By Jenny Mills, NEAFA President
We look forward to seeing you all next week at our Annual Meeting! Tuesday afternoon’s agenda is packed. We will kick off with a panel focused on our agricultural workforce. The panel will be moderated by Dr. Richard Stup. Dr. Stup leads the Agricultural Workforce Development program at Cornell University. He teaches leadership and management and conducts research into labor challenges facing the industry. His focus is on helping agricultural employers avoid labor risks, create engaged employee teams, and operate profitably. Cornell Ag Workforce Development focuses on helping employers with regulatory compliance, developing managers and supervisors, employee housing management, and developing the future farm workforce.
We are thrilled to have a diverse panel representing all aspects of our industry, including:
Dana Politis – Associate Commissioner for Workforce Development at the NYS Department of Labor
Crystal Grimaldi – Office & Human Resource Manager at Ideal Dairy Farms
Shannon Danyow – Chief Financial Officer of Phoenix Feeds & Nutrition, Inc.
Anna Richards – Business Advisor and Founder of 2020 Consulting
The goal of this panel is to discuss the opportunities for recruiting, training and retaining employees. We hope you bring questions for the panelists.
Over the last several months, NEAFA has been involved with meetings with collaborators around different transportation topics. Members have ideated around the following opportunities for transportation in the Northeast:
Commercial Drivers License – We met with Dana Politis and NEDPA and discussed recruiting new drivers by hosting simulators (both mobile and at locations throughout NYS, including Buffalo and Utica). We discussed getting more opportunities for driver training in rural areas. Dr. Charlie Elrod has also met with local BOCES programs to discuss CDL training opportunities through BOCES centers throughout New York. We appreciate all the communication and collaboration with not just our ag partners, but also the NYS Trucking Association to help educate stakeholders about opportunities and challenges with the Advanced Clean Trucks mandate.
Insuring younger drivers (under 21 years old) – Hinman Straub is researching opportunities for position statements, with the goal of understanding insurance rates and potential program opportunities for getting CDL drivers ages 18-21 insured.
Hauling perishable products during inclement weather state of emergencies – Our collaboration with NEDPA and NY Farm Bureau has resulted in several conversations to alert both the Governor’s office, as well as key legislators, with the goal of some form of exemption for perishable product as well as feed delivery to animals.
We look forward to having you hear updates on all these topics next week!