NEAFA was proud to present longtime agricultural industry leaders Richard and Steven Lutz with their Distinguished Service Award (DSA) during the 2021 NEAFA Annual Meeting, held August 30th to September 1st in Verona, NY. The DSA is the highest accolade that the organization can give to recognize not only someone’s service to NEAFA, but to the entire agricultural industry throughout their career. Also recognized with the award posthumously was NY Assemblyman Bill Magee. In addition, Professor Larry Chase received special recognition for his work on two white papers on how the feed industry is addressing nitrogen and phosphorus levels in the feed stream.
Lutz Feed Company was founded in 1958 in Roxbury, NY by Richard and Marjorie Lutz. Their son Steven joined the business and helped build and operate their current Oneonta, NY feed and grain facility. More recently the third family generation (Blake) has joined the business and Blake has assumed most of the management responsibilities. The Lutz family have given much of their lives to the agricultural industry, their customers, and fellow feed dealers. It is our honor to recognize the hard work and dedication to growing the market for feed in New York and beyond.
“It was an absolute pleasure & honor to recognize the Lutz family & their legacy, for years of service to the feed manufacturing & livestock industry,” said NEAFA President Danielle Penney-Stroop. “The Lutz’s embody hard work, determination, ingenuity, while remaining steadfast and committed to their customers, from the backyard chicken and goats to our progressive dairy operations throughout NYS. The Lutz family has a strong passion, core, and code of ethics that anyone can recognize after spending just a short time conversing with them; however what is more telling is how their competitors speak so highly of them & the respect they have earned in the industry. I look forward to what lies ahead for this paramount feed manufacturer and the role they will play in maintaining a sustainable agribusiness in central NY.”
Former NYS Assembly Man Bill Magee served his constituents in Madison, Otsego, and Oneida counties for nearly 30 years, representing them in the state assembly from 1990 to 2018. As the chair of the Assembly’s Agriculture Committee, he always made sure to highlight the issues that New York’s agricultural industry faced, fighting to promote causes that would aid New York farmers in their work. Growing up in Madison County, Magee worked on his family’s dairy farm before beginning his pursuit of politics to help his fellow farmers and agribusiness owners. ““ Bill Magee’s personal and professional careers were always focused on serving and assisting the agriculture community”, Said Jenny Mills, NEAFA Vice President and former Magee staff intern. “Bill was particularly partial to the dairy industry which is a significant part of his former legislative district.” Magee passed away on Christmas Eve in 2020. NEAFA is humbled to present this posthumous honor to Magee after his lifelong effort to promote agriculture in New York.
Professor Emeritus Dr. Larry Chase received surprise recognition for going above and beyond the cause for his recent work to highlight the good news of how the feed industry has significantly contributed to reducing excess nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients from dairy farms throughout the Northeast. “The Northeast feed industry has been a great partner over the years in implementing new technologies and new ration formulation advances on dairy farms to improve sustainability and profitability”, said Chase. “At universities, we can develop new concepts, but the cooperation of the feed industry is critical to moving these into application on dairy farms. I have always found the Northeast feed industry to be receptive to utilizing and embracing new concepts. Personally, I highly value many personal relationships and interactions with feed industry personnel. They are a great group of individuals committed to the success of the customers.”
Congratulations to all awards recipients!