NEAFA Announces 2022 Scholarship Recipients

NEAFA is proud to announce the winners of the 2022 Scholarship for Future Agriculturalists. NEAFA awards four $500 scholarships to eligible high school seniors planning to pursue a field of study that will lead to a career in agriculture, with a specific emphasis on animal science, agronomy, agriculture education or agribusiness. The 2022 Winners include Chloe Pushlar, of Cazenovia, NY, Morgan Hodge, of Norwich, NY, James Rejman of Scipio Center, NY, and Sarah Cox of Warsaw, NY. These young scholars represent the ideals that NEAFA hopes to see in the future of agriculture, and we wish them well as they start their collegiate journeys.

Chloe Pushlar is 17 years old and a senior at Cazenovia high school. “I have been a member of FFA since my freshman year of high school and I am currently the secretary,” said Pushlar. “My family owns a dairy farm where I work daily caring for our herd, and during the summer helping with field work. I have ridden horses my entire life, and currently training a 5 year old mustang from Nevada. I will be attending SUNY Morrisville in the fall, majoring in Agricultural Science. My hope for the future is to educate people on the agricultural industry.”

Morgan Hodge is a senior at Unadilla Valley Central School, and the daughter of Lee and Jennifer Hodge. “I have been involved in many extracurricular activities such as soccer, basketball, Mock Trial, FFA, 4-H, and National Honor Society,” said Hodge. “Serving as the Vice President of the Unadilla FFA Chapter and the 2021-2022 Chenango County Dairy Princess has allowed my develop my leadership skills. I am also active in the Junior Dairy Leaders Program, through Cornell University and I showing both jerseys and holsteins at local, state, and national shows. I will be furthering my studies in Animal Science with plans to pursue a degree in veterinary medicine.”

James Rejman is a fourth generation farmer. “My family currently owns and operates a dairy/crop farm, Sunnyside Farms, in Central New York,” said Rejman. “I am motivated to continue to work with my family to grow our farming operation. I am a senior at Southern Cayuga high school, and I am planning to pursue a degree Agri-Business management at a school yet to be determined. I am passionate about the agricultural industry, especially involving dairy. As I my experiences and education develop, I plan to be an advocate for this industry for the betterment of mine and future generations.”

Sarah Cox raises beef cattle and hogs with her family. “I currently work as a farm hand for Rudgers Registered Jerseys,” said Cox. “In 2021, I was the Senior Extemporaneous Speaking Champion for NYS FFA. In the winter if I am not on the farm or at school, you can find me grooming trails for the Oatka Valley Snowmobile Association. Future Plans : I have not currently decided where I will be attending college, but I will be studying Ag. Business. After graduation I hope to return to dairy farming and become a herdswoman while advocating for the agriculture industry.”

For more information on the NEAFA Scholarship for Future Agriculturalists, visit http://www.nyffafoundation.org/neafa-scholarship.html

President's Pen, March 2022

By Danielle Penney-Stroop, NEAFA President

Greetings and Happy Spring to all! Just a few days ago was our first 70-degree day throughout much of NY, and last night I heard peepers echoing and singing in the distance. The lawns and fields have green hues popping through, and tractors and  equipment are rolled out of storage to be prepped for field work. All signs that spring is fast approaching. Today as I write this, it is a grey rainy day and all I see at the moment are muddy pastures along with some very muddy cows and horses.  I know this is a transition phase we all endure that ultimately leads to a very rewarding, productive, and bountiful time of year.  

I think that perspective is critical as we collectively navigate the unsettling times ahead in the Northeast agricultural industry. We are still collaborating with the GROWNY campaign to fight the 40-hour OT threshold for agricultural workers in NYS. We are all in agreement that moving to 40 hours is detrimental to the viability and competitiveness of NY family farms.   

Highlights Regarding the wage board decision:  

➢  Keep threshold at 60 hours; over 2/3 of testimonies from producers and their farmworkers support the 60 hour threshold.

➢  Run the risk of less acreage being farmed resulting in less food being harvested and distributed, farmworkers looking for 2nd jobs or relocating, or ultimately farms closing and selling out entirely. 

Asks of the Governor and Legislature on Overtime Tax Credit:

➢  Multiplier policy to cover increase costs of FICA, Unemployment, Disability Insurance, and Workers Compensation

➢  Make the tax credit refundable on a quarterly basis

➢  Allow OT estimation for the following quarter to allow farms to cover the periods of planting and harvesting

➢  Make tax credit permanent and equal for all sizes without caps 

➢  If full funding from the Overtime Tax Credit is not included in the final state budget, the OT threshold shall revert to 60 hours until a budget is passed that includes full funding.   

➢  Additional Ask of Support for:

o   Doubling workforce retention tax credit 

o   Increasing in the investment tax credit from 4 to 20% and making it refundable

o   Updated adjustments to housing allowance (S.1663-Skoufis)

Challenges currently facing the agricultural industry continue with our supply chains. We are simultaneously experiencing supply driven inflation, as well as demand driven inflation. We are facing potential increases of interest rates from the feds, increases tp energy costs, and greater volatility due to world events and conflicts. Even with our higher input costs (energy, fertilizer, labor), there should be higher commodity prices with milk and grains. Earnings are expected to be higher in 2022 along with overall better top line revenue, even considering higher input costs and lower government support. Thank you to Chris Laughton from Farm Credit East for sharing his insight and perspective at the NEDPA Dairy Management Conference on March 9 and 10th.   

Congratulations are in order to the NEDPA organization for conducting a phenomenal 2-day conference and annual meeting. What a great opportunity for producers and sponsors to interact and engage in such informative and uplifting presentations. The pre-conference featured eight industry sponsored presentations on labor issues, economic considerations, genetics for future, technology advancement with robots, and forage applications. The theme for Day 1 — Strengthen your team, Stay positive and Enhance Productivity. The theme for Day 2 – Building Resilience and Professionalism, Sustainability for the Future, and Generations Working Together. If you are not yet a part of the organization, I encourage you to join as an affiliate member.  

On Monday, April 4th, the NEAFA board will be conducting its second board meeting of this year, just prior to the Herd Health and Nutrition Conference. We hope to see many of you at the reception on Monday evening and at the conference the following day, April 5th.  We will hear progressive speakers offering their insight and expertise on Immune development in calves, Utilizing Fatty Acids to Boost Profit, Value of Lying Time for Cow Comfort, Heat Stress Mitigation, and a panel on the Feeding and Management of Robotic Parlors.   

Additionally, our committees have been working diligently behind the scenes for NEAFA the past couple months and I look forward to sharing those updates in the April newsletter.       

In closing, even though times may seem extremely difficult and there are some bleak situations and outlooks that potentially lie ahead for us…. Please don’t forget that We are an agrarian culture and we epitomize resourcefulness, adaptability, and resiliency.  

Member Profile: EMM Sales and Service

By Eric Jenks, Special to NEAFA

This month, NEAFA highlights EMM Sales and Service, a long time NEAFA member based out of Brownstown, PA. Founded in 1969 by Jack Conrad, they are currently run by the founder’s son, company president John Conrad, and service the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. John Conrad joined the company as a mechanic in 1987 during high school, and worked in the parts and sales departments throughout the years as well.

“Primarily we are an agricultural transportation equipment dealer and service center,” said John Conrad. “Everything we sell, we service. Our business has been based around service since the beginning. As we go forward, service remains our priority. Bulk feed transportation equipment is the number one type of equipment that we sell, along with grain trailers, belt trailers, dump trailers, livestock trailers, both large and small, and flatbed/drop decks.”

For Conrad, the best part of the business is the people that he gets to meet. “Our customers are the best,” said Conrad. “The agricultural community and the customers that we’ve dealt with since the beginning have been fun, honest, and full of integrity. They’re all just a good group of people.”

For EMM and Conrad, NEAFA is an important association to belong to. “We always want to support organizations that support us,” said Conrad. “In Northeast, we were members of the two prior organizations that joined together to become NEAFA. We’ve always supported the mission. The members are our customer base, and their needs are as important to us as they are to them. You have to support your customers needs, it goes hand in hand in a business like this. We like that we can go to events like the Golf for Good Works tournament. You get to spend time with your customer outside of their day to day responsibilities. It’s a lot more casual than how we typically get to see them. We’re not there to sell, we’re there to listen and support.”

To learn more about EMM Sales And Service, visit their website: https://www.emmsales.com/

NEAFA Engages Legislators in Albany

NEAFA met with State Legislators during the annual Lobby Day at the beginning of February.

By Rick Zimmerman

NEAFA kicked off the month of February with a series of Zoom legislative meetings with New York legislators. The timing of these meetings provided the NEAFA leadership with the opportunity to make the case for our legislative priorities, at a time when legislators are “all ears” because they have a state budget to pull together before April 1st. Even though New York legislative offices remained closed due to COVID restrictions, the virtual meeting format proved to be an effective means to converse with lawmakers and advance our agenda.

NEAFA’s legislative and budget priorities were brought to members of the Assembly and Senate Agriculture Committees by a half dozen NEAFA leaders, including President Danielle Penny-Stroop, Secretary Lon Stephens, board members Charlie Elrod, Corwin Holtz, Michael Howlett, and Executive Director John Mitchell. PRO-DAIRY, NY Farm Viability Institute, IPM, and NY FarmNet were all on the top of NEAFA’s list for legislative support.

Each year, the NY Governor submits an Executive Budget for the legislature to review, amend, and eventually approve a negotiated final budget agreement. This year’s $216 billion spending proposal included funds for many of agriculture’s top priority programs. Inevitably the legislature will amend the Governor’s proposed budget with additional funds for their priorities, including several agricultural programs.

The Governor’s Executive Budget includes a proposed refundable tax credit to offset the overtime wages paid to farmworkers if the overtime threshold is lowered from 60 hours per week. The Farm Labor Wage Board, with a two to one vote, recommended to lower the overtime threshold to 40 hours per week over a period of ten years. Governor Hochul must now choose to accept or reject the recommendation. It is apparent that the legislature’s acceptance of the proposed overtime tax credit will impact the Governor’s decision. In the meantime, the Grow NY Farms Coalition continues to impress upon the Governor the importance of keeping the overtime threshold at 60 hours, and is carefully evaluating how an overtime tax credit could work should the 60-hour threshold be rejected.

For over thirty years, Cornell’s PRO-DAIRY Program has made a significant contribution to the success and viability of New York’s dairy industry. NEAFA remains a strong partner with PRO-DAIRY, co-hosting the Herd Health and Nutrition Conference. NEAFA members also actively co-sponsor many of PRO-DAIRY’s excellent programs. This year, NEAFA is advocating for additional state funds to help guide the dairy industry forward in the new world of carbon reduction. As the dairy industry strives towards a net zero carbon world, dairy farmers must have the latest tools and technologies to help maximize their opportunities. This new PRO-DAIRY position can significantly help meet this challenge.

NEAFA’s partnership with NY FarmNet goes back many years, and we have been privileged to have a representative on the FarmNet Advisory Board for the past 15 years. Our advocacy for the program has helped assure strong support from the Governor and state legislative leaders. This year, the Governor provided $1 million core funding in her Executive Budget. We are advocating for the legislature to add an additional $600,000 to bolster the mental health services that are very much needed throughout the agricultural community. Last August, NY FarmNet’s Kate Downs presented a seminar at the NEAFA Annual Meeting focused on the mental health challenges facing farmers, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. She will be making a similar presentation during NEAFA’s March 7th New England Dairy Nutrition Conference via Zoom.

The NY Farm Viability Institute has a stellar record of returning seven dollars to New York’s economy for every one dollar of state investment! Focused on increasing profitability on New York’s farms, the NYFVI remains successful because of the hundreds of hours invested by farmer review teams that thoughtfully determine what projects receive funding. This year, the NYFVI is asking for $3.5 million in state funding. This would be to cover a large share of the overwhelming demand for research funds; NEAFA strongly supports this request.

Click here for a complete list of NEAFA’s 2022 NYS budget priorities.

President's Pen, February 2022

By NEAFA President Danielle Penney-Stroop

Greetings Everyone – Happy Belated New Year! While I may have had a brief hiatus writing for our NEAFA newsletter, I have many updates to share with our membership. December, January, and February have proven to be a very busy few months. There have been two board meetings, wage and labor hearings along with campaigning efforts, lobby days, and many meetings collaborating with key industry partners to promote and improve business for the agricultural industry.

First, I would like to thank Rick Zimmerman for his many years of service as the Executive Director of NEAFA. We have truly been blessed with your commitment to agriculture and our organization. We have very hard shoes to fill! We are so grateful for your continued service and guidance as NEAFA’s Lobbyist for this next year.

In our December board meeting, the Executive Director search committee recommended to the board that John Mitchell serve as our interim Executive Director. We are grateful for John’s passion and enthusiasm to serve as our interim director, and commitment to the alliance for assisting us in obtaining a future director that possesses the skills and visions to lead us forward. We would also like to share a huge thank you to Sue Van Amburgh, the backbone of our organization who has been putting countless hours in behind the scenes, trying to keep all the ducks in a row. That is not an easy feat with 10 committees, a new E.D., lobbying meetings and campaigning season underway, and collaboration meetings of multiple organizations.

Our December board meeting also consisted of reviewing and discussing progress from our July strategy meeting. We have revised and adopted our new Mission Statement, as well as our new Value Statements, which you can find on our NEAFA website. We spent a significant amount of time reviewing our role in the GROW NY FARMS COALITION campaign, as we advocated for keeping OT Threshold at 60 hours. For more information, you can refer to Rick Zimmerman’s column from last month’s newsletter discussing NEAFA’s role, as well as my testimony from January 18th.

As you all know, the labor and wage board ultimately did not vote in favor of maintaining the 60 hour OT threshold. Since this very disappointing ruling, the coalition has had weekly strategy meetings discussing our next steps. We are all in agreement that it is important to keep the pressure on the fact that moving to 40 hours is detrimental to the viability and competitiveness of New York family farms. We also believe that if the threshold is lowered, there will be consequences felt throughout our rural communities and within our local food systems. We are appealing to the Wage and Labor board, as well as Governor Hochul regarding the advantages and importance for keeping 60hours. We are addressing the refundable overtime tax credit and process, longevity, viability, and more. Additionally, we collectively have specific asks from the Governor and legislature regarding the tax credit if we cannot amend the ruling.

The board met on January 31st to review, discuss, and amend our legislative priorities and prep for our lobby day (Tuesday Feb 1). You can find our 2022 Legislative Priorities document on the NEAFA website. This year we stepped slightly outside of our normal process and collaborated with NEDPA, as well as NYDFA, on a few of the initiatives that collectively benefit the dairy industry in NYS. I applaud the board for their willingness to listen and adopt these initiatives as future priorities and discussion points with our legislature. The importance of demonstrating a unified front and the proof of our collaboration with other organizations benefits us all.

Additionally, at our meeting, we had the pleasure to hear from Dr. Richard Stup, of the Cornell Dyson School. Dr. Stup reviewed his program at Cornell and his involvement with providing the agricultural community tools and references for key discussions with our wage and labor board hearings, as well as NYS legislators.

John Mitchell gave us his first Executive Director report, and we could not be happier and more excited with how John has hit the ground running for us. His short term focus will be getting to know the board and our membership, and also the recruitment of new members to the alliance. We also discussed upcoming events such as the Herd Health and Nutrition Conference in April, as well as the NEAFA Annual Meeting and Golf for Goodworks, at Turning Stone Resort and Casino, to be held in June. I also gave a brief update and provided the board with the meetings I have been attending for the CAO – Empire State Council of Agricultural Organizations. The 29 member council collectively establishes positions for its members to develop a united effort on fundamental economic, social, legislative/regulatory and other state and national issues affecting agriculture in New York State. CAO is built on collective strength and policy statements that are unanimously adopted by its entire membership, representing numerous facets of New York’s agricultural industry

And in closing, thank you to Rick Zimmerman for coordinating and preparing for a very effective lobby day schedule, in cooperation with board members Corwin Holtz, Michael Howlett, Lon Stephens, Dr. Kristen Reed, myself, and our Executive Director John Mitchell on a virtual basis with 11 Senators, Assemblymen, and their staff. We were the first of many agricultural organizations lobbying on behalf of NYS agriculture, and we were very happy for the time given to us, along with an encompassing engaging dialogue, and presenting and offering solutions for the economic viability and sustainability of our farms.

Pro Dairy Hosts Two Day Webinar on Net Zero for NY Dairy

Taking place February 2nd and 3rd from 12:00-2:30 each day, Pro Dairy is hosting a free virtual conference on the Net Zero initiative, which is aimed to make the U.S. dairy industry carbon neutral and improving water usage and quality by 2050 (more information on that here).

The two day webinar will focus on what Net Zero means for dairy farmers, the facts surrounding dairy cattle and greenhouse gas emissions, what current and prospective farming technology and practices can be used to reduce GHG. Speakers include Frank Mitloehner, Karen Scanlon, Sara Place, Peter Wright, Quirine Ketterings, Tom Overton, and Christine Baes.

For more information or to sign up for the webinar, click here.

NY Farm Laborers Wage Board Hosts Hearings: NEAFA President Testifies

By Rick Zimmerman

The Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance weighed in on New York’s Farm Laborers Wage Board Hearings this month.  Established under the 2019 farm labor law, this Wage Board is empowered to render a recommendation to the Commissioner of Labor as to the level the overtime threshold should be pegged at, provided that it is no higher than the current 60 hours per week.  Unions are pushing for a 40-hour threshold and the farm community has been engaged in a multi-month campaign to keep 60 at 60.  Late last year, Labor Commissioner Reardon announced three Wage Board hearings for January.  Danielle Penny Stroop was one of dozens of farmers, farmworkers and industry leaders that took time to participate on one of three hearings.  Her testimony can be found here.

Post hearings, the three-person Wage Board will attempt to come to consensus around a recommendation.  However, this task will be difficult.  The Board is comprised of Denis Hughes, former president of the NY AFL-CIO, David Fisher, President of the NY Farm Bureau and Brenda Mc Duffy, Wage Board Chair, appointed by the Labor Commissioner.  Even though the overwhelming majority of hearing speakers testified in support of keeping 60 at 60, the political pressure to move to 40 hours overtime threshold is intense.  Despite the fact farmers testified and documented that they cannot afford time and a half wages beginning at 40 hours a week, union representatives repeat the cruel hoax that farmworkers will somehow earn as much at 40 hours as they do at 60.  Nothing can be further from the truth.

This issue promises to alter the face of New York agriculture.  The Wage Board can make the right decision and allow New York agriculture to remain economically viable in a competitive world market.  Or it can choose to add an additional economic burden onto the shoulders of New York’s hard-working farmers and farmworkers. Deciding to go to 40 hours would result in the killing of jobs, and it would force farm family businesses to grow crops that don’t require non-family labor, take acreage out of farm production for solar panels instead, or move their operations to another state.  Regardless, it will be the farmworkers that will lose the most.

Dairy Economic Outlook for 2022

Cornell University’s Dr. Chris Wolf, the E. V. Baker Professor of Agricultural Economics and Director of Land Grant Affairs recently answered some questions for NEAFA regarding the Dairy Economic Outlook for 2022 from NEAFA Vice President Jenny Mills.

1. What is your outlook on dairy economics in 2022?

2022 looks to be a strong milk price year. The US and other major dairy exporting countries saw milk production declines in the second half of 2021 while demand was strong. Actual farm profitability likely depends heavily on feed and labor costs. If farms have plentiful feed, they should see an above average year.

2. What are two or three main drivers behind your outlook?

The main drivers are the pandemic, weather, and geopolitics. The pandemic is constricting labor markets and clogging supply chains as people are affected directly by illness and indirectly by issues such as childcare. Weather is always an issue. Oceania milk production has recently been affected by weather. Weather will also affect corn and soybeans in North and South America in the year to come. Finally, the situation in Ukraine and Taiwan have the potential to affect dairy markets depending on sanctions and other effects.

3. Inflation continues to be a main topic with markets. What is your outlook on impact of inflation to dairy economics?

Inflation impacts depend on the consumer and firm situation. If farms can stay out of the cash market, they may be able to handle inflation related to feed. Labor costs are difficult to handle in the short-run. Longer-term incentives are to invest in labor-saving technology.


At the consumer level, inflation will be regressive, affecting the lowest income segments.

4. What are two to three key themes with opportunities with the dairy markets?  Are those global? 

New habits may have been formed during pandemic in terms of at home consumption. Incentives remain needed to market high component milk as full fat dairy products have been a growth area for the market.

5. What impacts will supply chain restrictions have on the dairy market outlook?

Even with the port challenges in 2021, large amounts of dairy products were exported. As ports work through these issues, exports might even improve in 2022. Domestically, the dairy industry will continue to struggle with finding employees, particularly milk truck drivers. This might make for friction for farm milk prices, but dairy product demand is very strong.

NY, VT, Legislatures Up and Running in New Year

By Rick Zimmerman and Margaret Laggis

State legislatures commenced for the 2022 session on the first week of January, and will operate for four to six months depending on the state.  In New York and Vermont, Governors Hochul (NY) and Scott (VT) delivered their State of the State address on the same day, and both offered optimistic outlooks towards the new year.  Now that the partying and platitudes are over, the respective state legislatures get down to the hard part of creating a budget and implementing their legislative agendas.  The push and pull between the Governor’s office and the legislature is an expected element in this democratic process.

In New York, Gov. Hochul offered three tax credits as a boost to New York farmers.  Doubling the workforce retention tax credit to $1200 per employee, and increasing the investment tax credit for farmers to help soften the blow of trying to farm in a high tax state such as New York.  In addition, Gov. Hochul proposed a tax credit to offset overtime wage payments to farmworkers if the overtime threshold falls below the current 60 hours per week.  This new, unorthodox approach to addressing a very controversial issue (see overtime article in this newsletter) is being evaluated by the agriculture community, while the Farm Laborers Wage Board continues its hearings on the overtime threshold question.

In the meantime, the proposed state budget for the new fiscal year beginning April 1, 2022, was released by the Governor’s office. Legislators, lobbyists, and special interest groups are plowing their way through hundreds of pages to see what the budget holds for the year.  Agricultural program priorities such as PRO-DAIRY, FarmNet, Farm Viability Institute, and Integrated Pest Management will receive time and attention from NEAFA and other agricultural trade associations to inform lawmakers of their funding priorities and encourage their support.  NEAFA will be lobbying for its priorities on February 1st.

The threat of pesticide bans, particularly neonicotinoids, remains high in New York. The State Senate passed legislation in 2021 that would ban the use of neonics as seed coatings and prevent their use in landscape and horticultural applications.  The bill died in the Assembly, but they may come back with their own version of a neonic ban following an eight-hour hearing on the issue last September.  In the meantime, farmers and their agribusiness partners continue to remind lawmakers that these important insecticides play a critical role in getting seedlings out of the ground.  

In Montpelier, unlike Albany, the State Capitol is not locked down to only lawmakers and their staff. The Vermont Statehouse is open to anyone, with the House in a hybrid situation where some members are in the building for committee meetings, but the majority are not. There are strict number limits for people in each committee room or the cafeteria. Floor sessions are all remote. The Senate remains remote. Zoom is the preferred virtual platform for communication with lawmakers, and NEAFA reps are making their presence known.

There are several policy issues coming the way of Vermont’s farmers, and most are positive. Vermont will use a portion of its Covid relief dollars to help support Vermont farmers in meeting water quality goals. They are also setting up the Pay for Performance program that will pay Vermont farmers to exceed regulatory standards on phosphorus reductions. There is also the Payment for Ecosystem Services program that may start in the next year or so. This is another opportunity for Vermont farmers to reap some benefit from all their hard work in being great caretakers of their land. The Task Force on the Future of Dairy in Vermont has laid out some plans that will help Vermont farmers take advantage of Covid relief dollars to pay for premiums and participate in risk management programs. This task force also recommended that the State look at ways to boost local manufacturing of dairy products. This can be done by locating subsidized or affordable housing near where manufacturing hubs exists, and by assist with automating some of those plants to help with the serious labor issues being faced by numerous industries. 

The House Agriculture committee is looking at Maine’s milk payment program to see if there is a way to create something similar that would work in the Green Mountain State.  Vermont continues to work on some creative immigration programs that might be able to ease current labor challenges. 

Executive Note: My Goals as Executive Director

As I step into the Executive Director position left by Rick Zimmerman, I want to take some time to lay out my goals to continue the fine work that NEAFA does on a daily basis. As I reflect on the prior year and look forward to what 2022 has to offer the agricultural community, five main goals come to mind for me at NEAFA.

My first goal is to maintain the involvement of the Board of Directors. It’s very apparent to me that we have an active board, and I want to make sure I don’t discourage that. I plan to connect with each director individually, and get their understanding of what’s going on. I want to encourage them to continue doing what they’re doing. I plan on being present at as many board and committee meetings as possible each month.

Secondly, I want to make sure that NEAFA continues to execute the strategic plan. There was a lot of energy put into making those pillars for the organization. Specifically, I want to help NEAFA reach its goals for collaboration with other organizations, while also providing more educational opportunities and having opportunities for more involvement from the membership.

Exiting Executive Director Rick Zimmerman has done a remarkable job. I’m very impressed with how he has run the organization. Working with other organizations in the Northeast such as NEDPA, NEAFA is having a very good discussion on how we can find opportunities to collaborate together to benefit the agricultural community and our members. We’re also working on national opportunities with continued collaboration with AFIA and NGFA.

Educationally speaking, NEAFA is looking forward to Pro Dairy’s herd health and nutrition conference in April, and its Net Zero Conference in early February. Pro Dairy is a high priority for us. It’s important for the dairy industry to have access to good solid information from a nutritional standpoint. Herd health and milk production is the most important thing, and having a grasp on where best to focus our efforts on those fronts is important. Whether that’s cow comfort, feed quality, or nutritional supplements. It’s important for our members to get the best and most current information out there, I would also like to see what interest the membership has in educational opportunities for our feed mills and ingredient suppliers.

My fourth goal is member involvement. I plan to reach out to our current, past, and new members individually and collectively to understand the value that they see in NEAFA. I want to ask each director to contact two members personally as well. The best sales people that we have are our directors because of their passion for what the organization does. They offer so much of their own time to meet the goals of the organization.

The last goal I have as Executive Director is to have fun. I don’t know if we talk enough about enjoying what we’re doing, but I want to bring that to our group., Our Annual Meeting in June at the Turning Stone is just such an opportunity when we can take a breath and enjoy the fact that we have a great industry and a lot of smart people working in it. We have serious business to do, but it’s also important to enjoy the things that we have going on around us. I look forward to working with NEAFA and spreading awareness of what a wonderful group of members that we have and the importance of what they do on a daily basis.

Young Adult CDL: A Boon to NY Trucking Industry?

By Eric Jenks, Special to NEAFA

New York Governor Katy Hochul recently signed in to law legislation paving the way for a Young Adult Commercial Driver’s License Class A program for 18-20 year olds. New York is the last state to require intrastate CDL drivers to be 21. The bill was spearheaded by NY Senator Tim Kennedy, Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, and NY Assemblymember Donna Lupardo, Chair of the Agriculture Committee. “New York’s trucking industry is central to our state’s economy, ensuring that products make it to market in a timely manner,” said Lupardo. “This legislation will help address the shortage of truck drivers by attracting younger drivers, at a time when many are in the process of choosing their careers.”

The American Transportation Research institute believes that trucking makes up 3.7% of jobs in New York State. However, as the workforce continues to age, it is believed that nearly one million new drivers will be needed within a decade. By allowing eighteen to twenty year olds an opportunity to acquire a Class A CDL license instead of a Class B license, it is hoped to reinvigorate interest in the industry among a new generation.

According to the Trucking Association of NY (TANY), “The legislation was a priority issue for TANY during the 2021 legislative session and a critical piece of our workforce development initiative. As we continue to focus on encouraging high school students to consider careers in the trucking industry, it was imperative that they have the opportunity to obtain their Class A CDL prior to the age of 21. To address safety concerns regarding younger drivers operating large commercial vehicles, the legislation provides for training that closely mirrors the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's entry-level driver training requirements and requires a minimum of three-hundred (300) hours of behind-the-wheel training under the immediate supervision and control of an experienced driver.” Details of the federal entry level driver training program can be found here.

Senator Tim Kennedy, Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee said, "As New York and our nation build back better after the COVID-19 pandemic, we know employers are struggling to fill positions. For the trucking industry, this problem is compounded by the short supply of commercial truck drivers that has weighed heavily on our nation's economy and supply chains for decades. This legislation will directly address that shortage, while simultaneously opening up opportunities for younger New Yorkers entering the workforce and preparing our labor pool for additional advancement under the federal infrastructure bill.”

Kendra Hems, President of TANY, added, “On behalf of the members of the Trucking Association of New York, we thank Assemblywoman Lupardo and Senator Kennedy for their leadership on this important workforce development issue. We applaud them for sponsoring this critical legislation that will create more jobs and help alleviate a national truck driver shortage. For years our industry lost highly qualified individuals because we’ve not been unable to hire anyone under the age of 21. This legislation will change that by providing those under 21 with the opportunity to enter the trucking industry and get the skilled training they need under the supervision of highly qualified professionals.”

Reflections

By Rick Zimmerman, Executive Director

This is the last time that I will write this column as your executive director.  Beginning January first, I will be stepping down and John Mitchell will be picking up the reins.  After 15 years at the helm, it is time to pass the torch.  But before I do so, let me reflect on what we have accomplished.  

First and foremost, your Board has completed and implemented three strategic plans over the last 15 years.  This process and the subsequent devotion to implementing the plans is a strong signal that your board understands its role in leading the organization forward.  You have been well served by a board that continuously uses the strategic plan as the guiding light for the many substantiative actions and programs we have undertaken. 

Secondly, your board demonstrates leadership by employing proper structure and purpose.  Implementing board term limits, expanding and utilizing committees, maintaining a strong financial foundation, and understanding the role as policy makers rather than program administrators is indicative of a strong board and organizational structure.  Further, purposefully positioning the organization to serve the entire agribusiness community by including “agribusiness” in our name graphically demonstrates the forward-thinking orientation of the Board.  

Third, NEAFA has stepped up to the plate.  Delivering on our three objectives of Advocacy, Collaboration and Education, we have demonstrated that NEAFA is your ACE in the hole!  Advocacy means lobby days in Albany and Montpelier along with annual visits to other New England capitals.  Annually we have made it our business advocate for our industry and the key state supported programs providing essential support to the agriculture industry.  Initiatives such and PRO-DAIRY, New York’s Farm Viability Institute, Vermont’s Farm Viability Program, NY FarmNet, agricultural nonpoint source pollution control funds for New York and Vermont dairies, and Vermont’s Dairy Innovation Center are examples of programs we continue to advocate for.  Further, our working relationships with New England agriculture commissioners/ secretaries fortifies their efforts to keep dairy farms going and growing throughout the northeast.  

Collaboration remains a central element in our organization’s DNA and resulted in remarkable success.  For example, our collaborative relationship with Cornell’s Department of Animal Science motivated us to step up to the challenge of raising funds to seed a faculty position within ther Department.  The challenge proved to motivate our members so effectively that we raised enough money, over 1 million dollars, to seed two faculty positions.  I am personally grateful for our members’ generous support!   Today Joe McFadden and Kristan Reed and are the Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance Partners Sesquicentennial Fellows and substantial contributors to the animal science knowledge base through basic research and modeling.  The industry is blessed to have them aboard!  

Our ongoing partnerships with the American Feed Industry Association and the National Grain and Feed Association have allowed us to leverage our presence at the federal government level.  Collaborating with PRO-DAIRY has established a strong partnership with the herd Health and Nutrition Conference, one of our seminal education programs.  

Speaking of education, the “E” in ACE, NEAFA has been all about educational opportunities throughout its existence, and we have built on them.  In addition to HHNC, we have continued to partner with the Maine Dairy Industry Association and the University of Connecticut and expanded the New England Dairy Nutrition Conference to include Land Grant partners from Vermont, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Last year’s conference via zoom drew in participants from all across the New England states. Our Annual Meeting and Forum has been the platform for nationally known speakers addressing provocative topics.  

Fourth, the Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance remains strong and forward focused going into the new year.  We have been progressive in building an organization that is poised to serve the northeastern agricultural industry in numerous ways, as together we all strive to compete in the global marketplace. NEAFA is not the same organization it was 15 years ago, and your Board realized that your organization must stay focused on a rapidly changing environment.  

It has been my pleasure to work with eight NEAFA presidents, as well as numerous volunteer directors, all dedicated to the organization’s mission: “to support and grow a sustainable agribusiness industry in the Northeast.”  Together, we have accomplished much, but more lies ahead of us. Our region, the northeastern milk shed, is in direct competition with other milk sheds in the U.S. and throughout the world.  We must stay focused on the fundamental challenges that lie in our way in order to remain competitive, and ultimately profitable.  NEAFA’s leadership in bringing these challenges in focus to local, state, and federal governments and the greater dairy community is commendable and very much needed.  

I tip my hat to John Mitchell who will be stepping into the executive director’s seat beginning January first, and I look forward to working with him as your professional advocate in the months going forward.  I also want to recognize your extremely competent executive assistant, Sue Van Amburgh.  Sue has been and will continue to be a tremendous asset to this organization.  Thank you Sue, for all that you do.  

You won’t be getting rid of me completely however. I will continue to lobby for you and work with you as together we continue to deliver on our  mission to support and grow a sustainable agribusiness industry in the Northeast.  

May you and your families have a blessed Christmas and holiday season, and a healthy, happy New Year.

NY Farm Labor Wage Board: Three January Virtual Hearings: Sign up to Support Your Farmer Customers

By Rick Zimmerman, Executive Director

The Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance has been an active supporter of the Grow NY Farms Coalition, which launched a substantial campaign to impress upon the Farm Labor Wage Board the importance of keeping the 60-hour overtime threshold at 60 hours.  On December 15th, the NYS DOL announced that the Wage Board will once again hold a series of hearings to receive testimony from interested parties. I encourage all NEAFA members that work with NYS farmers to demonstrate solidarity and sign up to make a statement in support of keeping 60 at 60. You can do so at the following link: https://dol.ny.gov/farm-laborers-wage-board-hearings 

Two weeks ago, coalition leaders delivered hundreds of letters from farmers and farmworkers to Governor Kathy Hochul, asking her and the farm labor wage board to maintain the 60-hour overtime threshold.  Last week, the Buffalo News printed the attached editorial recognizing the importance of keeping overtime at 60 hours. We must keep this momentum going by weighing in on the extreme importance of the continuance of the 60-hour overtime threshold. 

Sign up here https://forms.ny.gov/s3/Farm-Laborers-Wage-Hearing  for a three-minute time slot during one of three virtual hearings:

3:30 p.m., Tuesday, 1/4/2022 

5:00 p.m., Tuesday, 1/18/2022

5:00 p.m., Thursday, 1/20/2022

Take three minutes to talk about how a dairy farm industry, no longer able to be economically competitive if this threshold is reduced, will cause a harmful ripple effect throughout upstate communities. Talk about how dependent your business is on a viable dairy farm community.  

This is as serious a farm issue as it gets!  We all have a stake in its outcome.

NEAFA Welcome John Mitchell as Executive Director

NEAFA is happy to announce that John Mitchell will be joining the organization as its new executive director. NEAFA Vice President Jenny Mills recently sat down for a Q&A session with Mitchell, so that our members that aren’t familiar with him can learn more.

1. You have had a long history with not just the Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance, but the agricultural industry as a whole. Please tell us about yourself.

I grew up in the small rural town of New Berlin, NY.  As a young boy I was always around agriculture and the farmers who frequented our family’s feed and farm supply business.  I remember watching farmers unload their milk cans at the milk plant just around the corner from our feed store, and then I saw them come to the store to pick up feed and supplies.  I started working in the store at fourteen, which is when I began learning more about the business.   At my father’s urging, I attended Cornell’s Hotel School, which gave me a great business education and a possible alternative career to the feed business.  After spending a few years working in the hospitality industry, I returned to the family feed business.  The I.L. Richer Company was started in 1870 by my great grandfather, and when I joined the company we had seven mills and stores that sold mixed feed, farm supplies, fertilizer seed.  I spent several years working in various jobs in the mills and stores before taking over the reins in 1979. Over the next thirty years the business went through dramatic changes driven by the decline of the poultry farms and the consolidation of the dairy industry. We addressed the changes by closing unprofitable locations, and purchasing mills from owners who were exiting the business.  I was fortunate to have great mentors and employees who helped the company grow through innovations in feeding livestock, along with investments in new feed manufacturing facilities.  At the time of the sale of the business in 2008 Richer Feeds had three plants that served over 1,000 farms in Eastern, Central, and Northern NY.

Throughout my career I was involved in the feed industry’s trade associations both in the Northeast and nationally.  In 2003, I was involved with the formation of the Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance through the merger of the Eastern Federation of Feed Merchants and the New England Grain and Feed Council.  It is very rewarding seeing how the organization has grown and become an important force in Northeast agriculture.  Over the years I have been fortunate to belong to the boards of several companies and community organizations that have helped to shape my career by giving me insight into different management methods and styles of leadership.

2. The Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance’s strategic pillars are education, collaboration and advocacy. What are the largest opportunities you see for the organization in the next few years?

As I get started in the role of Executive Director, I want to spend time visiting with the Board of Directors (BOD) and with other members, listening to their concerns and understanding where I need to spend energy to help these three pillars of the mission thrive.  I do hear a desire and need at this time to begin discussions with other agricultural organizations in finding common ground educating our elected officials and the general public on the business of agriculture in the Northeast. We need to tell the story of our agricultural producers, and we need support businesses that are providing the highest quality and safest food in the world.

3. Membership is the lifeline of our organization. What is your vision for NEAFA to continue to increase engagement with our members and subsequently increase membership numbers?

In the past 10 years, NEAFA has grown as a professional organization thanks to the leadership on the BOD.  The BOD has a strong functioning committee structure that gets things done, and the membership knows this.  The organization is effective in accomplishing tasks and communicating with the membership on the work being done, which is key to keeping members engaged.  Consolidation and change in the industry have accelerated, and outreach to other agricultural businesses will be a priority for NEAFA to continue to be of value.  Networking has always been one of the key reasons people want to be a part of NEAFA, and I am impressed with the way we have continued to be able to offer those opportunities, be it in person or virtually during this time of change.  Maintaining and growing the membership has to be a priority, and I’m looking forward to working on that.

4. What are two or three of the largest opportunities available for our members, and how does NEAFA facilitate in helping to realize these opportunities?

The demand for high quality agricultural products has never been greater, and our members have the opportunity to grow and profit from this demand. NEAFA has ongoing education programs, and develops timely ones that help our members meet the challenges ahead.  Also, our members face increasing scrutiny by the public and government agencies, and the Alliance is well positioned to provide guidance in navigating these arenas. Networking with other people in the industry is important in running an organization, and NEAFA will continue to set the table and provide these opportunities for our membership.

5. What excites you the most about the future of NEAFA?

As I mentioned before the involvement of the Board and other members is the strength of NEAFA, and honestly is a big reason that I was interested in taking on the role of Executive Director.  This passion for accomplishing the organization’s missions is infectious and gives me energy to work hard for the organization. Exiting Executor Director Rick Zimmerman has done an outstanding job in creating this structure, and I have a big task ahead to keep that momentum going.  I am glad that Rick will continue to lead us in our government relations effort at a time when legislative issues are increasingly complex.

6. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I’m on the boards of several companies which is something that I enjoy, as these businesses provide me a great view of the economy, and how different industries navigate these changing times.  I also enjoy skiing, a passion I have had since a young boy.  Getting on the top of a mountain in the middle of winter clears my mind and helps me reset. My wife and I have a big family, with six adult children and seven grandchildren which makes for many wonderful and memorable family gatherings. I’ve had plenty of “spare time” since retirement, but now I’m looking forward to giving up some of that spare time and getting to work with the Alliance in the days ahead.

Labor Shortages in Transportation

By Joseph Painting, Vermont Rail System, Special to NEAFA

This country has help wanted signs in almost every business window.  The transportation industry is not exempt from this, and is also experiencing a shortage of labor.  With a focus mainly on railroads, I will highlight some of the causes of this.  We have all felt some of the impacts this has had on end user rail customers.  I will also share some of the strategic thinking, tactical efforts and actual measures the short lines are employing to manage this situation.  

Prior to the pandemic, the class one railroads had ’streamlined’ their operations per the Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) model.  This included major cutbacks in staffing across the board, much belt tightening and yard closings, longer trains with greater velocity, and a focus on a shareholder bottom line rather than customer satisfaction. In the overall picture, speaking from a very wide and long-range perspective, this may have been a healthy move for these organizations. This change came with plenty of growing pains and a steep learning curve.  The class two and three railroads were left to figure out how to provide the needed levels of customer service to those on their lines with slightly less support from the class one connections.  

Enter the pandemic.  An already very lean railroad work force was beset with not just actual illnesses keeping people from their jobs, but quarantine practices that kept healthy people from their work as well.  The protracted nature of this pandemic and the thinking around it (the extra rules, restrictions, masks and regulations) reduced the work force even more and permanently. Retirements, along with a large wave of early retirements, stripped off the top layer of seasoned veteran employees. There isn’t a next wave of enthusiastic replacements that is commensurate with the number of outbound workers. This attrition is at the heart of the issue.

“No way did I realize how difficult it was going to be to try and get people to come to work these days…” James M. Foote, CEO of CSX.

McDonald’s offers a $500 signing bonus and still has trouble filling rosters.  We are wrestling with “labor shortages” and 6.9 million people are still claiming some form of unemployment compensation, up 1.2 million from before the pandemic (https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/empsit.pdf).  We could postulate about what is involved in this worker shortage for hours. Is it generational? Political? Pandemic related? Drug related? Something else entirely? Whatever combination of circumstances, events, or choices people have made that has led us to this place, we are here now and it is ours to confront.

One class one railroad we connect with admitted to having a class of two hundred conductors graduating with one hundred more in the queue right behind them. This doesn’t cover the attrition they have suffered to date however, so they’ll still be short handed. One short line yard master with a congested yard had sixteen people call in sick or were quarantined in a single day. It isn’t just train crews that are affected either. Shops and maintenance of way crews are impacted as well. This leads to power (locomotives) shortages too. Yard Masters in charge of busy rail yards, full of cars with more trains on the way, have only skeleton crews available to do their work. In my role in marketing, I speak daily to market managers for other roads about rates and routes. I can’t reach some of them now because they are on train crews in the field filling in for the missing. Perish the thought, but what is already difficult will be even more so with a foot and a half of snow, and sub zero temperatures.  

Pointing out the situation we’re all in is the easy part. Theorizing about exactly how we got here is an unimportant luxury. Learning how to embrace this difficult situation and solve problems and keep our customers satisfied is the real challenge. Learning how to maintain our level of customer service with increased dwell times at interchanges, leaner workforces, and fewer trains has produced an unexpected bonus for us. Our relationships with our connecting class one roads has improved dramatically and quickly. New lines of communications with them are wide open, and information and cooperation is flowing freely. We are jointly amenable to looking at alternate routes and other on-the-fly adjustments to keep your products moving. We are glad to work with not only other roads, but also suppliers and customers in concerted joint efforts.  Our customer service team, train crews, marketing department, and even upper management have all been involved in mitigating delays.  

The take home message here is clear. Please think of railroads as allies, because our business depends on your business. It is crucial that we have timely and accurate information from our customers on their needs and issues as they arise. Your thoughtful complaints and legitimate grievances can be constructive and helpful for railroads in getting problems solved and product delivered.  

The outlook for regional moves and even local moves on rail in the short term is a positive one, especially with the higher cost and limited availability of trucks. We have been able to provide competitive shipping options for some relatively short hauls. Where trucks used to be the right tool for the job, now we may find other options. Rail might be worth another look.  

Looking beyond the near future to a longer perspective, I see a robust recovery and continued growth for the short lines in the northeast. We can’t know specifics yet about where the chips may fall when the CSX completes the PAS takeover, but this major change in the region will certainly offer new opportunities and may even help to alleviate some of the issues we’re facing now.

On Ocean Freight and Ports, Expect More of the Same in 2022.

Charlie Elrod, Ph.D.
President & CEO, Natural Biologics, Inc.
Board Member, NEAFA

As we focus on transportation in this issue of the NEAFA Newsletter, we should realize that many of our members are affected by ocean freight and the ongoing bottlenecks at U.S. ports.  As both an importer of raw materials and an exporter of finished goods, we know all too well what that situation has looked like for the last year-and-a-half: containers of ingredients we bring in from Brazil getting bumped from one ship to the next, to the next, before finally leaving port one to two months later than expected; the freight cost of a container coming from Malaysia going from $2,300 in May 2020 to over $20,000 by late summer of 2021 (see this article from The Economist); or, sitting on a container of finished product for three months waiting for a booking to get it out to Australia.  Is there any end in sight in 2022?

The short answer is no.  We all remember the Ever Given, the container ship that blocked the Suez Canal for seven days.  That catastrophe really only highlighted the fragility of the global supply chain.  Add to that things like Covid-19-related port closures, power shortages in China, truck driver shortages at ports, surging consumer demand for imported goods and huge imbalances of containers around the world, and you begin to see the global log jam which will take some time to unwind.  Unfortunately, the trade lanes most impacted by all these factors were those between Asia and North America.  While the Los Angeles/Long Beach port hub has gotten the most attention for backlogs, all U.S. ports have been affected by longer than usual wait times for ships to dock and unload.  Container arrivals at the major east coast ports are up by 40% year-over-year.  At the same time, the U.S. is reporting a current deficit of ~80,000 truck drivers, making it even more difficult to move those containers out of ports in a timely fashion.  Most projections are that these issues will take most of 2022 to clear out despite presidential edicts or maritime law reforms. Passage this month of the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which AFIA, AFBF  and others strongly supported, will bring welcome relief from usurious ocean freight fees, but will do little to clear the current backlogs in our ports. What this means for many of our businesses is the need for higher inventories to buffer against these disruptions, leading to higher inventory carrying cost, slower turnover and squeezed margins.  But as we heard at the annual meeting, we all need to work on our resilience in these tougher times.

Chase to CNC: Great Progress in Dairy Sustainability

Recently Larry Chase, Professor Emeritus of Cornell University, spoke at the 2021 Cornell Nutrition Conference (CNC) about environmental sustainability in the dairy industry, a subject that has been on many minds recently. Chase recently shared his paper and his CNC presentation on the subject with the NEAFA Agronomy Committee.

“All of us know that society is concerned about water and air quality,” said Chase. “I think that it’s important to say that dairymen have tried to be good stewards of the land and take care of their animals. Society doesn’t always recognize that they as an industry have been working at this forever. The dairy industry has done a lot of good things and that means that they’re sort of ahead of the game as (environmental) regulations get more strict. The biggest thing is that they have improved efficiency of feed to milk. There are less nutrients excreted into the manure. They’re taking advantage of improved forage analysis information and knowing how to formulate a ration that is one or two points lower in protein. You get the same high quality milk, but with less nitrogen in the cow, there’s less nitrogen going into manure; the same thing has happened with phosphorus. The industry has been able to reduce the input to the cow without changing milk so there’s less going back into the environment.” According to Chase’s paper, there was a 40.4% increase in the amount of milk per pound per cow per year, while nitrogen in manure dropped 8.1 percent, methane emissions dropped 3.4%, and phosphorus levels dropped 20.1%

An issue the industry faces however, is messaging. “Somehow the industry has to get this to consumer,” said Chase. “The problem is if the industry says it, a lot of consumers will falsely say that it’s biased information. We need to get it to the consumer in a way that they will accept, because the information that we’ve gathered is solid.”

Moving forward, Chase believes the industry needs to focus on whole farm integrated models. “We can look at the cow nutrition portion and come up with good numbers and that’s valuable, but at some point you have to say what about cropping rotations, economics, manure, etc.,” said Chase. “You have to tie the whole farm together instead of looking at one piece. What’s great is that we can make these improvements in decreasing the environmental impact, and at the same time it increases the profitability of the whole farm since you’re increasing production while maximizing your forage. It’s a win win for producers and consumers.”

To read Chase’s paper on the subject, click here. To see his powerpoint from the 2021 CNC, click here.

Bottom Line: Keep 60 at 60.

By Rick Zimmerman

The Grow NY Farm’s Coalition, representing the state’s agriculture community, launched a campaign to protect farms, jobs, and local food production by upholding the 60-hour overtime threshold created as a result of the 2019 Farm Laborers Fair Labor Practices Act. The coalition, comprised of agriculture businesses and organizations including NEAFA, is working to maintain the current 60-hour overtime threshold to safeguard the interests of farmworkers and farmers. A New York State Wage Board is poised to reconvene next month to assess the threshold, which is at risk of being reduced even further to 40 hours if the board deems necessary. The proposed reduction would economically devastate many New York farms, with immediate consequences felt most by farmworkers themselves. 

Prior to the adoption of the 60-hour overtime threshold, the industry standard for farmworkers was 80 hours during peak season⁠ — a well-established concept amongst farmworkers and farmers whose industry is reliant on labor-intensive harvesting.  Although influenced by downstate activists unfamiliar with the agriculture industry, the threshold of 60 hours was achieved as a compromise, despite objections from farmworkers who want as many hours as possible. Farmworkers, many of whom come from other countries to work seasonally, benefited from longer weekly hours, sufficient to make a projected income before returning home. Farmers are at risk of not being able to afford a workforce if the overtime threshold moves to 40 hours per week.

Farm Credit East recently released a report on the impact of a 40-hour overtime threshold on New York agriculture, and stated that labor costs will increase by 17% over current levels and the increase will grow by 42% when factoring in the minimum wage increase, wage benefits and required tax payments.  If this threshold is lowered to 40 hours, farms will have to reassess their entire business model and operations. This report can be found here.

“New York is home to a vibrant agriculture industry and our local communities are in place to support farmers with necessary services and programs,” said Danielle Penny Stroop, President, Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance. “A reduced overtime threshold will dramatically alter the face of agriculture in New York, including our rural communities which are very much dependent on a vibrant production sector. It would be an irrevocable loss to our communities if New York farms were forced to produce only non-labor intensive crops like corn and soybeans. We cannot let this happen.”

“It is time once again to raise our voices and stand united, farmers, farmworkers, and industry partners as an agriculture community to fight for our future viability,” said John Dickinson, Chair of the Northeast Dairy Producers Association. “Reducing the overtime threshold from 60 hours to 40 hours will further burden a struggling community unable to absorb the costs and will ultimately fall on the shoulders of farmworkers, hindering their ability to make a living and support their families. Furthermore, this will have a direct negative impact on rural economies and farms are the backbone of many communities.  The Wage Board and New York State cannot lower the overtime threshold. It will be a landmark decision many in our community will not be able to survive.”

“The truth of the matter is farms will change their operations to be less labor intensive, which means fewer locally produced products, fruits, and vegetables for New Yorkers, worse yet, some farms will cease to exist,” said Eric Ooms, New York Farm Bureau Vice-President and dairy farmer. “Across the country, our workforce availability is dwindling, and New York farms are already struggling to compete. Any more restrictions and farms that have been in families for generations could disappear. While proponents of a 40-hour work week claim to fight for the workers, farmworkers will be the ones to lose out as their hours will surely be cut or jobs could be eliminated. Keeping the overtime threshold at 60 hours is the only option for New York’s diverse agricultural community and its employees.”

Bill Peck of Welcome Stock Farm, Saratoga County, NY testified before the NYS Assembly Agriculture Committee November 16th and stated that “This threatened increase is not sustainable and if enacted through a wage board recommendation, the face of New York’s dairy industry will be forever altered.  Lowering the threshold will in fact hurt workers’ take-home pay.  Farms will be forced to limit overtime just like many other industries are already doing because the economics of farm businesses in NY cannot support overtime pay.  In some cases, jobs will be lost because of farms going out of business, downsizing their dairy herd, or changing the commodity they produce and replace human labor with technology.”

The Wage Board is expected to meet in December to consider the question: should overtime for farmworkers be lowered below 60 hours per week.    

Sustaining our Mission to Advocate, Collaborate and Educate

By Jenny Mills, NEAFA Vice-President

This past year, the Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance launched the Sustaining Sponsor program.  This program was developed to give member organizations opportunities throughout the year to sponsor initiatives of NEAFA with one financial commitment. With the renewal of the program this upcoming year, we wanted to share thoughts of the members that were Diamond Sustaining Sponsors to discuss what they got from the program and why they chose to become a Diamond Sponsor.  You can find the details about the sustaining sponsorship program here.

We reached out to John Clark, Feedworks USA and Past President of NEAFA; Jeff Matuszczak, Director of Sales at Mercer Milling; and Dr. Charlie Elrod, President and CEO of Natural Biologics for a brief Q&A on the Sustaining Sponsor Program.  All three organizations were Diamond Sustaining Sponsors this past year.

1. The Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance appreciates your support in our initial Sustaining Sponsorship program. What enticed you to participate?

Clark:  “When the Sustaining Sponsorship was initiated, I was serving as President of NEAFA.  I feel strongly that ‘You cannot lead from behind.’  With that in mind, I felt it correct for Feedworks and I to support the program at the highest level and see firsthand what the benefits have been.” 

Matuszczak: “Mercer has always maintained a culture of supporting the farming enterprise by giving through key organizations in our marketplace committed to the betterment of our farming industry.”

Elrod: “Since joining NEAFA about 4 years ago, I have seen what great work the alliance does. Having a unified and well-informed voice in state capitals to advocate for ag-friendly policies; the great collaboration with PRO-Dairy and the CALS faculty in support of educational programs; and the opportunity to network with professionals from all sectors of agriculture in the Northeast are all reasons why we need to pull together and provide ongoing support for this great organization.”

1. What are the benefits that your company has received from participating in the sustaining sponsorship program this past year?

Clark: “I was pleased with the visibility and continuity of the Sponsorship. The benefits Feedworks or any company receives are showing support for agribusiness and animal agriculture. We hope our customers, present and future, recognize and appreciate that commitment. It also is respect for all involved in NEAFA and for their efforts. It’s a way to recognize Board Members, Members at large, and staff and to make sure that they are all shown respect, and to let them know that we agree with the premise of the organization and many of the activities it undertakes.”

Matuszczak: “Mercer Milling found that the ease of a single transaction that covers multiple benefits of membership and the program enticing. Mercer received logos and links from the NEAFA homepage and newsletter. In addition, Mercer received sponsor benefits at the NEAFA Annual Meeting and other events throughout the year.”

Elrod: “For Natural Biologics, the main benefit has been to help us build brand awareness. Even though we’re based here, we don’t have a strong market presence in the Northeast yet, so the visibility that comes with the Diamond level sustaining membership has been very helpful.”

1. How does the Sustaining Sponsorship program align with your company’s mission?

Clark: “The NEAFA sustaining sponsorship aligns with Feedworks values quite well. Our customers are involved either directly in animal agriculture or serving animal agriculture, and the Alliance is a member organization that supports both of those. Thus if we support the Alliance, it supports our customers and or their customers.”

Matuszczak: “The sustaining sponsorship program and NEAFA’s mission aligns with Mercer’s mission well: Providing an ongoing awareness to foster safe, efficient, economical production of food.”

Elrod: “Natural Biologics recently had a company retreat to reconsider our values and vision.  The core values we came up with are integrity, partnerships and innovation.  For us, being a sustaining member is highly aligned with that value of forming long-term partnerships that are supportive of a healthy and sustainable food system.”

1. Do you plan to participate again? What advice do you have for companies considering participating?

Clark:  “We will take a look at the package for 2022 and commit again to a Sustaining Sponsorship for NEAFA and we HIGHLY encourage others to join us. We all need each other.  Standing together happens in many ways. One of them is committing to be a Sustaining Sponsorship. It’s a great way to stand up and be counted as supporting Animal Agriculture.”

Matuszczak: “Mercer Milling is looking forward to our participation again in 2022! It is easy, simple, and flexible.”

Elrod: “Absolutely! If you consider all the great work done by NEAFA, a sustaining membership is simply an investment which helps ensure that agriculture will remain a strong and vibrant part of the economy of the Northeast for generations to come.”

Please reach out to any NEAFA board member with your questions on the Sustaining Sponsorship program for 2022 - we hope your organization considers participating!  Additional information can be found here.

A Time to Be Thankful

By Rene Lavoie, NEAFA Communications Committee

As we approach the holidays and spend time with family and friends, we also look back on the year that has passed. The Covid-19 pandemic has forever changed how we behave and interact with each other. Our isolation these past 18 months continues to remind me of our need for a human contact. 

This fall, our world began to open up again as in-person industry events took place. For me it began with the world dairy expo in Madison, Wisconsin. It was the first chance that I had to travel for business since February 2019. Although the crowd was significantly smaller than it normally is, it was hugely beneficial to my mental health, my business relationships, and my concern of how this world would move forward from the pandemic. I was able to reconnect with at least 25 suppliers that I have not seen in person for a long time. In addition, I was able to add new relationships to my business funnel. By now it was getting quite empty, and it was nice to replenish it.

After a  successful world dairy expo came the Cornell Nutrition Conference. It was fairly well attended, however they did allow for virtual attendance as well. This meant the numbers were down a bit for the in-person meetings. This was a clear indicator that people are still not completely comfortable with large gatherings. Again however, I made contact with some old friends and started a few potentially new relationships. October closed out with the Penn State Dairy Nutrition Conference at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center. This conference did not allow for a virtual option. It was very well attended, and the numbers were extremely good. Although some of the connections were overlapping from previous recent meetings, The continued connection was welcome. 

Just this past week, our business had its first in-person employee gathering since Covid shut us down. The camaraderie, team building, and overall enthusiasm restate our need for human connection. As we end 2021 and move into 2022, I feel like I can honestly say that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it's not the train. The world feels like it is returning to normal, or at least what the new normal is. For now, I look forward to continuing to connect with old friends and catch up on the changes we have all been through and will continue to go through. I wish everybody a happy holiday season and a prosperous new year!