By Danielle Penney-Stroop NEAFA President
August is quickly ending, and many of the local county fairs are wrapping up. Vermont State Fair just completed its 176th year, NYS Fair is upon us, and The Big E is quickly approaching. What phenomenal opportunities these are to engage with the general public and our local politicians, by showcasing and sharing our stories of agricultural stewardship in our communities.
For those of you involved with the sponsorship of youth activities, thank you!! It’s critical in engaging our youth, supporting family operations, and it effectively demonstrates how we are one industry with a unified voice. Beyond these immediate reasons, they are also small ways of connecting with consumers, friends, and neighbors who otherwise have limited exposure to agriculture.
I firmly believe that as we now approach election season, we must highlight our strength in numbers and unified voice. Our industry may be small, yet we are mighty, and all the facets of our industry are critical and needed every day. We must collaborate to achieve our goals collectively and advocacy is more critical than ever.
In early August, NEAFA was part of a coalition that sent a letter to US Senate Majority Leader Schumer and US Senator Gillibrand, on behalf of the New York agriculture community strongly encouraging the US Senate to pass an agriculture workforce reform bill, (largely focusing on the H2-A guest worker program), during this Congress. Specifically, referencing and addressing the workforce needs for U.S. and New York agriculture, and to assure that domestic agriculture production continues to address our national security needs and curtails rising food costs for every consumer.
We were also informed in early August, that the coalition we are a part of, successfully convinced Massachusetts to back off from enforcing pork housing regulations. The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to rule on the question whether a state law can dictate agricultural practices in another state. This ruling will impact the same question that is driving the MA law. Therefore, MA officials agreed to back off until SCOTUS rules.
NEAFA membership had the opportunity to participate and be a part of the Farm Bill Listening tour, which Governor Kathy Hochul kicked off on July 18. She visited Bruno Farm in Suffolk County and held a roundtable session to hear from farmers and industry stakeholders about their successes and concerns.
The Farm Bill Listening Tour provided an opportunity to engage with and hear from constituents about the importance of the 2023 Farm Bill to New York State. What we learned during the tour will be provided to Governor Hochul to help develop the State’s Farm Bill priorities for critical funding and policy changes in the areas of agriculture, nutrition, and the environment.
We also encourage written comments, all of which can be submitted to FarmBill@agriculture.ny.gov. The deadline to submit written comments is December 19, 2022.
The NEAFA board and all of our members are encouraged to continue expressing their thoughts and concerns in conjunction with the GROW NY FARMS campaign telling the Governor to stay at the 60 hour threshold. The Labor and Wage board will reconvene on September 6th. Below is a partial toolkit to implement on behalf of your organization and employees:
Talking Points: Download talking points from the Google Drive link below when drafting a Letter or calling the Governor.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BSnwKdRC4MqcelF__ahaQvj-Jbcbvvb-/edit
1. Encourage your County Legislature to pass a resolution in support of Senate Bill S9509 to Eliminate the Farm Laborers Wage Board
Reach out to your local legislature to encourage them to consider passing a resolution in favor of Senate Bill S9509 to eliminate the Farm Laborers Wage Board created through the Farm Workers Fair Labor Practices Act.
Farm overtime should be taken up at the federal level to ensure New York’s family farms can remain competitive on a national scale. Our farms cannot continue absorbing significant increases in costs that cannot be passed on to consumers. There needs to be an even playing field. If there will be farm overtime changes, they must be done at the federal level.
2. Call Governor Kathy Hochul
Tell Governor Hochul that any threshold below 60 hours will be detrimental to the viability of New York family farms, your employees, consumers, and the security of our local food supply. Please encourage family members, employees, and any business partners who want to lend their voice to this effort, to call the Governor and ask her to stay at 60.
Option #1: Call the Governor’s Office at 518-474-8390. After hearing the call options, select 3 to hear more options. Then select 1 to leave a voice message. If you’re calling between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., you can select 2 to speak with a representative.
Option #2: You can fax a letter to 518-474-3767, or email a letter to the Governor through New York State’s website: www.governor.ny.gov/content/governor-contact-form
3. Share news articles on social media about the need to #StayAt60
Visit the Grow NY Farms Facebook page for recent news article examples: www.facebook.com/GrowNYFarms
Tag the Governor in social media posts: @govkathyhochul
Key messages to share with news articles on social media:
@govkathyhochul must keep the threshold at 60 hours. #StayAt60
Farmworkers continue to share concerns about losing hours and income, saying they would have to get a second job or look for jobs in other states if the threshold is lowered below 60. #StayAt60
The very people the policy claims to help, will lose in the end. #StayAt60
DOL Commissioner Reardon said a Wage Board decision couldn’t be made in 2020 due to the pandemic and supply chain issues. Well here we are 18 months later and there are still supply chain issues, on top of 40-year high inflation. Now is not the time. #StayAt60
Dairy farmers are price takers as the price for our milk is mandated at the federal level. Farms do not receive payment until a month after the milk leaves the farm. Family farms cannot pass increased costs on. The numbers just don’t add up. #StayAt60
In addition to competitive wages, many farmworkers are provided housing at no cost to them. As fuel and utility prices rise, farms are burdened with increased costs due to this unique employee benefit. #Stayat60
In September, NEAFA’s board will be meeting at Miner Institute, where we will be reviewing your input regarding our Annual Meeting and Golf for Goodworks Tournament. Thank you to those who offered feedback regarding the future of the program, we appreciate it. There will also be continued discussions on NEAFA’s multiple coalition fronts; opportunities for educating membership; progression on our strategic plan from last year; and policy priorities for 2023. Further updates to come in September …..