By Eric Jenks, Special to NEAFA
Howlett Farms, currently in its fifth generation, is a cornerstone agribusiness for western New York. “We’ve been farming and in agriculture since 1880,” said Michael Howlett, Vice President of Howlett Farms and chair of the agronomy committee at NEAFA. “We’ve touched almost every part of the agriculture; cows way back when, potatoes, vegetables, row crops, and we’ve continued to vertically integrate throughout the ag sector to get closer to both producers and end-users. We raise and combine our own crops. Growing from there, we saw the need for more drying and storage capacity for our regions grain producers. We built a storage facility in Avon about 20 years ago. It started by serving mostly dairy farmers and handling their excess grain corn, where we would buy it from them or store for them for later in the year when they would be changing their rations. That kind of shaped our modus operandi to focus on dairy farms and that industry.
That initial facility led to Howlett Farms establishing others to better serve their customers and process more ingredients. “Today, we have nine facilities that we receive grain out of the field for drying and storing,” said Howlett. “We also have three feed mills that we operate, to process those ingredients. We also handle a variety of other commodities that either go through our mills or direct to farms. The feed business grew out of the need to get closer to the end user. We take the raw product, grind or steam flake it, and then add it to their commodity mixes that we make.”
For Howlett, this is a lifelong passion. “I grew up on the family farm always wanting to be a farmer, we were raising vegetables at the time,” said Howlett. “I always wanted to work and be on the farm. At eighteen, we realized that I wasn’t a great operator, I wasn’t equipped to be out in the field all day. I went out to college at The University of Illinois, studied agricultural economics. When I was getting ready to graduate, my dad and I discussed I needed to bring something back to the operation, I couldn’t just come back to the operation. We decided to change the operation a bit, and I was going to go off on my own for a bit and bring something back to the farm to benefit it. I started out working in Chicago trading on the futures market, learning risk management and how to offset risk. I brought that skillset back to the family farm. Since then, we have evolved into a commodity brokerage firm, working with producers and farmers to source their needs or give them access to a broader and better marketplace. We not only trade the ingredients, but we also have a fleet of 30 trucks hauling bulk commodities and feed ingredients to ensure timely delivery of ingredients or feed as is needed on today’s large scale dairy operations. We are also on rail, and bring in and ship commodities out from there as needed.”
Howlett Farms joined NEAFA in 2019, and joined NEAFA’s Board of Directors in 2020. “We’re relatively new to the feed part of agriculture,” said Howlett. “We’ve been working with grain for 20 years, but we’re new to the feed processing. We joined NEAFA when we started making feed at our own facility. The level of engagement that the board and its members have throughout the industry is wonderful. They’re not focused on just one segment; they’re fighting for dairy, cash crops, feed manufacturing, hauler and freight transportation, you name it. NEAFA puts the picture all together. They know that it's not multiple segments that operate independently, we’re all in this together. If one part doesn’t work, then it affects us all. That’s the most refreshing thing about NEAFA to me - their scope and their impact. The board is active, engaged, and full of intelligent and dedicated individuals that come together as a group to make agriculture in the northeast better for everyone.
Like many others recently, Howlett Farms has been affected by the railroad staffing issues. “There’s not much we can do about it,” said Howlett. “We have cars on order that should be moving. It’s been frustrating because CSX isn’t going to listen to just one farmer in Avon, NY. It’s a challenge to be heard and explain the urgency of what we need done and the pace that it needs to be done. We do our best to leverage our network ties to get things moving. We try and elevate the problem so that we can have some of the bigger players call and make an impact. When you’re dealing with a company of that size, it can be easily ignored. Because of that, we’ve been moving on truck more and multiple times to accommodate our customers. Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot of immediate resolution until someone bigger objects.
As many others in agribusiness can attest, issues with rail can be compounded by driver shortages in trucking. “The dairy industry in the northeast is very reliant on truck freight,” said Howlett. “When you look at the livestock industry in the Midwest for example, they’re usually very closely located to feed mills and production houses. In the northeast though, being mostly smaller family farms, it’s much more of fragmented customer base with farther to go to processing centers. The incremental cost has doubled in the last two years. It’s tough maintaining a strong and dedicated fleet of drivers. No matter what part of agriculture you’re in, you have to be passionate about it. If the driver doesn’t want to come into work or is sick, each driver needs to know that responsibility and have passion to pick up the extra work. We’ve been lucky to build a team that has that passion and serves our customers and keeps them on time. It’s challenging when you see sign-on bonuses from personal freight. It’s a battle to keep them in our trucks instead of going with another freight company. We understand the hard work it takes to do that trucking job, and we work extremely hard to recognize them for that effort.”
For Howlett, dedication is key to their business growth. “Our organization drives on passion,” said Howlett. “I was brought up on a farm, and I love being on the farm, and have wanted to be in agriculture ever since I could walk. You must have that passion and commitment to support the farm and the community around us. I realized very early on in my career that if the ag community doesn’t succeed around us, then there’s no place for us in this market. Their success drives our success. Increasing the viability and profitability of the ag market in the northeast is our goal. I look at my children as my horizon, and I want to know that I’ve set up the organization to be successful for the next 50 years so that they can grow and continue to run a successful business as well. I know that our neighbors up the road, and all over the northeast for that matter, are what drives our success and enables us to do what we’re doing. We look at what each engagement needs to maximize their success, which guarantees our success.”