By John Mitchell, NEAFA Executive Director
On July 20th, NY Farm Bureau held a “Future of Agriculture Summit” attended by over 100 leaders from Farm Bureau and other agricultural partners for an invitation-only event. The Future of Agriculture Summit addressed a number of issues critical to agriculture's success in New York. Rick Zimmerman and I attended this program that consisted of four panels presenting on the topics:
1) Workforce Development and Labor
2) Climate Change (Opportunities and Challenges)
3) Engaging with Non-Farm, Urban Constituencies, and
4) Agricultural Education and Applied Research.
Following each panel’s presentation, a discussion was held at each round table and the comments were shared with the entire group.
Farm Bureau President David Fisher opened the meeting and encouraged the attendees to engage in breakout discussions following each panel’s presentation. The desired outcome is to provide Farm Bureau and their partners with an action plan so we can all move forward in our efforts to navigate the many challenges ahead.
I came away from the Summit with a greater understanding of what the challenges are for our agricultural enterprises and how NEAFA can be effective in addressing the issues. We were introduced to individuals who will be important in our work ahead such as Chris White, NYSDOL Deputy Commissioner for Workforce Development. Chris will be invited to the Agricultural Transportation Summit later this year where we hope to find solutions to the driver shortage our members are dealing with.
The panel on climate change provided an update on the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) which bodes many onerous policies that we will be struggling with in the days ahead, but also for opportunities to be proactive for solutions to the climate issues.
The 3rd panel provided a sobering look at publicly funded agricultural R&D in the US which has been declining over the past 20 years. The US was 1st in Ag R&D and is now 3rd behind China, and the European Union. India and Brazil rounded out the top 5, with both of the latter increasing their ag r&d spending in recent years, in comparison to the decline in US funding. The chairs of both the NY Senate and Assembly Ag Committees discussed engagement with non-farm urban constituencies who are increasing their attention towards agriculture. We need to provide ways to engage with these urban constituencies to help them understand the realities of production agriculture and the unintended consequences of policies they may be advocating for. One startling fact was shared, in 2018 the rural areas of NY were represented by 97% of the majority in the NYS Senate. Today that number is only 3%. We have much work to do to be sure that the legislature knows agriculture.
The meeting concluded with identifying and prioritizing issues and possible solutions from which Farm Bureau will develop an action plan. Below you will find the presentations from each of the 4 Panels,along with roundtable discussions that followed each panel.
We appreciate Farm Bureau’s initiative and for inviting NEAFA to join the conversation. I will provide an update to our membership when an action plan is finalized.
Farm Bureau Summit on Future of Agriculture
July 20, 2022
Panel 1: Access to Skilled Labor and Workforce Development
Richard Stup, Cornell Agricultural Workforce Specialist
Jim Bittner, Executive Director NYS Horticulture Society
AJ Wormuth, NEDPA Board Member and Owner of Half Full Dairy
Chris White, Deputy Commissioner for Workforce Development, NYSDOL
Panel 2: Addressing Climate Change
Julie Suarez, Cornell University CALS
Peter Woodbury, Cornell University
Brian Steinmuller, NYS Dept. of Agriculture and Markets
Panel 3: Engaging with Non-Farm, Urban Constituencies
Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, Chair of Assembly Agriculture Committee
Senator Michelle Hinchey. Chair of Senate Agriculture Committee
Panel 4: Investment in Agricultural Education and Applied Research
Anu Rangarajan, Cornell Small Farms
Tara Berescik, NYAAE
Julie Suarez, Cornell University CALS
Andrew Turner, Cornell University
Use Ctrl+Click to open the document links below.