By Charlie Elrod, Ph.D.
Vice-President, NEAFA
President, Natural Biologics, Inc.
As I write this, we are preparing to hold our annual New York lobby day with Assembly members and Senators in Albany. Advocating on behalf of Northeast agriculture is a cornerstone, and probably the greatest value proposition of NEAFA. In addition to our usual budgetary requests for programs such as Pro-Dairy, the NY Farm Viability Institute, Integrated Pest Management, etc., we are also advocating for budgetary support for FFA, Ag in the Classroom and training for Agricultural Educators, to help ensure the next generation of motivated and well-trained agriculturalists follow in our footsteps.
As you know, this year we have engaged with Hinman Straub as our lobbyists in Albany. We are also in discussions with the Vermont Dairy Producers Alliance and Vermont Feed Dealers Association to collaborate on advocacy in VT. These activities require not only the time and energy of NEAFA volunteers, but also significant financial resources that come from you, our members. One way to go above and beyond simply being a member of NEAFA is to sign up for our Sustaining Sponsors Program. Ranging from a $1000 up to $5000 annually, these sponsors have committed to making substantial investments in the activities of NEAFA and the future of agriculture in the Northeast.
Some of the businesses in NEAFA are only a few years old; others are multi-generational. Regardless of age of the company, we have all committed ourselves to the hope that a vibrant agricultural industry will be around for many years to come. Effective advocacy is one way to move the needle in support of a regulatory and business environment conducive to sustainable agriculture in the Northeast. Thank you to the nineteen companies that currently support NEAFA’s Sustaining Sponsor Program. My hope is that more of the NEAFA members will step up and make additional investments in the future of Northeast agriculture. You can sign up for the sustaining sponsor program here.
Lastly, I want to give a shout-out to Debby and Corwin Holtz for their recent investment in undergraduate education in dairy science at Cornell. Their generous gift will support practical, real-world learning experiences for future generations of dairy science students. Your support of the NEAFA Sustaining Sponsorship Program will help make sure there is a dairy industry in which those students can enjoy rewarding careers.