November President's Pen - NYS Dairy Summit

Danielle Penney-Stroop, NEAFA President

First, allow me to wish everyone a safe, healthy, and Happy Thanksgiving! There are so many reasons to be thankful this year. I hope all of you get to experience moments of joy with friends, family, and animals alike, and moments of reflection so that we may continue to be grateful for the blessings that have been bestowed upon us.

Thank you to our Board of Directors, Sue VanAmburgh, and Rick Zimmerman for the dedication and commitment to the organization this year. A huge thank you as well to our members for your continuous support and commitment to our organization. Without your involvement and support we would not be able to provide the important educational programs and opportunities to our members, or engage with our youth and future agricultural business leaders.

 I consider myself so incredibly lucky and grateful to be involved in such an amazing industry. The dairy industry has provided wonderful lifelong opportunities for my family and me. My WHY revolves around agriculture and giving back to an industry that has given me so very much. I am sure just like many of you, that you couldn't imagine your life in any other industry… even with all the trials and tribulations that we endure daily in agriculture. It’s about love and passion for our animals, our products, and the services that we provide for our neighbors, communities, and all of our consumers. 

 Speaking of love and passion for the dairy industry, on Wednesday, November 10th, approximately 85 individuals attended (in person and virtually) the NYS Dairy Summit. This unique opportunity, hosted by NEDPA (Northeast Dairy Producers Association), encompassed panel participation from producers, processors, milk haulers, advocate organizations, and elected officials. This was a first step in discussing how we collectively work towards a sustainable and profitable dairy sector in NYS. 

 NYS Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball opened the meeting, and enthusiastically expressed that agriculture in NY is critical to be successful, and directly impacts the success of our rural communities. He expressed how Covid was a lesson for NYS residents, and that it highlighted our gaps in self sufficiency. Ball also stated that we need a resilient, responsive food supply chain of all ag commodities. NY producers have access to water, great land, and farmers that know how to maximize their resources. We have an excellent land grant system that rivals the rest of the country. Commissioner Ball also mentioned that we as an industry need to offer more tours and outreach of our operations to increase future opportunities and to educate the general public. We are currently at a dangerous tipping point in public perception. We need a dairy think tank, in order to be the most environmentally sustainable state in business and make sure that consumers know it. 

 NYS Assemblywoman Donna Lapardo, Chair of the Assembly Ag Committee, stressed the importance of telling our stories, especially since the covid crisis. NYS Senator George Borrello, Ranking Member of the NY Senate Ag Committee, stated that representatives from NYC just don't understand where their food comes from. Since they are often not in tune with current practices, which leads to the creation of bad policies. By the time these laws reach the floor for debating policy, it is often too late to change minds or reverse the course of action. Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo also highlighted that organized advocacy is critical. NEAFA, Farm Credit East, and NY Corn and Soybean Growers Association participated in a panel highlighting the collaborative and advocacy efforts of our organizations and impacts throughout NYS on behalf of our members and the agricultural community.

 The Dairy producer panel all expressed their concerns over labor shortages, the upcoming wage and labor board hearing, and lack of stability in the industry. Everyone is also concerned at not being invited to the table for conversations on environmental regulations and being a part of the solution, especially as it pertains to climate change, alternative milk products, and a lack of diversity in processing plants. 

 The haulers expressed some of their frustrations over the lack of qualified drivers, cost of equipment for their fleets and supply chain issues, variation in different state’s regulations combined with hauling weight variances affecting efficiencies, overall increased operating costs, long hours, and lack of respect. The average age of a driver is 57 years old, and that is signaling trouble as more young people are needed to be brought into the business, and not at age 21. It is a missed window of opportunity not getting young people after high school graduation, as they find other less restrictive fields to go into. There is a bill going to the Governor's desk shortly allowing 18–20-year-olds that go to an approved CDL licensing school to get their CDL for intrastate travel by 21. Should this pass, it will be a huge benefit to the trucking industry.

 This daylong event was so incredibly powerful and informative, and will undoubtedly serve as a building block and platform for continued discussions. There were a multitude of factors that were identified throughout the day from all sectors that have an impact on our future success in NYS. There is a renewed energy and level of engagement from all parties to ensure that the dairy industry in NY state remains viable and stable for the next generation. I assure you that NEAFA will be a key leader moving forward with our other dairy industry allies in these discussions, in order to achieve our common goal.

NEAFA Pushes for Finalization of Origin of Livestock Rule

NEAFA recently wrote US Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to encourage the finalization of the Origin of Livestock Rule, which serves as guidance to the Organic Foods Production Act. “As you know, there is a vibrant organic dairy farm community, a significant part of the Northeast’s dairy industry, that has grown to serve the organic milk demand based on the rules established in the Organic Foods Production Act,” said NEAFA President Danielle Penny Stroop. “Unfortunately, the Origin of Livestock Rule remains unresolved, thus posing a significant threat to the stability of the organic dairy farming community.”

To read the letter in its entirety, click here:

www.northeastalliance.com/s/Vilsack-organic-rule-10-13-21.pdf

NEAFA’s Sesquicentennial Faculty Fellows Report on Climate Initiatives at the Cornell Nutrition Conference.

By Charles C. Elrod, NEAFA Board of Directors

At this week’s Cornell Nutrition Conference, a major theme was agriculture’s role in mitigating its contributions to climate change. Cornell is at the forefront of many large multi-institution and public-private initiatives to study mitigation strategies and to provide decision tools to help ag producers reduce their carbon footprint. Drs. Kristan Reed and Joe McFadden, the NEAFA Sesquicentennial Faculty Fellows, reported on two of the projects which they are leading.

As we have heard from Dr. Reed along the way, she is spearheading the development of The Ruminant Farm Systems Model, a.k.a. the RuFaS Model. Instead of jumping into coding the model, the interdisciplinary group developed a deliberate, methodological approach to model development. They have assembled a stakeholder advisory group which will help to guide the model and ensure that it is relevant for their needs. They have also set out a number of guiding principles, such as adaptability for changing technologies, interoperability so that, in time, it can interface with other software or models and transparency and documentation so that other scientists can continue to keep the model updated and relevant for changing needs.

RuFaS has four primary modules which represent the major nutrient cycle components of a dairy farm: animal, manure handling, crop + soil and feed storage. Using whole farm management elements, such as herd characteristics, manure handling system and cropping practices, the model is populated with macro-level data. Then, each module is populated with more specific and detailed data. When the scenarios are run, the outputs include costs of production, resource use, greenhouse gas emissions and air and water quality. Dietary, cropping or management mitigation scenarios can also be run to determine their impact on any of these outputs. These scenarios can be scaled and aggregated at the farm, local, regional or national levels to inform decision making, policy decisions and identifying research opportunities. The team is looking forward to publishing version 1 and launching a pilot testing program in 2022.

Dr. McFadden also had a “big reveal” at the conference this week in the form of an announcement that Cornell will soon be the home to four climate-controlled respiration chambers to study gas exchange and metabolism in livestock. McFadden has worked to identify funding from Cargill, Inc., The Genesee Valley Regional Market Authority, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Department of Animal Science to acquire four metabolism chambers and renovate the Large Animal Research and Teaching Unit (LARTU) adjacent to Morrison Hall to accommodate them. This state-of-the-art equipment, which will be unique in the nation, is the gold-standard approach to study enteric greenhouse gas emissions from domestic animals. The equipment allows the fine-tune control of temperature, humidity, and lighting, and measures feed and water intake in real-time. Additionally, the chamber system enables the measurement of oxygen consumption, which is required to better understand heat production by the animal and better define nutrient utilization and requirements for meat and milk production. McFadden is working with other Cornell researchers to develop a cross-disciplinary effort to better predict and mitigate enteric and manure greenhouse gas emissions from dairy cattle and other domestic animals. It is anticipated that the renovations and equipment installation will be completed by fall 2022. Thereafter, Cornell research will in part focus on the study of feed additives that inhibit ruminal methanogenesis, better define the effects of heat stress on milk production efficiency, and improve the predictive-capacity of the Cornell Net Carbohydrate and Protein System to model for energy and protein-allowable milk in dairy cattle. The equipment acquisition and facility renovations will best position the Cornell Department of Animal Science faculty and students to lead in the discovery of approaches that reduce greenhouse gas emission by domestic animal production.

President’s Pen

NY Assemblyman Chris Tague’s held the third annual “What is Agriculture?” farm and agribusiness tour on Sept 22-23rd. It was attended by approximately 30 legislators and some of their staffers (largely from downstate).

Danielle Penney Stroop, NEAFA President

Did you know that the month of October is largely about celebrating agriculture? On October 12, we celebrated National Farmers’ Day, as this is a day that provides many of us our own livelihood in the agricultural industry. This day has been observed since the early 1800’s to give thanks to farmers, both past and present, for all their hard work in bringing food production to our homes. 

Additionally, October is National Farm to School Month. What better way to celebrate and promote our industry than educating and investing in our youth’s knowledge and experiences? Children of all ages should know the concepts of how their food is produced economically and efficiently, the benefits of healthy nutrition to their growing bodies (including consumption of dairy and beef), and the overall sustainability of our food production systems. 

The word sustainability is being utilized in all industry sectors, but has become especially important in the public perception of the agricultural industry. Sustainable agriculture is defined as a wide array of environmentally friendly farming methods that create an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources. The need for sustainable agriculture applies to all facets of our industry: fiber, food, fuel, and feed production sectors, as well as to the final processing, distribution, and consumption of agricultural products.

Farmers and ranchers have been implementing new technologies and promoting environmental efficiency and sustainability programs for many years now, largely due to the investments, innovations, and research of land grant universities. According to Farm Bureau, US milk production has increased 48%, while our per unit emissions has decreased by 26%. US beef production has increased 18%, while reducing per unit emissions by 8%. A similar story can be seen in the US pork industry, which has increased by 80% with a 20% reduction of emissions per unit. Agricultural businesses have always been focused on animal welfare, protection of wildlife, water conservation, maximizing nutrient efficiency through promotion of soil health and conservation practices, as well as the judicious use of chemical weed and pest control when needed. The general populous does not necessarily understand all of the science and terminology. We need to collectively work together on educating the public about how the agricultural industry is working towards a more sustainable future.

As we move forward, we need to invest our time and resources educating our legislators on the practices and tools that we have implemented in all of production agriculture in recent years. If we miss these educational opportunities, and we lose the momentum that the non-ag sector gains daily in determining our futures and ultimately our fate. While that seems like a dire proclamation, we cannot have the court of public opinion and legislators mandating policies that have no scientific basis binding our hands of what we hold dear and preserve through hard work, dedication, and innovation.     

I was fortunate to participate in NY Assemblyman Chris Tague’s third annual “What is Agriculture?” farm and agribusiness tour, held Sept 22-23rd. It was attended by approximately 30 legislators and some of their staffers (largely from downstate). The tour visited eleven agribusinesses from various production ag sectors, including forestry, breweries, nurseries, and some livestock operations. It was an opportunity to engage with owners and operators, to hear their stories and highlight their daily challenges.   The event was filled with many questions and engaging dialogues on subjects that many of us in the agricultural industry tend to take for granted from our experiences and knowledge in the field. And I dare say to some extent that we are privileged, those of us vested in agriculture; we have a unique perspective and commonality regardless of the industry sector we focus on. Our approaches and products may be different, but our goals, values, and ethics are largely similar and understood by one another.      

The consistent messaging to this group of legislators was re-enforced at each stop: don’t tie our hands with environmental policies and constraints that are impossible to achieve because it sounds like a great idea and makes you feel good, but have not been vetted by scientists or experts in the field. There is a huge labor issue and shortage currently along with supply chain issues. No one is getting rich from farming. For most of us it is a labor of love or family legacy that we cannot lose.    

If at any time you are given the opportunity to engage with legislators on your operation, I encourage you to share your story; most of them are open and want to learn. NEAFA collaborates with many organizations (NEDPA, Farm Bureau, NYAAC, Corn and Soy Bean Growers) throughout the Northeast, and we can assist you in planning an event or engaging with your local politicians and community.    

As an industry, it is imperative that we continue to focus on environmental sustainability initiatives by educating ourselves and exploring carbon markets, renewable energy, or other potential technologies. We need to demonstrate that our Northeast agricultural industries are making sustainable decisions to reduce our environmental footprints without losing our identity, economic security, or viability.   

As the world continues to address climate change and focus on environmental sustainability, we need to support land grant universities and the research they are doing. Together we can collaborate, educate, and advocate for environmental policies that are research driven and proven effective in the field. Our annual meeting had phenomenal presentations and panel discussions regarding climate change and the effect on animal agriculture, some of which can be found on the NEAFA website. The annual Cornell Nutrition Conference was held this month, and devoted a large portion of their program to sharing their latest innovations and research for sustainable agriculture and mitigating climate change. Many of the papers and articles are available to read, and offer greater insight and opportunity for education or clarification on the subjects that are near and dear to our hearts. I encourage all of you to reach out for their papers and worthwhile presentations.

Animal Ag and Climate Change: Are They Compatible?

The Panel Discussion on Climate Change during the 2021 NEAFA Annual Meeting and Forum

By Rick Zimmerman, NEAFA Executive Director

Climate change and animal agriculture’s potential role to address it was a popular topic at the 2021 NEAFA Annual Meeting and Forum. Held at the Turning Stone Resort and Golf Club, this was the first face to face meeting for NEAFA members in a year and a half. The session proved to provide an important opportunity to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing animal agriculture in the context of climate change. Moderated by Cornell professors Tom Overton and Larry Chase, panelist members Mike Van Amburgh, Ph.D., Jamie Jonker, Ph.D. and Curt Gooch P.E., addressed the various aspects of climate change policy that could impact U.S. animal agriculture. The panel also took on the task of looking forward to potential outcomes and opportunities for the industry from climate change initiatives.

Jonker and Gooch both delivered strong arguments supporting the important role that the dairy industry can play in reducing methane emissions and providing a carbon sink for the agriculture industry. Specifically, through the leadership provided by the National Milk Producers’ Net Zero Initiative, the dairy industry can be an “environmental solution” by becoming carbon neutral or better. The dairy industry can potentially remove more carbon from the atmosphere that what it contributes with currently available technology. Jonker observed globally that the sustainability landscape continues to intensify through public policy commitments by countries and states, as well as through dairy customer expectations and dairy company leaders competing in the marketplace. Furthermore, investors are looking to decarbonize their portfolios, thereby influencing long term industry decisions.

Curt Gooch complimented Jamie Jonker’s argument with specific data driven evidence that dairy farmers can significantly contribute to net carbon reduction primarily through biofuel’s role in a renewable fuel portfolio. “On farm anaerobic digesters are a key to linking agriculture, the community, and the industry towards a sustainable future,” stated Gooch. “Renewable natural gas (RNG) and electricity can be significant renewable fuels and destroy methane at the same time.” Gooch further stated that farm-based anaerobic digestion not only contributes to renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction, but also benefits dairy farmers and their community with odor control, pathogen reduction, water quality protection, and fertilizer for crops.

Mike Van Amburgh focused on the enteric emissions side of the cow. He is optimistic towards feed rations that could significantly reduce methane emitted through belching, a significant component of the dairy industry’s contribution to greenhouse gases. Enteric methane can contribute to more than 50% of a dairy farm’s total GHG emissions, according to a sustainable dairy fact sheet from the University of Wisconsin. “Finding the diet solution to reducing enteric emissions is a noble cause,” stated Van Amburgh. “However, unless public policy establishes an economic incentive for dairy farmers to invest in feed additives that reduce emissions, there is little economic justification for changing the diet, and significant potential risk from unintended consequences from the diet change. Farmers do not want to negatively impact milk production or cow health as a result of pursuing enteric emissions reduction.” Van Amburgh further indicated that additional feeding trials are needed to get a better grasp on the impacts from feed additives that promote enteric emissions reductions.

The policy debate on climate change will continue at the federal and state government levels. The agriculture industry needs to be at the table for these conversations with good science-based proposals that contribute to the solution and maximizes agriculture’s opportunities at the same time.

Grow NY Farms: Ag Coalition Focused on Overtime Threshold

By Jenny Mills, NEAFA Vice President

As part of the Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance’s efforts to collaborate and advocate for agriculture, NEAFA is a coalition member of Grow NY Farms.

The Grow NY Farms coalition was formed to represent the agricultural community specifically with regard to farm labor issues.   The organization is committed to demonstrating how New York’s farm community has direct impact on urban, suburban and rural consumers and the economy of the state.  Currently, the question of the overtime threshold is front and center because a farm labor wage board is charged with making a recommendation as to when time and a half wages should kick in.  The current 60 hours per week threshold could be lowered to 40 based on the wage board’s recommendation.  A campaign, funded by a broad cross section of the agriculture community, is underway to convince the wage board that the right number for farmworker overtime in New York is 60.  Anything less than 60 will force dramatic changes to New York agriculture.  

As many of us in agriculture are asked about the impact that rising labor costs on dairy farms (and subsequentially the entire ag economy), a new white paper addressing labor cost, efficiency and change was just released as a Cornell Pro-Dairy bulletin, authored by Jason Karszes and Christopher Wolf of the Dyson School of Applied Economics at Cornell University.

A link to the paper can be found by clicking here.  (website: E.B. 2021-05 Hired Labor on New York Dairy Farms Final.pdf (cornell.edu))

The paper details trends from farms that have participated in the Dairy Farm Business Summary (DFBS) program over the past ten years.  The main findings of the paper are as follows:

• As farm size increased from 2010 to 2020, dairy farms have utilized more hired labor. Hired labor provides over 85% of all labor on larger dairy farms in New York. As farm size grew and farms utilized more hired labor over this period, total payroll costs also increased.

  • This change was driven not only by the increase in the amount of hired labor, but also by the rising costs of the hired labor.

• The change in the hourly cost of hired labor varied from year to year. However, the rate of change has increased over the last five years, with the highest jump in the hourly cost of hired labor occurring from 2019 to 2020.

• While labor costs have been increasing as measured by total payroll and cost per hired labor hour, cost per hundredweight of milk has also risen, unfortunately at a slower rate.

• Dairy farms have offset some of the increase in cost per hired labor hour by improvements in labor efficiency.

  • Without these increases in labor efficiency, increasing costs associated with hired labor would have had a much larger negative impact on earnings.

  • While improvements in labor efficiency have partially offset the increase in hired labor cost per hour and resulted in a lower increase in cost per hundredweight of milk sold, any costs associated with achieving the improvements in labor efficiency are not captured or analyzed within the report. A subset of farms that participated in the DFBS had a capital investment per cow increase of 46.8% from 2019 to 2020.

  • Many different areas may impact labor efficiency on a dairy farm, such as farm size, growth of farm, technology, automation, improved training & retention of employees, utilization of custom services, etc. The costs associated with the improvement however may offset any cost saving due to improvements in labor efficiency, and may lead to decreases in farm earnings.

As our industry continues to educate key stakeholders on the impacts of mandatory overtime changes that are being considered, Grow NY Farms will continue to be at the forefront, hosting events to educate and advocate for our entire agriculture community – farm workers, managers, owners and suppliers.  Check out their website for more information: grownyfarms.com

Carie Telgen: Common Ground

AABP President Dr. Carie Telgen, DVM Speaks at the 2021 NEAFA Annual Meeting

NEAFA’ August 31st Annual Meeting and Forum featured a number of topics and speakers focused on the theme: Resiliency. In this light, NEAFA was happy to welcome Dr. Carie Telgen, DVM, the President of the American Association of Bovine Practitioners (AABP) to speak about the common ground shared by the two organizations.

“It was an honor to be able to share how the AABP and the members of the NEAFA have much in common,” said Telgen. “As organizations that are driven and sustained by agriculture and the clients we serve, we need to continue to collaborate and use our mutual resources to ensure the success, viability and resiliency of agriculture in the Northeast as well as in the country as a whole.“

During Telgen’s talk, she described some of the history of AABP, which was formed in 1965 as a 501c6, and currently has a membership of more than 5,000 cattle veterinarians and students, throughout the world. According to Telgen, their mission is to “provide relevant continuing education to our members, advocate and be the voice of the bovine veterinarian, and to support the AABP Foundation which administers scholarship, education/extern grants, and clinically relevant research.” AABP’s 54th Annual Conference will be taking place October 7-9 in Salt Lake City, Utah, with the theme “Science with Practice.”

Telgen also presented some of the demographic and statistics about the organization’s various newsletters, podcasts, publications, guidelines, and membership numbers and gender demographics for example. She continued with some of the current challenges that the organization and its members are facing, which include veterinarian shortages in 221 areas throughout the US, causes behind mental health problems, suicide, and burnout, and some of the ramifications of recent legislation in Colorado, Oregon, NY and in the European Union.

NEAFA Joins NY Ag Community with Concerns over Announced Wage Hike

NEAFA recently joined with other agricultural organizations to urge NY Gov. Kathy Hochul to consider the minimum wage impact on NY Farms and Agribusinesses. Earlier this week the Department of Labor announced a seventy cent per hour minimum wage increase for upstate employers. To read the letter, click here.

NEAFA Bestows 2021 Awards to Richard and Steven Lutz, Bill Magee, and Larry Chase

NEAFA was proud to present longtime agricultural industry leaders Richard and Steven Lutz with their Distinguished Service Award (DSA) during the 2021 NEAFA Annual Meeting, held August 30th to September 1st in Verona, NY. The DSA is the highest accolade that the organization can give to recognize not only someone’s service to NEAFA, but to the entire agricultural industry throughout their career. Also recognized with the award posthumously was NY Assemblyman Bill Magee. In addition, Professor Larry Chase received special recognition for his work on two white papers on how the feed industry is addressing nitrogen and phosphorus levels in the feed stream.

Lutz Feed Company was founded in 1958 in Roxbury, NY by Richard and Marjorie Lutz. Their son Steven joined the business and helped build and operate their current Oneonta, NY feed and grain facility. More recently the third family generation (Blake) has joined the business and Blake has assumed most of the management responsibilities. The Lutz family have given much of their lives to the agricultural industry, their customers, and fellow feed dealers. It is our honor to recognize the hard work and dedication to growing the market for feed in New York and beyond.

“It was an absolute pleasure & honor to recognize the Lutz family & their legacy, for years of service to the feed manufacturing & livestock industry,” said NEAFA President Danielle Penney-Stroop. “The Lutz’s embody hard work, determination, ingenuity, while remaining steadfast and committed to their customers, from the backyard chicken and goats to our progressive dairy operations throughout NYS.   The Lutz family has a strong passion, core, and code of ethics that anyone can recognize after spending just a short time conversing with them; however what is more telling is how their competitors speak so highly of them & the respect they have earned in the industry.   I look forward to what lies ahead for this paramount feed manufacturer and the role they will play in maintaining a sustainable agribusiness in central NY.”

Former NYS Assembly Man Bill Magee served his constituents in Madison, Otsego, and Oneida counties for nearly 30 years, representing them in the state assembly from 1990 to 2018. As the chair of the Assembly’s Agriculture Committee, he always made sure to highlight the issues that New York’s agricultural industry faced, fighting to promote causes that would aid New York farmers in their work. Growing up in Madison County, Magee worked on his family’s dairy farm before beginning his pursuit of politics to help his fellow farmers and agribusiness owners. ““ Bill Magee’s personal and professional careers were always focused on serving and assisting the agriculture community”, Said Jenny Mills, NEAFA Vice President and former Magee staff intern. “Bill was particularly partial to the dairy industry which is a significant part of his former legislative district.” Magee passed away on Christmas Eve in 2020. NEAFA is humbled to present this posthumous honor to Magee after his lifelong effort to promote agriculture in New York.

Professor Emeritus Dr. Larry Chase received surprise recognition for going above and beyond the cause for his recent work to highlight the good news of how the feed industry has significantly contributed to reducing excess nitrogen and phosphorus nutrients from dairy farms throughout the Northeast. “The Northeast feed industry has been a great partner over the years in implementing new technologies and new ration formulation advances on dairy farms to improve sustainability and profitability”, said Chase. “At universities, we can develop new concepts, but the cooperation of the feed industry is critical to moving these into application on dairy farms. I have always found the Northeast feed industry to be receptive to utilizing and embracing new concepts. Personally, I highly value many personal relationships and interactions with feed industry personnel. They are a great group of individuals committed to the success of the customers.”

Congratulations to all awards recipients!

NEAFA Is Run By Those Who Show Up

Charlie Elrod, Ph.D.

President, Natural Biologics, Inc.

Board Member, Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance

At the NEAFA Board of Directors’ and strategic planning meeting this summer, the five new board members were asked which (additional) committees they wanted to serve on. We also reviewed the results of the SWOT analysis which was sent to all NEAFA members back in May. Sadly, only 22 members took the time to respond to the SWOT analysis, the vast majority of those responding were current or former board members. The implication is that a very small minority of the NEAFA membership are setting the direction for everyone. The SWOT analysis respondents provided the data which informed those same people in their creation of a new strategic plan for NEAFA. Our organization would certainly benefit from more diverse input into the future of that same organization

Soon thereafter, we had a discussion of NEAFA member engagement, partly as a result of the low SWOT analysis participation. It struck me that one way to encourage better engagement could be to get more members involved in the various committees. I’m sure that at least one of the eight committees touches on a topic which impacts your business (Transportation, for instance) or is near and dear to your heart (Good Works) or does work which is vital for your workforce (Education). As a committee member, you can influence the objectives and direction of the committee and make sure that new ideas, knowledge and experience are represented.

Most of the committees have a conference call about once a quarter, so it’s not a huge time commitment. Importantly, the work done by the committees not only provides direction for the Board of Directors, but it is also the place where the work of NEAFA gets done. In order to have the most active, inclusive and relevant agribusiness organization in the Northeast, we need your participation! It’s easy to do, just email Sue VanAmburgh, sue@nysta.mobi and let her know which committee you’d like to work on. The committee chair will then follow up with you. Those committees are:

Agronomy Committee: The mission of this relatively new committee is to “produce, guide and disseminate information, on technologies, programs and research that will contribute to an economically, socially and environmentally viable industry for our members policy makers and the greater agricultural community”. The committee has focused on the development of the Phosphorus and Nitrogen White Papers, drafted by Larry Chase and Kristen Reed, in addition to providing a discussion platform for Dr. Reed’s RuFaS modeling project (Ruminant Farm Systems Model)

Bylaws Committee: This committee does the thoughtful work of assuring that our bylaws keep up with our ever growing and evolving organization. This is a great committee for those who like to think about big picture challenges and opportunities.

Communications: Provides guidance on the organization’s various communications strategies, programs and projects.


Conventions: Helps to plan for the NEAFA Annual Meeting and the Annual Golf for Good Works Tournament
.

Education: Guides the organization in serving our industry’s educational needs; plans the agenda for the annual Herd Health and Nutrition Conference
.

Finance: Reviews the Alliance’s financial information and helps to create the annual budget
.

Good Works: Has authority to make donations to worthy programs and causes that fit within the parameters of our Good Works Program.  (Proceeds from the annual golf tournament fund this program.)


Governmental Relations: Guides the organization on the public policy front; establishes the annual legislative priority list for Board approval; assists in advocating for issues impacting our industry.


Membership: Assists in membership growth and development of membership priorities.


Transportation: Provides guidance regarding the many transportation related issues impacting the industry.  Issues related to trucks and trains tend to be most prevalent.

2021 Golf for Good Works: Record Turnout

GFGW Chair John Clark presents team representative Patrick Rohe with the prizes for first place team.

The Golf for Goodworks Tournament returned to the Turning Stone Resort’s Kaluhyat Golf Course for 2021. Kaluhyat offers 18 holes of PGA-level golf in a spectacular natural setting. The course was designed, was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and ranked as one of the top 50 casino golf courses (#35) by Golfweek in 2021.

128 golfers participate in this year’s tournament. NEAFA would like to congratulate Patrick Rohe, Jaime Sprague, Tom Priest, and Kevin Sullivan on their first-place win. Thank you to all who participated in our largest event to date. Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic, the 2020 tournament was cancelled, and the 2021 event was postponed to the beginning of September.

"After more than a year of turmoil or uncertainty, it was wonderful to see the support of the agribusiness community that came together for the 2021 Golf For Goodworks Tournament,” said NEAFA Conventions Committee Chair Mark Anderson.

Proceeds from this event goes to support agricultural outreach and education programs. Previously NEAFA has supported the Northeast Regional Intercollegiate Dairy Challenge, Future Farmers of America Foundation, NYS 4-H Foundation's Junior Dairy Leader Program, the New York State Fair Dairy Cow Birthing Center, LEAD New York, Dairy Judging Teams in New York and New England, New York Farm Bureau’s Food & Farm Experience, Maine 4-H Foundation's Dairy Quiz Bowl, and the Growing Through Showing Program.

President’s Pen: Annual Meeting Wrap-Up

Wishing everyone a Happy Harvest season!! I would like to take a moment to thank everyone for attending and sponsoring this year’s Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance’s Annual Meeting & Golf for Goodworks event, held August 30th – September 1st.

This year we delayed both our annual meeting (typically held in February) and Golf for Goodworks Tournament (held in June) for a combined event. Thank you to our 38 company sponsors for providing our membership and guests the opportunity to interact and have an exceptional meeting and fundraising event. We had 115 registered attendees at our meeting, and were joined on Monday nights reception by New York State Senator John Mannion; Colin Crowley, Chief of Staff to Senator John Mannion; and New York State Assemblyman Brian Miller. Thank you to David Grusenmayer, of NY Farm Viability Institute; and New York State Assemblyman John Lemondes for attending as guests to our annual meeting, it was a pleasure to have you. On the NEAFA website you can find presentation summaries from our outstanding speakers – Dr Carie Telgen, of AABP; Dr Chris Wolfe, of Cornell University; Kate Downes, of NY Farm Net; Gary Huddleston of AFIA; and our most amazing MC Matt Lohr. Thank you to Dr Larry Chase and Dr Tom Overton for moderating a fabulous climate change panel with Dr Jamie Jonker, of National Milk Producers Federation; Dr Mike VanAmburgh, of Cornell University; Dr Curt Gooch, of ProDairy & DMI; and our own Rick Zimmerman filling in for Jon Patterson, of Patterson Farms.

Congratulations to the following individuals – Dr Larry Chase, for his outstanding research and summary for the feed industry’s environmental stewardship award regarding his Nitrogen & Phosphorus white papers. Distinguished Service Awards were presented to the Lutz Family for their devotion & support of the livestock & feed ingredient industry. Additionally, NEAFA presented a Distinguished Service Award on behalf of the late Assemblyman Bill Magee, for all his numerous years supporting NYS agriculture. It was an excellent time to catch up with old friends and thank you all for a safe & fun event celebrating our industry.

Finally, to close out our multi-day combined event, we had 128 golfers participate in this year’s Golf for Goodworks tournament. Congratulations to the following players for their first-place win – Patrick Rohe; Jaime Sprague; Tom Priest; & Kevin Sullivan. Thank you to all who participated in our largest event to date!

At this year’s annual meeting, the board welcomed its five new board members – Alan Wright, of Purina Animal Nutrition, Dr Charlie Elrod, of Natural Biologics, Karl Bitz, of CNY Feeds, Kevin Kouri, of Phoenix Feeds, and Mike Thresher, of Morrison’s Custom Feeds.

One of the Board’s endeavors from this summer’s strategic planning session included revising our Mission Statement. At our board meeting on August 30thst, we unanimously approved the following Mission Statement: “The mission of the Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance is to support and grow a sustainable agribusiness industry in the Northeast.”

We are continuing to work on initiatives from our July Strategic Meeting and will have updates over the course of the next few months as we look to our Vision and Values next. Please share any thoughts or concerns that you may have as a member of the organization. We want to hear from you, especially as we continue to redefine ourselves and provide services and initiatives that benefit our membership.

In closing, please do not forget that September is Hunger Action Month! I challenge all of you to please learn about the hunger issues present in your own communities, to commit to taking action in some form for your community, and to speak up and raise awareness or lend your voice to hunger issues in your community!

Membership in NEAFA - Providing Agribusinesses a Voice Where Needed

By Eric Jenks, Special to NEAFA

Meeting the needs of NEAFA’s membership is not a static target. Like many other industries throughout the Northeast, the feed industry and other agribusinesses face numerous challenges in staying competitive in a worldwide market. The agribusiness community also has the duty of ensuring interest in the industry, and providing support and guidance for the next generation, so they can build upon the work already in place, strengthening the future of northeast agriculture for all.

“It’s important that our members, and prospective members, are aware of the bigger topic areas that are out there from political and educational standpoints, to enhance their awareness of what the agricultural environment deals with on a day to day basis outside of what we do in our respective fields,” said Corwin Holtz of Holtz Nelson Dairy Consultants LLC. Holtz is also a member of the NEAFA board of directors, and chair of the Membership Committee. “Joining NEAFA eight years ago opened my eyes to the things happening in Albany, NY and Washington DC that impact Agriculture in the Northeast, that impacts our individual clients on a direct and personal basis, along with other issues on the big picture side. Getting involved with that was a big new thing for me, and I’m glad I did.”

For Holtz, joining NEAFA was a welcome unknown. “Quite honestly, I knew very little about NEAFA before I joined. It was a very new organization to me, but I’m very glad I was asked to join, and I’m very glad that I’ve been a part of it all these years. They had never had an independent nutrition/management in the group’s board, and it was something they wanted to incorporate. I knew several members of the organization through the daily work that I do, and I knew a few of the board members. I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to get involved in an agricultural organization like this, with people that I respected in the industry. I also thought that I could do a bit more work for the agricultural industry at large outside of my day-to-day work in the dairy industry.

Joining NEAFA has been so beneficial for Holtz, that he has encouraged others at his business to join as well, a perk that costs $100 per employee. “The more that we can get individual employees of companies exposed to what we do at NEAFA is going to benefit us all,” said Holtz. “They’re out working on the front lines with producers on a day in and day out basis. The knowledge base of what’s impacting their clients on a regional, national, and international scale is going to be a plus as they interact with clients.”

Currently, NEAFA is looking to expand membership into other related agribusinesses and industries related to agriculture. “We’re very broad based in the issues that we deal with,” said Holtz. “Yes, there is a lot of focus on dairy, but transportation issues and it's committee within the organization is very important. “We do a lot of lobbying and work for the transportation and trucking industry. We welcome potential new members from that area because we’re very involved in things that impact their businesses. We’ve also have a large focus on veterinary and banking institutions that have an agricultural loan focus. A lot of the things that we deal with from a policy and educational standpoint, they are impacting their clients, and a lot of their clients are my own as well. It’s all interconnected, and the more voices that we have as an organization, the more weight we can carry and have the type of impact that we need to have on policy. That political impact is going to affect all of the clients that we end up serving in one fashion or another. We need to broaden our membership. At the end of the day, we all have the same end clients. It’s the producers that are the heart and soul of agriculture here in the northeast. We all have a common bond from that standpoint - and if we’re not all working in the same manner and striving for the same things, then our clients can suffer. If our producers, for whatever reasons, be they political, economic, etc., go out of business, then our professions suffer at the same time. That’s what we’re trying to do with the expansion of NEAFA’s demographic. We’re getting more people aware of what we do, who we are, and the benefits to them being members. As we grow, we have more power and voices to address the concerns that need to be addressed on the behalf of the producers that we all serve.”

President's Pen: Strategic Planning

By Danielle Penney-Stroop, NEAFA President

Happy August Everyone! - July proved to be a challenging month with all the precipitation the Northeast has been experiencing.  To say we have been inundated with moisture is an understatement unlike our counterparts in the western half of the US. Despite our weather struggles to make decent hay and haylage, or the beating of equipment repeatedly stuck in the mud, the uplifting and wonderful view is seeing our youth partaking in county fairs and showing their livestock again. Fair season is back on and the amazing NYS Fair is around the corner for a full 3 weeks this year. Do not forget to stop by and show your support for the NYS Dairy Birthing Center, brought to us by our friends at NYAAC.

While these events are bringing a sense of normalcy to our lives once again, it is critical to look at how the effects of the global pandemic, in combination with economic downturn, civil unrest, climate change and weather events, are shaping our future and culture. Now is the time to reflect yet be bold moving forward & creating new initiatives. The world is changing rapidly, and we need to be in continual motion and a part of the discussions with our leaders and consumers that are driving policies and change. Flexibility and adaptability will continue to be our mantra as we work collectively and embrace the constant change that we will continue to face in the agricultural industry, especially in the livestock arena.

The NEAFA board met a couple of weeks ago to conduct a strategic planning session on the future of our organization. Our facilitator was Dr Larry Van de Valk of Cornell University, and throughout our day and half long conversations, it has become apparent that returning to normal is not our goal or even an adequate option. Now is the perfect time to enhance and mold the Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance into a stronger organization, maximizing upon our three pillars of Advocacy, Collaboration, and Education.

Prior to the strategic planning retreat, NEAFA sent out a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) to members and nonmembers for their feedback and guidance. Sadly we only had 25 responses, largely comprised of NEAFA's board members. Given this small response, it is difficult to gauge the effectiveness of NEAFA’s goals, although it has been said that no response can sometimes also serve as a response. Therefore, I am challenging the NEAFA board to actively engage with our members and industry allies more routinely.  We will not only share our projects and accomplishments, but also identify our members’ needs more effectively.  Together we can focus on the opportunities that lie ahead for our industry and organization.

While we recognize the importance of continually increasing our overall membership, another area that we identified as an opportunity for improvement and growth of NEAFA is the necessity for increased exposure and presence of our organization among our future generations & engaging our youth.

While it was a very effective meeting, we perhaps were left with more questions than answers in some respects because of the vast opportunities that lie ahead.  We may not have all the answers right now, but we want you all to know that changes are forthcoming. In the coming months, the board will be sharing our strategy and mission as we forge ahead. I invite and encourage members and non-members a like to please share your thoughts & views, exchange ideas, open lines the of communication, and collaborate with greater purpose. A prime opportunity for such engagement is at this year’s Annual Meeting and Golf for Goodworks, Aug 30th-Sept 1st at Turning Stone Resort & Casino. We look forward to seeing all of you there!

NEAFA Engages US Senate On Worker Shortages, Transportation Limitations

Recently NEAFA, in conjunction with other agricultural associations, reached out to US Senators to address worker shortages and transportation limitations that are impacting the effectiveness of agricultural businesses throughout New York and New England.

Specifically, NEAFA and the American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) reached out to US Senators Schumer (NY) and Leahy (VT) over the prohibitive truck weight restrictions that are unique to Connecticut. While milk tanker trucks have a permit to travel to CT farms and load their trucks without worry about being legally overloaded, the same cannot be said for the feed trucks delivering to farms throughout CT. Manufacturers from New York and Vermont are not able to deliver a full load to CT dairy farmers, raising the costs to service their clients in the state.

Congressman Joe Courtney (CT-2) made a hard push for an overweight permit for feed trucks in the most recent surface transportation bill but was unfortunately stopped. You can read a copy of Congressman Courtney’s amendment by clicking here. Given the current level of interest in infrastructure reinvestment, we think the time is right to get this permit proposal over the goal line. We urge our members to reach out to your US representatives and make your voices heard.

NEAFA also coordinated with the Northeast Dairy Producers Association (NEDPA) to urge US Senator Schumer's immediate support of immigration reform to address the workforce shortages and challenges faced by the farms producing the food and fiber needs of this country.

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the food insecurities of our country and focused attention on where the greatest challenges lie. Farmers have faced an onslaught of challenges, however the most critical is finding the skilled labor we need to operate. While this is not unlike other businesses, our dairy farms must operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year because we take care of cows. Unlike other manufacturing businesses, we can't choose to “shut down" shifts or operate fewer days a week if we can't find labor. Cows must be milked, fed and cared for on regular schedules in order to maintain their health and well-being, and crops must be planted and harvested at optimum times in order to produce high-quality feed for cows to eat throughout the year.

There simply are not enough domestic workers who want to work on farms to fill these positions and because our labor needs are year-around and not seasonal we have not had access to the H-2A program. We desperately need a guest worker program that provides a solution for year-around farmworkers to stay and work on our dairy farms legally.

We encourage Senator Schumer to work across the aisle to pass the Farm Workforce Modernization Act. This important legislation will address a critical labor shortage, help strengthen our food supply chain, and support the viability of Northeast agriculture. Again, we urge our members to reach out to their US representatives to let them know that this is an issue of concern and importance for them.

NEAFA Annual Meeting Highlights: Chris Wolf: Dairy Outlook, Mike Van Amburgh and Panel: Animal Ag and Climate Change

NEAFA is excited to host the 2021 Annual Meeting at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, NY. This August 30-31 event will be coupled with the Golf for Good Works Tournament on September 1st at the Turning Stone. The conference will host numerous speakers and presenters, including a presentation by the American Academy of Bovine Practitioners President Carie Telgen, DVM, a commodity markets update and outlook and a panel discussion on animal agriculture’s role in addressing climate change. The panel will be moderated by Tom Overton Ph.D. and Larry Chase, Ph.D and will include Curt Gooch of Dairy Management, Inc., Jon Patterson of Patterson Farms, Jamie Jonker, Ph.D. of the National Milk Producers Association and Mike Van Amburgh, Ph.D. of Cornell’s Department of Animal Science.

Wolf’s market outlook will be focused on the dairy industry and the commodities that impact it. “The outlook looks at the dairy industry and takes into account a lot of variables,” said Wolf. “Feed costs, (corn, soybean, hay, etc.), are a big portion of how the outlook is effected, especially given the situation that we’re in right now with the weather having such a big impact on feed. Weather impacts feed quality and trade needs. Right now, things look more like it did in 2012 and 2013. If they can’t grow it out west, then they’ll be importing it in and that effects the prices locally as well as nationally. There’s a lot to discuss with that dynamic and how it effects the industry as a whole.”

This is Wolf’s second year speaking at NEAFA after joining Cornell University. “I’m looking forward to seeing everyone in person again after 16 months of online meetings, and talking about what’s up with the markets and what’s going on with their area,” said Wolf. “For the dairy markets, a lot of people are trying to figure out the lessons from covid and what does that mean going forward for markets and policy. I would argue that the dairy markets were pretty resilient in the face of covid. Meatpacking markets were not as resilient. I think that there’s definitely some kind of feeling that there needs to be something done for small and medium size meat packers to maintain viability. Meatpacking is an industry that you’ll see changes made in the supply change because of covid, and we’ll talk that through during the annual meeting.

On top of the market situation is global trade according to Wolf. “The trade situation overlays all of this,” said Wolf. “Looking at what’s happened with China being heavy into the markets in the last year, and what’s that done to commodity prices. The US is falling very much behind in bilateral trade agreements. The UK and New Zealand for example have gotten ahead of us. The WTO provided even footing, but it’s been ignored a lot in recent years and it’s been felt to be not effective in many countries. The US hasn’t made a major new free trade agreement in 10 years; the redo of NAFTA was minor. In comparison, the UK and New Zealand have done many. Every time they make a trade agreement in a country that we haven’t, we have a price disadvantage there.”

Another important topic for the 2021 annual meeting is animal agriculture’s role in addressing climate change. NEAFA recently had a chance to sit down with Cornell’s Mike Van Amburgh to talk about what some of the topic may be focused on during the panel discussion.

“The problem we’re facing as an industry is that we live in a world of sound bites,” said Van Amburgh. “And the public at large that is taking in those sound bites doesn’t have an appreciation for where their food comes from, and they think that the environmental impact of animal agriculture is greater than it actually is. The general public is led to believe that the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of producing milk and meat is a major factor effecting the planet; it’s not. They fail to recognize where it does sit in the inventory, which is about 2% of US GHG inventory, a fairly small number. The sound bites that have been spread have a welfare aspect as well. They spread the idea that anyone that has cows are being abusive, and I think my frustration with that is that they’re all speaking from an extreme position of privilege, including the availability of food, not just nutrition. There’s a lot of misinformation out there.”

For Van Amburgh, the difficulty is getting on top of these sensational sound bites with the truth. “The truth is never sensational,” said Van Amburgh. “In 2006 Time Magazine had a whole issue that basically said is your hamburger worse than your hummer. In 2012 the author of the paper they were referencing fixed their math, but no one reported on that. We need to be better on explaining animal agriculture’s role in society, and getting our message out there and figuring out a way that consumers can understand it. We have the lowest GHG emissions per unit of milk of anyone in the world.”

“We’ve decreased methane output by transitioning 30-50 cow herds to 3000 cow herds. You hear often that the dairy industry is in such bad shape, and it’s really not. It’s a business. It’s a way of life if you want to look at it that way, but if a business doesn’t evolve as the industry evolves, you have to question the sustainability of that business. Look at cars. We’ve spent 100 years on gas and fossil fuels, and now we’re all going electric. Everything has to change. We’re not good at that in agriculture because we’re tied to the ground, we’re tied to things that don’t change at a human scale, but a geologic scale. It’s painful. I don’t necessarily like it either, I came from a 50-cow family farm. But it’s important to embrace what’s needed for the future of the industry.

Chris Wolf, Mike Van Amburgh, Jon Patterson, Jamie Jonker and Curt Gooch will be at the podium Tuesday August 31st at the Turning Stone Resort. For registration information click here.

NEAFA Member Profile: Mercer Milling

Photo Provided

By Eric Jenks, Special to NEAFA

Mercer Milling is a longtime member of NEAFA, and recently a sustaining sponsor of the organization as well. “When Bill Colten and his father Jim owned the business, we were members of the Eastern Federation of Feed Merchants,” said Jeff Matuszczak, the key account manager in sales. “We’ve always been an active member, since before EFFM merged with the New England Feed and Grain Council. Bill even served as the president of NEAFA from 2012 to 2014. We’re really proud of our membership with NEAFA, and the representation that they provide. For us, it all stems from Bill’s vision; it’s part of his legacy. He wanted to support the industry from within. He was always very supportive on all levels and fronts, and that’s how we’re built and continue to be as an organization.”

Mercer Milling’s history extends beyond the Family’s acquisition of the company in 1965. Indeed, the company has been around for nearly 200 years, formed in 1828 in Baldwinsville, NY right on the Seneca River Canal as a water-powered flour grist mill. “The flour from the mill was originally distributed to Syracuse, NY and around New England, and catered to Italian and Polish populations in the area,” said Matuszcazk. “The flour mill decided to diversify its business to include distribution of animal feeds and grains, as the flour grist milling business had dramatically changed over time. In 1965, Jim Colten purchased this business to further develop his vitamin and trace mineral premix business. The grist mill was moved by his son and successor Bill Colten in 2003 to Liverpool, NY. In December of 2016, Bill sold the company to Triple Crown nutrition, which is based out of Minneapolis, MN.” Currently, Mercer Milling has 39 full time employees in a 65,000 sq ft plant with two production lines and five trucks, delivering in New York, and they hire transportation for outside of the state.

Today, Mercer Milling has 4 major segments to their business. “We focus on macro mineral commodities that customers want in bags or totes that we receive in bulk via rail or truck,” said Scott Lyndaker, the general manager of Mercer Milling. “It’s primarily livestock and dairy industry based. Along with that, we provide feed additives that are used in diets at low inclusion rates, basically ingredients that a feed mill doesn’t want to keep on hand in bulk. Our meat and potatoes for our business is Private Label Vitamin Trace Mineral Premixes. We work with dairy nutrition consultants, feed mills, and large dairies and sell by 50 pound bags, 2,000 pound bags, or 30 ton truck loads. Lastly, we’ve gotten involved in doing drop shipments straight from the manufacturer to the end user as farms have grown larger and larger and feed mills as well. We also have some consignment items that we warehouse and include in our orders going out the door. That pretty much covers most of our business models.”

Mercer’s relationship with its suppliers is key for how it approaches business. “It’s a collaboration with the supply chain providers to work together to promote and sell to and service our clients,” said Matuszczak. For Lyndaker, that relationship is also about scale. “We have over 400 ingredients that are mixed into hundreds of different formulas throughout the year. So far this year, we’ve made 775 different formulas.

For Mercer Milling, belonging to NEAFA is an investment in the future. “They have continued awareness of how things are changing in industry, how we’re all related and connected in the business and industry and it’s future,” said Matuszczak. “From my perspective, I believe NEAFA is strategically committed to the future and support of agricultural businesses in our industry through advocacy, collaboration and education. It’s made up of a great group of businesspeople that includes highly talented business managers and agricultural professionals, dedicated to making the industry better for all. We get a lot out of that, and it’s also about how we’re going to continue to help and support each other within a marketplace that is changing very rapidly. It’s a great network to be connected to, since nearly all the members are also customers of Mercer Milling. We have exposure to members on a daily and weekly business.”

Lyndaker also appreciates the lobbying efforts. “The lobbying efforts are key, working with other entities to direct legislation is wonderful. And the amount of money they invest back into the youth and the next generation in our business is great to see. There’s been a tremendous amount of change in the dairy and feed industries, and it seems to be accelerating. I’m excited to see what happens in the next 5-10 years, and what it means for our business. The technology side is exciting, and as the dairy industry continues to consolidate, all of us have to find a way to do business with the dairy farms of 2030’s. We probably won’t be taking 100 lb bags of product of a pickup truck out to a farm, we’ve moved well beyond that as an industry.”

Matuszczak added “navigating the marketplace and keeping up with the changes in that marketplace are key. We’re well positioned to take on those challenges. We always want to be the first choice and no less than second when our customers are looking for private label premixes and feed ingredients they need for their customers farming operations.”

For more information on Mercer Milling, visit their website: https://www.mercermilling.com/ 

Annual Meeting Features Sessions on Workplace/Feed Safety, Stress Management

By Eric Jenks, Special to NEAFA

As Covid-19 restrictions continue to lift, NEAFA is excited for our 2021 Annual Meeting at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, NY from August 30-31, with the Golf for Good Works Tournament directly following it on September 1st, 2021. The meeting has numerous speakers and presenters, including a presentation on common ground between the American Academy of Bovine Practitioners and NEAFA by AABP President Carie Telgen, DVM, a commodity markets update and outlook from Chris Wolf​, Ph.D. of Cornell University, and a panel discussion on animal agriculture’s role in addressing climate change that will be moderated by Tom Overton​, Ph.D. of Cornell PRO-DAIRY, with Curt Gooch of Dairy Management, Inc., ​and Jon Patterson of Patterson Farms participating. 

The afternoon features two breakout sessions. Safety: For the Employee, the Animal, and the Consumer, is led by Gary Huddleston of AFIA, and Barbara Simeon of Co-Operative Feed Dealers, Inc. According to Huddleston, “this breakout session is geared toward producers of animal food. It will be an overview of OSHA employee safety programs as well as Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA)food safety requirements applicable to animal food manufacturers. There are several required written safety programs with specific training requirements designed to keep workers safe that are applicable to animal food production. These requirements will be briefly discussed as a recommended safety program for facilities. FSMA has changed how we manufacture animal food today to keep it safe for the animal as well as keeping our human food supply safe. FSMA regulatory requirements for animal food production will be explained. After two brief presentations that give an overview of both topics, we will have a panel discussion and take questions from the audience.”

The second breakout session is by Kate Downes, the Outreach Director at NY Farmnet, and is entitled “Mind Yourself: Managing Stress in Uncertain Times.” For those unfamiliar with NY FarmNet, the organization is a program based at Cornell University, and supported by New York State. NY FarmNet provides free and confidential counseling for both business and personal needs of farmers, farm families, and agricultural service providers. “We’re well known for our crisis work with farms in financial trouble or farmers dealing with depression, but we do a lot of proactive work as well for farms that are entering a period of transition,” said Downes. “We send both financial and family consultants to farms, because quite often there’s underlying family tension when a business is having financial issues. They’re really intricately connected, and people don’t always realize that. When we send a team to a farm, they’ll get a consultant who is familiar with farm business management, and a family consultant who can work through interpersonal problems there. It’s why we’re successful in helping farms survive and thrive.”

Downes has worked with NY FarmNet for 5 years now, coordinating the training for NY FarmNet’s consultants, advocating for funding, as well as giving presentations at trade shows and events throughout the state. “I was working at Cornell for another program, and I needed a change,” said Downes. “I had lost my uncle to suicide, and looking at what NY FarmNet does, I was like oh my gosh this is so important. Joining this team ended up being a really good fit for me.” At the upcoming annual meeting, Downes is going to focus on stress management and what that means. “I want to talk about stress on the farm, what the signs of stress look like and how to talk about stress with people. My goal is to just give people the language that they may not have, so that they can talk about stress and how to ask for help. It’s important to know how to approach that conversation and how to manage stress through different techniques like deep breathing and mindfulness. Farm stress is not an easy thing to talk about, and we need to talk about suicide to destigmatize it. One reason people don’t ask for help is that they’re embarrassed, and I want to let them know they don’t have to be.” 

 “NY FarmNet is available 24/7, 365 days a year. If you call you will always get a real person on the other end - you don’t have to navigate a menu or anything to talk with someone. We all need to work together and support each other.” You can reach NY FarmNet at 1-800-547-3276 or fill out the contact form at www.nyfarmnet.org. If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available. The National Suicide Prevention hotline is 1-800-273-8255, or the crisis text line is 741741, just text HOME. For those under 18 in need of help, they can also call the Kids Help Phone at 1 800-668-6868.

End of Session: A Flurry of Activity

By Rick Zimmerman, Executive Director

Governmental Relations is a strategic objective for NEAFA. Interfacing with government, particularly in a democracy, is a civic responsibility for everyone. Especially as “We the People” strive to self-govern and maintain this 245-year-old social experiment. For NEAFA and most other trade associations, representing members before government entities is a membership benefit. We take on the responsibility to effectively advocate for the policies and programs that impact our members’ ability to maintain and grow their businesses in the Northeast. Therefore, our time and attention are dedicated to dairy profitability, specifically the policies that are related to labor, land, energy, pesticides, regulatory burdens, taxes, and science and technology.

Labor: The NY farm labor wage board is set to consider the following question: should 60 hours remain the threshold for farmworker overtime in New York? The Wage Board deferred the decision on this question until the end of this year, but the NY farm community knows that it cannot wait to launch an effort to demonstrate that 60 hours is the right limit until the Board reconvenes. NEAFA is supporting the Grow NY Farms Campaign to demonstrate how essential the 60 hours overtime threshold is for maintaining a viable agriculture community in New York. All NEAFA members are encouraged to support this effort and more information is available here. (NO LINK)

Pesticides: The threat to ban neonicotinoids from New York farms (S.699-B Hoylman/ A.7429 Englebright) is thwarted for now. Despite dozens of legislative meetings, organized by a broad-based coalition of agriculture, horticulture and landscape representatives, the State Senate passed the Hoylman bill by 43 – 20. Fortunately, the Legislative session ended before the Assembly considered the bill. New York is one of several states targeted by certain anti-pesticide organizations and other New England states are likely future targets. The issue has not gone away, and we must remain vigilant.

Science and Technology: NY legislation restricting the use of antimicrobials in animal agriculture (A.3493-A Rosenthal/ S.2871-A Kavanagh) would increase restrictions, and in some cases, ban the use of antibiotics on dairy farms. Opposed by veterinarians and farm groups alike, this bill would impede the ability of dairy farms to control disease, and would put the welfare of dairy cows at risk. The bill was not acted on in either house but remains a future threat.

Energy: The Clean Fuel Standard (A.826-A Woerner/ S.2962-A Parker): This proposed policy would create market incentives to lower the carbon footprint of transportation fuels and thus incentivize the sale of renewable natural gas (RHG) from dairy farm anaerobic digesters. Currently New York dairy farmers are selling RNG into the California market created by their low carbon fuel standard. New York is missing out on capturing this low carbon fuel option. The State’s climate change policy (CLCPA) is calling for a full range of climate smart practices to meet carbon reduction goals, and the low carbon fuel standard is an important part of this ticket. Despite strong support in both NY legislative houses, this bill remains on the “to do” list.

Land: The Soil Health and Resiliency Act (A.4722-A Lupardo) / S.5386-A Hinchey) was substantially amended to improve on the bill’s ability to serve the farming community with assistance and support to enhance soil health practices and create healthier soils. Soil and Water Conservation Districts would be empowered to provide technical assistance and future funding support would be targeted directly to farmers willing to employ such practices. The bill passed both houses and will be considered by Governor Cuomo later this year.

Regulatory Burden: In Vermont, House Bill 434 was signed by Governor Phil Scott and will install an Agriculture Innovation Board to replace the existing Pesticide Advisory Council. The board will include a wide array of farming interests and it will report annually to the legislature on pesticide use and other agricultural practices, and could make recommendations for incentive programs. The current Seed Review Committee, created two years ago in response to the Dicamba tolerant GE seed issue, will be folded into the Innovation Board. The Secretary of Agriculture once again has the authority, rather than an unelected committee, to approve the sale, distribution, and use of new seed traits.

Senate Bill 102 was also signed by Governor Scott, and will regulate pet and livestock animal health supplements, soil amendments and plant biostimulants. The bill sets up labeling and registration programs for these items. The Food and Drug Administration is attempting to regulate this area of animal health supplements, and they appear to be on the verge of coming up with a regulatory program. Should the FDA move forward on this front, circuit breaker language in the new law enables Vermont to back away from regulating dosage from animal feed supplements.

Plant biostimulants and soil amendments are also being brought into the Agency of Agriculture's regulatory shop, as they see more farmers looking for alternatives to traditional fertilizers and pesticides. Fortunately, we successfully lobbied for a definition and labeling language consistent with other states.

NEAFA will work with the Agency of Agriculture to assure farmers are able to get the products they desire, and that suppliers are not restricted from serving their farmer customers.

COVID restrictions required us to advocate through Zoom and forgo the impromptu huddles with lawmakers and lobbyists which can be so valuable in this business. The art of lobbying devolved to 30-minute zoom calls with little sense that your input was making a difference. Nevertheless, we did our best to convey our members’ priorities and perspectives with the hope that our arguments would win the day. It appears that is pretty much the case for 2021.

President’s Pen: Dairy Month

By Danielle Penney-Stroop
NEAFA President

It’s time to celebrate because June is National Dairy Month!! What initially started in 1937 as National Milk Month, has evolved to incorporate all of our favorite essential and nutritional dairy products, in addition to wholesome milk.

Besides our love for cows and dairy products, here are some other reasons as to why NEAFA is vested in the success of dairy operations throughout the Northeast. New York’s dairy industry is vital to the state’s economy. It accounts for approximately one-half of its on-farm production, support services, and value-added products.  NY’s dairy industry generates approximately $2.7 billion a year, which is nearly half of the State’s total agricultural receipts.  Additionally, for every $1 spent by a dairy farming business, the local economy receives approximately $2.18 in wages and related business transactions. For every job created by a milk processing plant, at least two more jobs are supported in related industries or sectors.

Like New York, Vermont’s dairy industry has a critical role and value in rural communities as an economic generator, and it’s instrumental to Vermont’s tourism. Red barns and Holstein cows scattered throughout the state is often considered a key part to Vermont’s current and historical identity.   

Thankfully the Northeast State Agriculture commissioners have been proactively collaborating since 2018 to discuss the challenges and opportunities within the dairy industry, as well as how to continue providing consumers with the best dairy products in the world while remaining sustainable throughout all facets of their operations.  

Dairy operations continue to face a barrage of challenges that impact the ability of the farm to thrive; unstable milk and feed prices, ingredient and nutrient shortages, supply chain issues (both inbound and outbound), and climate change. Climate change then leads into sustainability initiatives, legislative agendas, and consumer perceptions and demands. These are just some of the highlights and it is overwhelming to say the least.   

It is imperative for the dairy industry to tell our story daily. More than that, we need to stop preaching to the choir and we need to focus on reaching more of the non-agricultural population.  Dairy and livestock operations especially cannot do this alone, they need additional support.  It is time to establish partnerships and advocate on behalf of one another.   

Time is often our most valuable commodity, and a lacking resource for most agricultural businesses. I am challenging our industry to step up and think outside our normal playbook and routine. Collectively, we as an industry should be equally vested in our thriving dairy operations. Below are some examples of how we can help.  

• Table Rock Farms – encourages other producers to open their doors and show what takes place on their farm – transparency and education.

• #DiscoverNYDairy - Congratulations to NYAAC with their amazing new initiative and fabulous opportunity for dairy operations to tell and show their story under the guidance of Director Eileen Jensen. There is an emphasis for communicating dairy stories throughout the metropolitan areas of NY. Thank you for your creativity and hard work for establishing such an impactful campaign for NY Dairy industry!

• Terry Ives, of Greenview Farms has advocated on behalf of his operation, and with Price Chopper / Market 32’s Fill A Glass with Hope program that is promoting and endorsing the nutritional value of dairy and contributions to local food banks. Thank you Terry and Price Chopper!

Feed manufacturers, agricultural supply stores and operations, crop enterprises, food processors, and transporters need to get creative and find ways to highlight your customers (livestock operations), and collaborate on what they are doing and perhaps your role or partnership involvement with them. This can also serve to highlight your business initiatives and goals / value to the local economy.

All agricultural industry personnel spend time finding the right platforms and media solutions or avenues to highlight your accomplishments, especially green initiatives and sustainability measures. The internet works for us 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and we can capitalize on that.  

Regardless of the size and business structure of your dairy operation, we thank you for your resilience, determination, and fortitude during this past year. You should be commended for your tenacity and ingenuity to consistently adapt and overcome. We raise a glass to you, and look forward to continuing to support this phenomenal industry.