricultural educator.”

Serena Drost-  Greenwich NY

Proud member of the Greenwich FFA

Currently serving as chapter Secretary

Future Plans:  Attending SUNY Cobleskill to study Animal Science

About Serena:

“Serena was first exposed to agriculture visiting a farm where her brother milked cows.  That started a path of interest that included showing dairy cattle, and discovering her passion for animal science.  She has been an active member of her FFA, serving leadership roles throughout her high school years.  She looks forward to being an advocate for agriculture in her future.”

Allie Erhart– Cattaraugus NY

Proud member of the Cattaraugus Little Valley FFA

Currently Serving as Co President of the FFA

Future Plans:  Attending SUNY Cobleskill, to study Animal Science

About Allie:

“Allie has grown up raising and showing livestock, and that has become the driver for her future interest in studying animal science.   She has been an active member of the FFA, competing in many events at every level including competing at National FFA Convention is the Conduct of Meeting contest.  Allie credits much of her success to the support she has received from family, friends, and teachers.”  

Hannah King– Schuylerville, NY

Proud member of the Schuylerville FFA

Currently serving as Chapter President

Future Plan: Attending a university to study biology or veterinarian sciences.

About Hannah:

“Hannah was raised on her families dairy farm, Kings Ransom in Washington County.   Living and actively participating in the farm has given Hannah her roots in agriculture and has developed her interest in health sciences of both animals and humans.  She has been an active member of the Schuylerville FFA for several years, and credits her FFA experiences for developing her leadership skills and passion for learning."

These scholarships are administered through the NY FFA program but are open to any Senior in high school pursuing study in agriculture throughout New York and New England.  The scholarship deadline is in early January.  An anonymous committee works to narrow the field of finalists to 12, who then submit a 2-minute video about themselves.  The NEAFA Good Works committee works to judge these videos and applications to award 4 winners a $1,000 scholarship.   Congratulations to all our finalists!!  Please check out the links to the winners’ videos to learn more about them!  Click Here for Videos

Executive Pen: We Really Can Make a Difference!

by Charlie Elrod, Ph.D., NEAFA President

Before launching into the topic of this month’s Executive Pen article, I want to take a moment to offer my sincerest thanks to Jenny Mills, the Past-President of NEAFA, for the dedication and effort she contributed to our alliance over the last two years as President.  Coming off the transition to working without an Executive Director and navigating a new relationship with our advocacy firm, Hinman-Straub, Jenny really put her heart and soul into making sure there were no lapses in our presence in Albany or Montpelier or our collaborations with NEDPA, VDPA, NYFB, CAO and the other alphabet soup of organizations with whom we collaborate.  Thank you, Jenny.  I have always, and will continue to value your wisdom, knowledge and compassion to help make me a more effective leader for NEAFA.  It goes without saying, but can’t actually be said enough, that we wouldn’t be able to function as we do without the ever-present guidance and institutional memory provided by Sue Van Amburgh.  I hope you will take a second to drop them each a note (Jenny Mills, Sue Van Amburgh) to recognize and thank them for their service to our alliance and the greater industry.

On to the topic at hand.  It’s no news to you that we have recently come off our annual meeting, which included our lobby day and about which you can read more in this issue of the newsletter.  That was followed a week later by our participation in the Council of Ag Organizations lobby day on February 10th.  Between the two, we had about 50 meetings with legislators, all talking about agricultural issues.  Some might wonder whether our assembling to traipse up and down the floors and halls of the legislative office building, meeting with members of the state assembly and senate, is really worth the effort.  I’ve wondered that myself.  Does hearing from regular people like us make an impact on the legislative or regulatory processes of government?  Hell yes, it does!

Many of you have participated in the transportation summits we organized with NEDPA and NYFB over the last couple of years and are aware of some of our efforts to help shape the transportation landscape for our members and your customers.  There are so many issues around this: driver availability, insurance, CDL training, emergency road closures, etc.  This month it is my pleasure to report that in the closing days of 2024, the NYS Disaster Preparedness Commission issued new guidance on the determination of essential workers during weather emergencies or in declared disaster areas.  Among the major categories of Safety and Security, Health and Medical, Food Hydration and Shelter, Energy and Communications, we have, through our collective and repeated lobbying efforts, been able to attain essential worker status for: “workers in agriculture, such as milk haulers, dairy processing personnel, grain truck transporters, and those maintaining service vehicles and facilities for agricultural businesses”.

This is a huge win for the dairy and feed industry which has often been affected by extreme weather events and road closures.  Now, within the constraints of safe operation, for our employees and equipment, we are able to keep milk moving from farm to processors and processors to stores as well as getting feed and supplies to livestock.  This was a specific priority coming out of our transportation summits and hopefully just the first of many advances we can facilitate to ease the transportation bottlenecks affecting our businesses.  We don’t always get the wins, as in the legislation on neonics, but when we do, it is well worth the effort.  Thanks to all who participate in our advocacy efforts.

2025 New York State of the State

On Tuesday, January 14th, Governor Hochul delivered her 2025 State of the State address, outlining her priorities for the upcoming legislative session. As part of her address, the Governor provided a broad overview of proposals that aim to make New York more affordable for families, increase access to health and behavioral health services, reduce crime and drive economic development.  

Some of the major initiatives outlined by the Governor that may be of interest to you are noted below. The Governor’s full State of the State book can be viewed here:  

https://www.governor.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2025-01/2025StateoftheStateBook.pdf  

In the 2025 State of the State, the Governor announced her intention to propose actions to: 

• Strengthen local food supply chains by establishing the Food and Fiber Small-Scale Processing Grant Program, maintaining support for the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, and expanding NY’s supply of locally grown seafood.  

• Invest in the growth of NY’s fiber production industry. 

• Integrate agriculture education into the public-school curriculum by offering new funding for the New York Agriculture in the Classroom program.  

• Provide additional funding to research and implement climate-resilient practices on dairy farms. 

• Increase Farmworker Housing Program funding to better align resources with demand and help farms provide safer, healthier housing for workers. 

• Improve the tracking of lost farmland and strengthen capacity within NY’s network of community-led land trusts to effectively manage Environmental Bond Act funds allocated for farmland protection.  

• Fund land conservation to protect open spaces, farmland, and enhance accessibility.  

• Launch the Low Interest Capital Program in support of small businesses.  

• Provide AI training to entrepreneurs and small businesses through the Entrepreneurship Assistance Centers.  

• Require businesses to notify DOL of worker layoffs related to its use of AI to identify workers that may utilize training programs and supports offered by DOL.  

• Establish a grant program to help businesses replace high emission refrigeration equipment with low-emission alternatives.  

• Improving the Jobs Retention Tax Credit Program to support businesses in areas impacted by disasters and emergency events. 

A number of these items were addressed in the subsequent budget release. 

FY 2026 NYS Executive Budget Proposal

By Hinman Straub

Governor Kathy Hochul delivered her State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2026 Executive Budget address on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, in the “Red Room” at the State Capitol in Albany. Her Executive Budget proposal totals $252 billion, a $8.6 billion increase (3.6%) over SFY 2025.  

Tax receipts and other state revenues have increased significantly in recent months, resulting in a General Fund surplus of approximately $3.5 billion in FY 2025. The budget plan includes several actions to reduce out-year budget gaps to $4 billion in FY 2027, and $7.4 billion in FY 2028. New York now has $21 Billion in “rainy day” reserves. 

The Governor’s budget proposal includes initiatives unveiled in her State of the State of the State of the State address on January 14, and in other previous announcements. In her remarks announcing the Executive Budget proposal, she stated her priorities as being to reduce income taxes and the effects of inflation, increasing access to childcare and school meal assistance, housing, safety on subways, the transition to clean energy, and eliminating cell phone use in public schools.  

Executive Budget Highlights of the 2026 Executive budget proposal most directly related to NEAFA include: 

AGRICULTURE 

Farm Labor Specialist. The Executive Budget proposal includes $702,000 for the farm labor specialist program.  

NY Farm Viability Institute. The Executive Budget proposes $1 million for this program.  

New York State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory at Cornell University. The Executive budget proposes $8.270 million in funding to support animal health surveillance and control, avian disease, cattle health, milk production, Johnes disease and salmonella dublin bacteria, genomic surveillance, and forensic pathology programs. 

Cornell University Ruminant Center. The Executive Budget proposes $750,000 to support the Cornell University Ruminant Center. 

On-Farm Health. The Executive Budget proposal includes $1.25 million for the on-farm health and safety program administered by Mary Imogene Basset hospital. 

New York State Occupational Health Clinic Network (OHCN) and New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAMH). The Executive Budget proposal includes $9,560,000 for this program. 

PRO-DAIRY. The Executive Budget proses the following support for the Cornell Pro Daily Programs:  

• Core Program: The Executive Budget proposal includes $1,463,000 to support the Pro-Dairy core program.  

• Dairy Profit Teams: The Executive Budget proposes $374,000 for the Dairy Profit Teams. 

• Dairy Advancement Program: The Executive Budget proposal includes $700,000 for the Dairy Advancement Program.  

Dairy Farm Modernization Grants. The Executive Budget proposes includes an new $10 million in capital appropriation to implement the dairy farm good and growth fund to allow for increased investment in on-farm milk storage capacity and improve in efficiencies in milk transfer systems and cooling technologies. 

NY FarmNet. The Executive Budget proposes to include $1.4 million for NY FarmNet. 

Agricultural Education and Outreach Programs. The Executive Budget proposes to include $2 million for agricultural education and outreach programs. These funds support the following programs:  

• $1 million for Future Farmers of America.  

• $1 million for Agriculture in the Classroom.  

• $500,000 for Agricultural Educators. 

• $250,000 for Cornell 4-H.  

• $250,000 for the New York City Urban Agriculture education and outreach.  

Integrated Pest Management (IPM). The Executive Budget proposes the following investments in integrated pest management: 

• Within Cornell University Integrated Pest Management program, the proposal would provide $4.25 million allocation to support this work, including support for farmers for adopting integrated pest management practices and field trials.   

• $1 million proposed to be available through community nonpoint pollution control for community integrated pest management. 

• $250,000 is proposed for Cornell for pesticide pest management control. 

Agricultural Nonpoint Source Pollution Control. The Executive Budget proposes $20 million for this program.  

Agribusiness Child Development. The Executive Budget proposes includes $10.3 million in funding and $3.2 million. 

Farm to School Initiatives. The Executive Budget proposes to include $750,000 to the Department of Agriculture and Markets to support development of farm to school initiatives.   

Weigh-in-Motion Technology. The Executive Budget proposes to authorize use of weigh-in-motion technology to help keep overweight vehicles off bridges and highways and improve traffic flow. Each listed agency or authority would promulgate its own regulations for weigh-in-motion technology to automatically enforce truck weight limits and impose monetary penalties for lack of compliance.  

Agricultural Farmland Protection Program. The Executive Budget proposes to amend certain definitions to consider food security and urban agriculture lands as part of the local planning process. It would also clarify and streamline the current program’s processes and authorize additional financial assistance programs supporting various agricultural stakeholders and organizations.  

CLIMATE  

Climate Mitigation and Adaptation Projects. The Executive Budget proposes a $1 billion appropriation to support capital spending associated with the recently approved Climate Action Fund, pursuant to the state’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (Climate Act).  Eligible projects would include those intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, decarbonize and retrofit buildings, utilize renewable energy, advance clean transportation initiatives, implement thermal energy networks, and use green infrastructure. 

Clean Water Infrastructure. The Executive Budget proposes an additional $500 million in clean water infrastructure funding over two years, for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure, and water quality protection. 

Environmental Protection Fund. $400 million is proposed for the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF), which provides funding for environmental programs such as land acquisition, farmland protection, invasive species prevention and eradication, enhanced recreational access, water quality improvement, and environmental justice. 

Sustainable Future Program. The Executive Budget appropriates $1 billion for the Sustainable Future Program. For services and expenses of climate mitigation and adaptation projects including but not limited to: reducing greenhouse gas emissions and pollution; decarbonizing and retrofitting buildings; creating and utilizing renewable energy; advancing clean transportation initiatives; building, repairing, and maintaining thermal energy networks; for the design, construction, repair, or improvement of green infrastructure; and for purposes consistent with the general findings of the scoping plan prepared pursuant to section 75-0103 (“CLCPA”) of the environmental conservation law, subject to a plan approved by the director of the budget. Qualifying projects funded by this appropriation shall be subject to the same standards and provisions stated in section 224-f of the labor law and section 66-v of the public service law, and treated in the same manner as if funded from section 99-qq of the state finance law (Cap-and-Invest Climate Action Fund). 

EMPLOYEE RELATIONS AND LABOR 

Reduced Penalties for Failing to Comply with Frequency of Payments. The Executive Budget proposes to amend the penalties imposed under Article 6, Labor Law Section 198 for employers that fail to timely pay wages as required by Labor Law Section 191 (frequency of payments for workers). 

Presently, a failure to pay wages pursuant to the requirements of Section 191 results in an employee being entitled to 100% liquidated damages for the untimely portion of the wages paid. This outcome is a result of a 2019 Appellate Division, First Department decision, Vega v. C.M. & Associates, that found an employer liable for failing to pay manual workers weekly as opposed to bi-weekly and imposed 100% liquidated damages for the first week of wages paid in the bi-weekly paycheck. 

The amendment proposed in the Executive Budget seeks to lower the penalty imposed for failure to timely pay wages, particularly considering the significant impact to employers subject to a six-year statute of limitations but will provide increased penalties for repeated violations. 

If an employer is found to be in violation, where the employer paid the employee wages on a regular payday no less frequently than semi-monthly, the penalties for failing to timely pay wages shall be amended to limit the damages as follows: 

• First Violation: no more than 100% of the lost interest due because of the delay in the payment of the wages: 

• Second Violation: no more than 300% of the lost interest due because of the delay in the payment of wages, when the employer is already subject to an order of violation. 

• Third Violation: liquidated shall be 100% of the total amount of the untimely paid wages, when the employer is already subject to two orders of violation. 

Expanded Enforcement Powers to Collect Lost Wages. The Executive Budget proposes to amend Labor Law Sections 218(3) and 219 (3) to provide the Commissioner of DOL additional powers to enforce final non-appealable orders/decisions that impose penalties and wage payments upon employers for violations of Articles 6 (Payment of Wages), 19 (Minimum Wage) or 19-a (Minimum Wage for Farm Workers) of the Labor Law. While this amendment is contained within Article 7 of the Labor Law, which applies to all employers, Articles 6, 19 or 19-a of the Labor Law do not apply to public sector employers.  

The additional powers proposed in the amendment include the Commissioner’s ability to issue warrants under its official seal directed to the Sheriff of any county in which real or personal property of the defaulting employer is found. Alternatively, the Commissioner may direct an officer or employee of the DOL to file a copy of such warrant with the county clerk in any county where such property is located. 

It should be noted that the ability to obtain poundage and/or fees that are otherwise available to the Sheriff are not available to the Commissioner. The filing of the warrant may become a lien in the same manner as a warrant issued by the Sheriff. 

Increased Child Labor Penalties in Relation to the Violations. The Executive Budget proposes to align the penalties imposed with the severity of the violation of the child labor laws. 

The proposed amendment would substantially increase labor law civil penalties for violations related to child labor. The fines for a first-time violation would increase from $1,000 to $10,000, with second violations increasing from $2,000 to a minimum fine of $2,000 with a maximum fine of $30,000, and third or subsequent violations increasing to at least $10,000 with a maximum of $75,000, which is an increase from the previous maximum of $3,000. 

The amendment would also provide for imposition of tiered and substantially higher fines when the violation involves illegal employment during which a minor is seriously injured or dies. Currently, the penalty is treble of the maximum penalty but is not set with a range of $3,000 to $30,000 for a first violation, $6,000 to $90,000 for a second violation and $30,000 to $225,000 for a third or subsequent violation. 

While these proposed fines are substantially higher, the DOL would have authority to reduce the penalty if the violation does not risk the safety or health of the minor, so long as the employer agrees to certain statutory provisions, such as immediate payment, required training, providing employees with child labor resource information and other related obligations, including a plan to ensure future compliance and submission of documentation of same. 

The proposal would increase the criminal penalties for violations of the statute, by changing the penalty from a misdemeanor to a felony with increased fines from $500 to $1,000 and imprisonment from sixty days up to one year (or a combination thereof) for a first offense and further increased penalties for second or subsequent offenses. 

The proposal would create two felony categories for “criminal negligent homicide of a child worker” and “endangering the welfare of a child” where a child dies or serious injury while employed in violation of child labor laws. 

Farmworker Housing Program. The Executive Budget proposes $5 million to support the services and expenses of the Farmworkers Housing Program.  

Extend the Authorization of the MWBE Business Program. The Executive Budget proposes to extend New York State’s Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprises (MWBE) program for two years (July 1, 2027). According to the Governor, the Division of Minority and Women’s Business Development (DMWBD) oversees the statewide MWBE program in New York State and is charged with three primary functions: 

• To encourage and assist state agencies that are engaged in contracting activities to award a fair share of state contracts to MWBEs. 

• To review applications by businesses seeking certification as a MWBE and to maintain a directory of certified MWBEs. 

• To promote the business development of MWBEs through education and outreach to agencies and MWBEs.  

Increase Discretionary Procurements for MWBEs and Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses. The Executive Budget proposes to increase the state agency discretionary procurement threshold for MWBEs and SDVOBs from $750,000 to $1.5 million and increases the public authority discretionary procurement threshold in Public Authorities Law for MWBEs from $500,000 to $1.5 million and includes SDVOBs. According to the Governor, increasing the number and value of non-competitive contracts by raising the discretionary procurement threshold will increase access to contracts and help more MWBEs and SDVOBs work directly as prime contractors for state agencies and authorities. 

Digitizing Youth Working Papers. The Executive Budget proposes to update and digitize the process by which a minor applies for working papers or employment certificates. 

This proposal would provide for the creation of a database for the employment of minors by the State Department of Labor in consultation with the NYSED. This would be a confidential database not accessible to the public. Employers would be required to register and provide information to the database upon the hiring of a minor prior to the start of employment. Minors will be required to register with the database to obtain an employment certificate or permit. 

Any employment certificate issued under this provision shall be issued electronically and maintained within the DOL database. This would eliminate the employer’s requirement to maintain the physical employment certificate of the minor employee at the employer’s place of business. It would also eliminate the DOL Commissioner’s requirement f to notify the local superintendent of schools, monthly, the names of illegally employed children. 

Reform the Human Rights Complaint Process. The Executive Budget proposes to make changes addressing discrimination claims handled by the Division of Human Rights (“the Division”). These changes include: 

• Allowing for the Division to designate a required form and procedure for making signing and filing complaints.  

• Eliminating the obligation to obtain the consent of the complainant to issue a dismissal for administrative convenience in a housing discrimination case.  

The Executive Budget also proposes the creation of a “Discrimination Complaints Escrow Fund”. The fund would be used to accept the deposits for all conciliation, settlement and other monetary award funds of the Division 

TAX 

Tax Disclosure for CLCPA. The Executive Budget proposes to allow DTF to share certain tax information from returns of petroleum or fossil fuel businesses with DEC or NYSERDA to implement the CLCPA.   

Establish the CATALIST NY Program. The Executive Budget proposes to establish the Companies Attracting Talent to Advance Leading Innovations and Scale Technologies in New York (“CATALYST NY”) Program. Under the CATALIST program, the Department of Economic Development (DED) would accept applications from New York State incubators to become "CATALIST NY incubators." Selected incubators would then nominate small businesses they have supported to be designated as CATALIST NY small businesses. The CATALIST NY small businesses would be eligible to provide a personal income tax benefit for up to eight of its newly hired full time employees: the wages of these new employees would not be subject to state personal income taxes. CATALIST NY would sunset in 10 years. 

Extend and Amend the Excelsior Jobs Program. The Executive Budget (Subpart A) proposes to extend the existing excelsior jobs program for ten years, from 2029 to 2039. Additionally, the proposal would provide for enhancements to the program, including: 

• Adding semiconductor supply chain projects to the list of eligible sectors of business. It would make the semiconductor supply chain projects eligible for a benefit of up to 7% for excelsior’s jobs tax credit component, 3% for excelsior’s investment tax credit component, and up to 7% for excelsior’s research and development tax credit component. 

•  Create the new semiconductor research and development project program would provide a tax credit of up to 15% of the cost or other basis for federal income purposes on qualified investment made by a semiconductor research and development project. 

• Create the new semiconductor manufacturing workforce training incentive program would provide a tax credit equal to 75% of eligible wages, training costs and wrap around services up to $25,000 per employee, up to $1,000,000, per eligible non-semiconductor manufacturing business, and up to $5,000,000 per eligible semiconductor manufacturing business. 

• The proposal would repeal the current employee training incentive program (ETIP) effective December 31, 2028.  

This proposal would alter and expand the Jobs Retention Tax Credit Program (“JRTCP”). The proposal would update the JRTCP to assist additional emergency-impacted businesses. The program would be expanded to support small businesses at risk of leaving the state or closing operations due to the economic impact of an event leading to an emergency declaration by the Governor. 

Expand the Credit for Employment of Persons with Disabilities. The Executive Budget proposes to increase the tax incentive to employers that employ persons with disabilities. Currently, the maximum credit per qualified employee is limited to $2,100. This proposal would increase the amount of the credit for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2025, to $5,000 in qualified first-year wages earned by each qualified employee or, alternatively, where the federal work opportunity tax credit applies, $5,000 in qualified second-year wages earned by each qualified employee. 

Extend the Alternative Fuels and Electric Vehicle Recharging Property Credit for Three Years. The Executive Budget proposes to extend the alternative fuels and electric vehicle recharging property credit for three years through tax years beginning before January 1, 2029. 

Extend the Workers with Disabilities Tax Credit for Three Years. The Executive Budget proposes to extend the workers with disabilities tax credit for an additional three years through tax year 2028. The credit provides tax incentives to qualified employers for employment of persons with disabilities. The credit would otherwise expire this year. 

Extend the Hire a Vet Credit for Three Years. The Executive Budget proposes to extend the hire a vet tax credit for an additional three years. The credit would be available through tax years beginning before January 1, 2029, for veterans who begin employment before January 1, 2028. 

Increase the Article 9-A Estimated Tax Threshold. The Executive Budget proposes to increase the threshold at which corporation tax filers are required to make estimated tax payments, from $1,000 to $5,000, beginning on January 1, 2026. 

Workforce Development – Farms, Feed and People

By Jenny Mills, NEAFA President 

We look forward to seeing you all next week at our Annual Meeting!  Tuesday afternoon’s agenda is packed.  We will kick off with a panel focused on our agricultural workforce.  The panel will be moderated by Dr. Richard Stup.  Dr. Stup leads the Agricultural Workforce Development program at Cornell University. He teaches leadership and management and conducts research into labor challenges facing the industry. His focus is on helping agricultural employers avoid labor risks, create engaged employee teams, and operate profitably. Cornell Ag Workforce Development focuses on helping employers with regulatory compliance, developing managers and supervisors, employee housing management, and developing the future farm workforce.  

We are thrilled to have a diverse panel representing all aspects of our industry, including: 

• Dana Politis – Associate Commissioner for Workforce Development at the NYS Department of Labor 

• Crystal Grimaldi – Office & Human Resource Manager at Ideal Dairy Farms 

• Shannon Danyow – Chief Financial Officer of Phoenix Feeds & Nutrition, Inc.   

• Anna Richards – Business Advisor and Founder of 2020 Consulting   

The goal of this panel is to discuss the opportunities for recruiting, training and retaining employees.  We hope you bring questions for the panelists. 

Over the last several months, NEAFA has been involved with meetings with collaborators around different transportation topics.  Members have ideated around the following opportunities for transportation in the Northeast: 

• Commercial Drivers License – We met with Dana Politis and NEDPA and discussed recruiting new drivers by hosting simulators (both mobile and at locations throughout NYS, including Buffalo and Utica).  We discussed getting more opportunities for driver training in rural areas.  Dr. Charlie Elrod has also met with local BOCES programs to discuss CDL training opportunities through BOCES centers throughout New York.  We appreciate all the communication and collaboration with not just our ag partners, but also the NYS Trucking Association to help educate stakeholders about opportunities and challenges with the Advanced Clean Trucks mandate. 

• Insuring younger drivers (under 21 years old) – Hinman Straub is researching opportunities for position statements, with the goal of understanding insurance rates and potential program opportunities for getting CDL drivers ages 18-21 insured. 

• Hauling perishable products during inclement weather state of emergencies – Our collaboration with NEDPA and NY Farm Bureau has resulted in several conversations to alert both the Governor’s office, as well as key legislators, with the goal of some form of exemption for perishable product as well as feed delivery to animals. 

We look forward to having you hear updates on all these topics next week! 

Executive Pen: January 2025

By Mike Thresher, NEAFA Secretary

Happy New Year and welcome to 2025!  My Dad always said the new year was like starting at the top of the ladder. As a young lad, I didn’t quite understand or appreciate his thought process, but as age (or experience) has shown me, he was right.  The New Year brings a time to reflect on the past year, but to also plan for the next year’s goals.  By being at the “Top of the Ladder”, one can see ahead to help oneself and their team plan for the upcoming year.  We are already seeing this in action, both locally and at the federal level, as new administrations are setting up in place to provide leadership for the next year. 

In Vermont, Gov. Phil Scott was re-elected, and both House and Senate saw many newly elected officials.  Our legislative session has started. It was announced by our Senate Ag Chair, that he would like to pass legislation which provides a support price for farmers throughout Vermont.  This is great news for our agriculture economy.  In addition, NOFA-VT is putting forth a bill to create a Food Security Fund, in response to the past 2 years of devasting floods that destroyed many acres of crops, from grain crops, hay, silage, vegetables and to ag infrastructure. We are very fortunate in Vermont to have a culture that truly supports agriculture and what it provides for all.  The Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center is another great example of support, with funding from the USDA, many grants are available to farms throughout the Northeast. 

Lastly, another great opportunity is the NEAFA Annual meeting coming next month, February 4-5th, in Albany, NY.  Some key highlights for this year’s meeting include a panel discussion on workforce development, Lead-NY, a feed mill management presentation and updates on legislation in New York and Vermont.  If you haven’t registered, here’s a link to do so (NEAFA— Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance).  I look forward to seeing you there. 

2025 NY Legislature Session Preview

By Hinman Straub

Earlier this month, both majority conferences of the legislature met for their annual re-organizational retreat, at which Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins were selected to lead their respective conferences and chambers. At these meetings they also set the legislative calendar for the coming year.

Session will resume Wednesday January 8th, with the Governor’s State of the State taking place the following Tuesday, January 14th at 1:00. This year, for the first time since assuming office the Governor has indicated that she will deliver the speech in the Hart Theater in the Egg, rather than the Assembly Chamber. In advance of the speech The Governor has announced that her first proposal will be to create an “Inflation Refund” to deliver $3 billion in direct payments to taxpayer. Her proposal would deliver $300 to single taxpayers and $500 to joint filers making less than $300,000. We anticipate additional advanced proposals will be released. Following the State if the State, the Governor has until Tuesday January 21 to release her executive budget.

In the new session, considerable advocacy efforts will be dedicated to relationship building. In the final results 21 new Assemblymembers and 5 new Senators will be seated. These new members will present NEAFA with an opportunity to grow our list of supporters and orient them to our issues. Because of the high turnover in members we also anticipate significant changes in committee chairmanships and memberships, as well as leadership positions. Assemblymember Helene Weinstein, chair of the prominent Assembly Ways and Means committee retired this year, and it was just announced that long time member Gary Pretlow will be the new Ways and Means chair. This opens up the chairmanship of his current committee, Racing and Wagering. Changes at this high level will generally have a cascading effect with multiple parties moving, but no additional assignments have been made.

There are some items that we anticipate continued action. Environmental protection proposals, including those impacting NEAFA members will continue to be advanced. We anticipate the first round of regulations associated with the implementation of the CLCPA and scoping plan to be published shortly. The Advanced Clean Truck regulations, which will start to require a certain percentage of new trucks be zero emission are slated to go into effect in 2025. NEAFA will continue to advocate for issues of importance to the membership including addressing transportation challenges, increasing insurance rates, and other issues.

Renew Your Membership Now!

By Charlie Elrod, NEAFA Vice-President

It’s that time of year again when we all need to renew our membership in NEAFA. Without our members, our voice in support of agriculture in the Northeast would be silenced. We have several very important issues about which we will be actively advocating including transportation, litigation finance, insurance, extended producer responsibility and the TEMP act to name a few. These are all issues which affect our members’ businesses directly as well as those of our customers. And by collaborating closely in our advocacy efforts with NY Farm Bureau, Northeast Dairy Producers Association, Vermont Dairy Producers Alliance, the Trucking Association of NY and Cornell’s College of Ag & Life Sciences we multiply and unify our voices in the hallways where regulation and legislation happen.

It really is crucial to grow our member base so that we remain relevant for our members and the industry we serve. I would challenge each of you reading this newsletter to page through the membership directory, thinking about who within your sphere of influence is not listed there. I am confident that several of your suppliers, lenders, insurers, equipment dealers, etc. are not members. Make a point to reach out and invite them to join NEAFA this year. They could join as an Individual Membership for only $100. Or better yet, join as their company and support our mission with their $500 membership fee. Feel free to send them this link once you’ve convinced them to join!

Based on member feedback and the thoughtful efforts of the Membership Committee, last year we adopted a simplified membership structure which is much less complicated and more fair to all members. As mentioned above, $500 will cover two people from any feed manufacturer, supplier or service provider company. Individual members, who may be public servants, producers or other ag supporters, can join for $100. Academics and researchers can also join for $100. With any of these membership levels come voting rights and the ability to serve on any NEAFA committee or the board of directors.

Your 2025 membership invoice has recently been sent out through the PayPal payment system. You do not need a PayPal account to pay directly online with your credit card. Or, you can print your invoice and mail it back to NEAFA with your check. Today our member directory lists 219 individuals as members. If we ALL get on the membership committee and recruit a few more members, I’m confident we can grow this to 300 by this time next year. We all owe it to the incredible agriculture industry that we serve to make sure this is a vibrant and growing alliance.