By Mike Thresher, NEAFA Secretary
Happy New Year and welcome to 2025! My Dad always said the new year was like starting at the top of the ladder. As a young lad, I didn’t quite understand or appreciate his thought process, but as age (or experience) has shown me, he was right. The New Year brings a time to reflect on the past year, but to also plan for the next year’s goals. By being at the “Top of the Ladder”, one can see ahead to help oneself and their team plan for the upcoming year. We are already seeing this in action, both locally and at the federal level, as new administrations are setting up in place to provide leadership for the next year.
In Vermont, Gov. Phil Scott was re-elected, and both House and Senate saw many newly elected officials. Our legislative session has started. It was announced by our Senate Ag Chair, that he would like to pass legislation which provides a support price for farmers throughout Vermont. This is great news for our agriculture economy. In addition, NOFA-VT is putting forth a bill to create a Food Security Fund, in response to the past 2 years of devasting floods that destroyed many acres of crops, from grain crops, hay, silage, vegetables and to ag infrastructure. We are very fortunate in Vermont to have a culture that truly supports agriculture and what it provides for all. The Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center is another great example of support, with funding from the USDA, many grants are available to farms throughout the Northeast.
Lastly, another great opportunity is the NEAFA Annual meeting coming next month, February 4-5th, in Albany, NY. Some key highlights for this year’s meeting include a panel discussion on workforce development, Lead-NY, a feed mill management presentation and updates on legislation in New York and Vermont. If you haven’t registered, here’s a link to do so (NEAFA— Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance). I look forward to seeing you there.