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agriculture

Economic management workshop for dairy farmers

By Billie Owens

Genesee County dairy farmers looking to update their management concepts to deal with today's increased market volatility are urged to attend a workshop on March 22.

"Managing the Margins" is a workshop useful for building long-term viability for any size dairy enterprise. This half-day educational program is hosted by The North West New York Dairy, Livestock and Field Crop Team.

It runs from 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Cornell Cooperative Extension located at 420 E. Main St. in Batavia.

Pre-registration is required by March 18 because group size is limited. The $30 registration fee covers lunch and handouts.

To register contact Cathy Wallace 343-3040, ext. 138, or e-mail cfw6@cornell.edu.
For questions contact John Hanchar 658-3250, ext. 112, or e-mail jjh6@cornell.edu.

It wasn’t too long ago dairy producers were concerned somewhat with variation in milk price and very little with feed cost. More recently, the significance of dramatic price moves has been experienced farms and in the dairy farm community.

This workshop focuses on understanding the economic world around us, global commodity markets and various price-management tools and strategies available for farmer use when managing the risk of declining milk prices and the risk of increasing feed costs.

Managing margin risk has become increasingly significant for producers given enhanced volatility in commodity prices and input costs. While profits are possible in today’s marketplace, producers must simultaneously manage milk revenue and input costs to maintain profitable margins.

The objective of this program is to provide producers with concepts and tools to determine break-even prices, market strategies, and crop insurance decisions appropriate for their operations under various conditions -- with the end goal of being able to identify and capture profitable margins.

Farmers encouraged to continue plastic recycling efforts

By Billie Owens

Farmers all around Western New York State are recycling their triple-rinsed plastic containers from agricultural crop protection products such as specialty pest control, crop oils, surfactants, micro-nutrient/fertilizer, and/or adjuvant products.

USAg Recycling, Inc., offers agricultural producers and custom applicators an environmentally “green” convenient option for disposing of their empty containers.  USAg Recycling Inc. will be picking up agricultural plastic containers in several locations throughout New York State in the months of June and October, 2011.

The service is free to farmers and provides an environmentally friendly alternative to burning or throwing away agricultural containers.

Last year, USAg Recycling, Inc., collected 46,000 pounds of plastic containers statewide. It is a contractor for the industry-funded Ag Container Recycling Council (ACRC), which in 2008 celebrated 100 million pounds of agricultural plastic containers recycled from across the United States.

Today, ACRC averages eight million pounds collected each year. Collected containers are ground into chips and recycled as corrugated plastic field drainage pipe and other ACRC approved products. Farmers are doing their share to help keep plastic out of the landfills.

Containers accepted are HDPE #2 plastic containers only, ranging from less than one gallon to 55-gallon barrels. Large 250-gallon shuttle totes must be cut into 2-foot-wide pieces and free of any hardware. Cutting tanks in this manner facilitates proper cleaning and inspection, reduces storage area, and allows for direct feed into the granulation machine.

To be acceptable for recycling, plastic containers must be empty, clean, uncapped and dry. To help store containers until pick-up time, bags that hold 50 to 60 – 2.5-gallon containers are available for free upon registration.

Exact pick-up dates at local sites will be available within the first weeks of June and October.

Please contact Elizabeth Bentley-Huber at Genesee County Soil & Water Conservation District at 343-2362 or at Elizabeth.Bentley-Huber@ny.nacdnet.net. or Tucker Kautz with Monroe County Soil & Water Conservation District at 473-2120, ext. 108, for more information and registration.

Farmers rallied in Albany to make New York more 'farm-friendly'

By Billie Owens

Here's a news release from the NY Farm Bureau.

Hundreds of New York farmers rallied in Albany this week to urge the legislature to make New York a farm-friendly state.  
 
“New York Farm Bureau is extremely concerned about last week’s news that the number of farms in New York decreased for the first time in recent years,” said Dean Norton, president of New York Farm Bureau, the state’s largest agricultural advocacy organization.
 
“Our family farms not only produce local food for local consumers to enjoy, we contribute to New York’s economy by shipping farm products up and down the East Coast and even to overseas markets,” Norton said.

“Just as important, our family farmers produce the raw materials that help keep thousands of New Yorkers employed in our food and dairy processing plants, trucking industries, agri-business supply stores, as well as contribute to local tourism economies with our consumer-friendly farms and wineries.”
 
New York Farm Bureau strongly believes that the state must do more to keep farm families in business in New York State, through fundamentally changing the way the state thinks about farming and agriculture, and all of the associated economic benefits.  
 
New York’s farm families have been struggling with the impact of the global economic meltdown and New York’s slow recovery, along with New York’s unfriendly business climate.
 
“The impact of helping New York farmers to grow their businesses will be felt up and down the food and employment chain. For example, the recent establishment of Chobani’s Greek Yogurt processing plant in Chenango County, bringing jobs in an economically challenged area, would never have happened without the available supply of milk from local dairy farmers.

"It is that synergy that we need to encourage, by reducing the cost of doing business in New York, while at the same time maintaining our agricultural program infrastructure.
 
“The average New York farmer pays more in taxes than our competitors in most states, and certainly has a higher regulatory burden. Our members are coming to town this week to ask the governor and the legislature to make New York farm-friendly again, by adopting policies that encourage growth and a revitalization of the farm community and our agricultural infrastructure.”  
 

New York Farm Bureau members will be making the case for the following priority issues:

  • Supporting a property-tax cap, coupled with mandate relief, to control seemingly endless increases in year-to-year property-tax bills;
  • Restoring critical agricultural program infrastructure through the state budget process;
  • Supporting the Farmers’ Regulatory Relief Act, which will help roll back overzealous regulatory and paperwork burdens for family farmers;
  • Calling for a revitalization of the Hunts Point Terminal Marketplace, to update the largest distributor of produce to NYC and make it more accessible to New York farmers;
  • Advocating for extending and amending several ESDC programs to make them more farm-friendly.

New York Farm Bureau’s annual Reception and Issues Forum will educate policymakers and members of the public on the importance of agriculture to New York, as well as provide an excellent opportunity for New York’s family farmers to showcase locally grown products.

More than 300 farmers will be at the State Capitol to convey the message that farms are important, and more needs to be done to make New York truly “farm-friendly."

"While we generally support Governor Cuomo's efforts to rein in the excessive spending, taxes and regulations that have contributed to the decline in farm numbers over the past year, our members will be expressing their concerns about the proposed 92-percent cut to agricultural funding in the governor’s budget."
 
These core agricultural infrastructure programs have long helped the state's farm sector compete with other states and exporting nations. Over the past four years, these same agricultural programs have seen budget allocations cut from a little over $15 million to a mere $1.2 million this year.

Many of these programs help keep family farms able to sell their products, through concentrating on meeting the environmental, economic, research and marketing challenges faced by New York’s farmers in a high-cost state.  
 
"Eliminating these key agricultural investment programs will not make a substantial impact in New York's otherwise massive fiscal challenges. We're a drop in a bucket in the larger scheme of things. But in the rural economy, and in the heart of Long Island’s Suffolk County, these programs have a big impact, and we'll feel it when they're gone."
 
Norton said farmers are pleased that the Governor’s Executive Budget did provide level funding for animal health programs, and support several economic development initiatives such as the regional economic development offices, paperwork reduction on diesel gas credits and clean energy incentives.

Gillibrand offers multi-point plan to help dairy farmers

By Billie Owens

Saying solutions to the state's dairy crisis can't wait until the 2012 Farm Bill, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand today unveiled a comprehensive plan she claims will provide farmers with immediate support.

That can't happen soon enough according to those in the industry. New York State lost nearly a quarter of all its dairies during 2002-07, according to information Gillibrand included in her news release, dropping from nearly 7,400 to about 5,700 five years later.

The number of Genesee County dairies dropped from 98 to 68, a 31-percent decline.

“New York is home to the hardest working farm families and the finest dairy products in the world, but outdated regulations, broken pricing structures and a bad economy are hurting our dairy farmers, and farming communities across the state," Gillibrand said. "We need to act now to support New York’s dairy farms.”

The full specter of the problem was gleaned after the senator held six agricultural "listening sessions" statewide in preparation for next's year farm legislation.

"I appreciate the senator taking the the time to have listening sessions for the dairy industry and for trying to help New York dairy farmers," said Dean Norton, an Elba dairy farmer and president of the New York Farm Bureau. "I look forward to working with her in preparation for the 2012 Farm Bill."

Gillibrand's plan intends to: make dairy pricing more competitive for New York producers; prevent cuts to the MILC program; help boost exports; improve storage reporting standards; and increase trading price stability.

The current pricing system is obscure and the discouraging result often means dairy farmers pay more to produce their products than they get from selling them.

Farmers say the high costs of feed and fuel make even the existing safety net -- Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) -- inadequate. Further cuts would increase the numbers of farmers taking on massive debt to cover their costs or go out of business.

Gillibrand is urging the federal Department of Agriculture to collect and publish data on alternative measures of dairy pricing, such as competitive-pay pricing, "so that everyone can see if this would be a better way to price milk." The current system of end-product pricing has reportedly contributed to more volatility in milk prices for producers.

Under a competitive-pricing scenario, the price of milk would be determined by a survey of prices paid to farmers for the milk used in cheese production in a competitive market wherein there are counties with at least five different milk buyers.

New York is one of only three states with competitive counties today.

In noncompetitive areas, the existing Federal Milk Marketing Order (FMMO) system would take effect, however base prices would still be established by the competitive-pay pricing system.

To both improve America's milk quality and boost exports, the senator wants to lower the most basic measure of milk quality -- known as somatic cell counts -- so milk has "a longer shelf life, better taste and greater cheese yield."

Another area needing reform, according to farmers are the inventory methods for certain types of cheese, which can "significantly influence trading activities on the Chicago Merchantile Exchange."

For example, cold storage facilities are not required to report their inventories of dairy products to the USDA Natural Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), and only do so on a voluntary basis. This purportedly creates an environment of volatility and uncertainty for dairy trading.

Senator Gillibrand is introducing legislation that would make the Cold Storage Report to NASS mandatory, and give the USDA authority to audit warehouse inventories to help bring more stability to dairy trading prices.

She is also introducing the "Democracy for Dairy Producers Act," which would require dairy cooperatives that engage in bloc voting to provide their member farmers with written notices and other information when certain kind of votes occur.

The bill also would establish an information clearinghouse to provide information regarding any proposed milk marketing order reforms. The information would have to be published on a Web site and distributed to producers through a fax list, e-mail distribution list, or U.S. mail list, at the discretion of individual producers.

Dean Norton re-elected as NY Farm Bureau president

By Billie Owens

Here's a news release sent today from the NY Farm Bureau.

ALBANY -- Dean Norton, a dairy farmer and agricultural consultant from Elba, was re-elected as president of New York Farm Bureau, the state’s largest general farm organization, during the organization’s state annual meeting in Melville, Long Island.

“I am proud to have the opportunity to continue to lead this organization as we face a time of tremendous challenges in the agricultural community,” Norton said. “It’s an opportunity to make a difference in the ability of our farms to continue into the next generation.

"We face both unparalleled challenges and unparalleled opportunities, and need to find better ways, quickly, to maximize the connection between New York farmers and New York consumers, in order to keep the next generation farming.”

Norton is a senior agriculture consultant for Freed, Maxick & Battaglia in Batavia. His family dairy farm also manages a custom trucking operation for forage and commodity harvesting.

He has served as New York Farm Bureau’s president since 2008. His term lasts two years.

New York Farm Bureau is a statewide agricultural organization that represents nearly 30,000 member families.

Photo: File photo of Dean Norton.

Chris Lee honored by American Farm Bureau

By Howard B. Owens

Congressman Chris Lee with New York Farm Bureau President and Genesee County resident Dean Norton, right, accepting an award from the American Farm Bureau for being a "Friend of the Farm Bureau." Lee announced the award this evening on Twitter.

Photos: The drive back from Holley

By Howard B. Owens

Here are five pictures I took yesterday, after getting back into Genesee County, on my return from the Pembroke game in Holley.

The first two are in the area of Transit Road and Chapel Road, Byron. The barn below is on Towerhill Road, Byron, and the pumpkin house is on Bank Street Road. The final picture is Centennial Park, Batavia.

Pavilion farm part of upbeat billboard campaign

By Billie Owens

Noblehurst Farms in Pavilion is one of several places in Upstate New York where hay wagon billboard banners will be displayed on farms to relay positive messages about agriculture.

Forty such billboards have been placed from Watertown to Canton, the Finger Lakes to Albany.

The banners say: NY Farmers Love the Land; NY Farmers Love Feeding Families; NY Farmers Love Caring for Animals; NY Farmers Love Family Tradition; and NY Farmers Love Strong Communities.

The New York Animal Agriculture Coalition developed the outreach program to reconnent and educate consumers about today's dairy farms and farm practices. It is funded by a grant from the United Soybean Board.

"As a farming community we are trying to keep the public aware that agriculture is important to not only us as farmers, but also to the people and economy of Upstate New York, said Rob Noble, co-owner of Noblehurst Farms.

"The billboard campaign is a small part we can do to raise awareness and tell people part of our story.”

According to a coalition survey, New Yorkers have a high level of trust in New York dairy farmers to produce a safe, healthy and abundant supply of food, Berry said.

However, with the rise of food safety scares and increasing social awareness, consumers are increasingly interested in how their food is produced. Fewer people know a farmer. They’ve lost the human connection to how our food is grown.

Visit the Coalition’s Web site at www.farmskeepnygreen.com for more information.

This information was provided by the New York Animal Agriculture Coalition.

Bill to ban outdoor wood boilers stalled

By Billie Owens

Here's a news release we received from the New York Farm Bureau.

The New York Farm Bureau today announced its fight-back campaign against a proposed ban on outdoor wood boilers appears to have forced the Department of Environmental Conservation to delay any action until next year.

The reported delay, although not formally announced, would allow thousands of rural New Yorkers to continue to heat their homes with wood through the winter.

“We are fighting a good fight so far, but it’s far from over,” said Dean Norton, president of New York Farm Bureau. “While a regulatory delay would get us through the winter, there are still bureaucrats in Albany determined to shut down our wood boilers. We must thwart them.”

The farm bureau has been rallying its 30,000 members to fight the proposed regulations and has been lobbying furiously in the halls of Albany.

If passed, the DEC regulations would force thousands of owners of outdoor wood boilers to: retrofit costly smokestacks to meet new DEC height requirements; limit the use of their units for almost half of the year; and ultimately prohibit the use of any outdoor wood boiler that does not meet new, strict DEC emissions requirements.

The proposed regulations will have significant financial implications for farm and rural homeowners that heat their houses, barns and greenhouses using wood boilers.

This summer, the New York State Senate voted unanimously in favor of legislation that would leave wood-boiler regulation to local zoning boards, not the DEC. That bill was sponsored and championed by Sen. Darrel Aubertine.

Farm bureau members spoke out at public information sessions/hearings around the state in June on the proposal. Farmers and rural residents also flooded the DEC with written comments against the proposed regulations.

“I hope that DEC has seen the light that these regulations will have severe financial impact to our farmers and rural New Yorkers,” Norton said.

Sen. Gillibrand held first 'listening session' with NY farmers Wednesday

By Billie Owens

Here's a news release from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's office.

As Congress begins debate over the 2012 Farm Bill, Gillibrand -- the first New Yorker to serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee in nearly 40 years -- began her statewide listening sessions on Wednesday to discuss new efforts to help New York farmers and farming communities.

Senator Gillibrand plans to focus on key areas of the Farm Bill that will have major influence on New York, including access to financing, new market opportunities, assistance for specialty crops, and investments in renewable energy.

From dairy farms to black-dirt farms, and apple orchards to vineyards, artisanal cheeses, and other specialty crops, New York farmers and communities will have a lot to gain in the next Farm Bill.

“New York is home to the hardest-working farm families and the finest locally grown produce in the world, but outdated regulations and a bad economy are hurting our farmers and farming communities across the state,” the senator said. “We need to make sure the next Farm Bill is a good deal for New York.

"I plan to take the next several months to listen to farmers and businesses in every corner of the state and discuss my ideas on how to help farmers survive and prosper in the new economy.”

More than 35,000 farms stretch across 7.1 million acres – making up one-fourth of New York State. New York’s agriculture industry generates more than $4 billion for the state’s economy.

The Rochester/Finger Lakes Region alone is home to more than 6,000 farms stretching nearly 1.5 million acres and generating more than $1 billion for the state’s economy.

The following key issues were addressed in the first listening session, which took place Wednesday in the Rochester/Finger Lakes Region.

Providing Access to Capital
Like all small businesses, family farms are struggling to secure access to the financing they need to grow or, in many cases, survive in this difficult economy. Gillibrand plans to strengthen the Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program to help New York farmers develop value-added products.

She also plans to bolster the Farm Services Agency (FSA) loan program to give farmers the resources they need to purchase land, livestock, equipment, feed, seed and other supplies. Gillibrand recently helped secure an additional $39 million for FSA operating loans to help give New York farms the capital they need.

Additionally, the senator will fight to exempt New York State from the USDA’s 10,000 population criteria – the maximum population to qualify for USDA water and wastewater funding.

Many parts of New York would be ineligible for funding under the new USDA guidelines since many New York towns include villages and other municipalities, putting a town’s population over the 10,000 threshold.

Addressing the Dairy Crisis
Due to outdated dairy-pricing regulations, dairy farmers pay more to produce their products than they make from selling them.

Senator Gillibrand has introduced legislation that would double the amount of money farmers get from the MILC program, retroactive to the low point of the crisis in March of 2009. While raising the MILC payment rate to 90 percent will not completely make up the gap between cost of production and market rates, it will certainly help prevent more New York farms from going under. 

She also introduced legislation to index the MILC rate to inflation. The MILC program payments were originally designed to help dairy farmers in their time of need, but funding levels have remained stagnant.

In the next Farm Bill, Gillibrand intends to work with New York farmers to make these improvements and overhaul the milk-pricing system and secure a fair price for producers.

Additionally, she will work to make the opaque pricing system of the dairy market more transparent. Senator Gillibrand is cosponsoring the Mandatory Price Reporting Act to reauthorize the electronic price reporting of dairy prices, helping to increase transparency and change-price reporting from monthly to weekly.

Gillibrand has also introduced legislation to make Cold Storage Inventory Reporting to the National Agriculture Statistics Service mandatory, and give the USDA the authority to audit the survey. Experts agree that reducing the influence of the thinly traded Chicago Mercantile Exchange is the best way to increase market transparency.

Expanding New Markets
Senator Gillibrand intends to expand the Market Access Program (MAP) to enable our farmers to sell more New York products worldwide. The MAP program provides funding for the creation, expansion and maintenance of foreign markets for U.S. agricultural products.

She is also planning to introduce an infrastructure provision in the Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program to help farmers reach new markets.

Additionally, Gillibrand will work to secure more federal funding to promote the USDA’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable program to give New York farms more opportunities to supply schools with fresh, locally grown products.

Targeted Assistance to Specialty-crop Farmers
Specialty-crop farmers stand to gain tremendous benefit from the conservation programs in the Farm Bill. Senator Gillibrand intends to bolster the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP), the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), as well as introduce a new program, called the Conservation on Muck Soils (COMS), to provide additional assistance to New York’s specialty crop farmers.
 
Investing in New Sources of Clean, Renewable, New York Energy
New York’s agriculture industry is rich with opportunity to help lead America to a clean energy economy that can create good-paying jobs and rebuild our economy, strengthen our national security, and cut pollution.

Gillibrand plans to work for more investments in the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) that provides loans and grants for farmers and small rural businesses that build renewable energy systems, such as anaerobic digesters.

She also intends to push for greater investments in the Rural Energy Self Sufficiency Initiative, which assists with installation of integrated renewable energy systems in rural communities that make use of wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal and biomass sources.

Additionally, she plans to work to secure more investments in the Biomass Research and Development Program and the Biomass Crop Assistant Program to harness more of our state’s potential to convert biomass and agricultural waste into renewable energy.

More and more farmers are going green by recycling plastic containers

By Billie Owens

The Genesee County Soil & Water Conservation District wants people to know that more farmers are being “green” by demonstrating "product stewardship" -- recycling. And that in October, there will be pick-ups scheduled for recyclable plastic containers.

Farmers all around Western New York are recycling their triple-rinsed plastic containers from agricultural crop protection products such as specialty pest control, crop oils, surfactants, micro-nutrient/fertilizer, and/or adjuvant products.

USAg Recycling, Inc., offers agricultural producers and custom applicators an environmentally “green” convenient option for disposing of their empty containers.

USAg Recycling, Inc., will be picking up agricultural plastic containers in several locations throughout New York State from Oct. 18-29. The service is free to farmers and provides an environmentally friendly alternative to burning or throwing away agricultural containers.

Last year, USAg Recycling, Inc., collected 46,000 pounds of plastic containers from New York State.

It is a member company of the national Agricultural Container Recycling Council (ACRC), which in 2008 celebrated 100 million pounds of agricultural plastic containers recycled from across the United States.

Today, ACRC averages eight to 10 million pounds collected each year. Collected containers are ground into chips and recycled as corrugated plastic drainage pipe, railroad ties, fence posts, pallets, and many other products.

That’s farmers helping to keep plastic out of the landfills.

Containers accepted are HDPE #2 plastic containers only, ranging from less than one gallon to 55 gallon barrels. Larger containers such as 250 gallon shuttle totes must be cut into 2’x2’ pieces and free of any hardware. Cutting large containers in this manner facilitates proper cleaning and inspection, reduces storage area, and allows for direct feed into the granulation machine.

To be acceptable for recycling, plastic containers must be empty, clean, uncapped and dry. To help store containers until pick-up time, bags that hold up to 50 one-gallon containers are available for free upon registration.

Exact pick-up dates at local sites will be available within the first week of October.

Please contact Elizabeth Bentley-Huber at Genesee County Soil & Water Conservation District at 585-343-2362 or at <Elizabeth.Bentley-Huber@ny.nacdnet.net.> for more information and registration.

Sunflower farm adds beauty, but grower wants to sell produce

By Howard B. Owens

Drive from Bergen to Batavia, southwest on Route 33, and just a mile or so from the Route 237 intersection, you will see a big red barn with "Oderkirk" in hand-painted big white letters on one end.

We've all seen it.

And this time of year, we've all noticed the sunflowers saturating the north side of the property, too.

The free sunflowers, it turns out, are just a ploy to get you to stop and buy vegetables from Richard Oderkirk.

The 69-year-old is a fifth generation farmer to operate the Oderkirk spread since 1877. But he's retired now and growing vegetables is both a hobby and a way to supplement his income.

"They're self-seeded," Oderkirk said about the sunflowers. "I try to exterminate a few more of them each year. They provide a lot of shade for my squash plants -- too much shade."

It's the winter squash that Oderkirk really hopes to sell each year -- it will be ready in a few more weeks, and when it is, even the cucumbers and tomatoes will be given away, so more people will stop and buy the squash.

And people do stop. Often with cameras in hand.

"I enjoy seeing people like the sunflowers," Oderkirk said. "I had an art student from GCC here 10 days ago taking pictures, and two girls yesterday. I'm happy seeing that."

The sixth and seventh generation of the Oderkirk family now live on the property. Once a dairy farm of 280 acres, it's now the 2.5-acre residence of Mary Thomas, her husband and daughter.

Asked what she thought of so many people driving by and admiring her property, Thomas said, "I’m surprised to hear somebody say that. I guess I didn’t think of the place like that. I see people stop to take pictures of the sunflowers. That’s nice. I get tickled when Dad gives them away for free."

Knowing that daughter Mary enjoys the sunflowers, Dad planted a small variety  -- the plants closer to the road are HUGE -- on the far side of the barn, and if she squints between barn structures, Mary can see from her kitchen window.

Good naturally, she turned to her dad while we were taking and said, "They aggravate you because they’re not produce, but I love them because they add beauty. Everybody likes them, Dad."

Everybody does, even Richard, even if he doesn't always admit it.

More photos after the jump:

 

NY Farm Bureau prez praises Ranzenhofer's vote to defeat farmworker labor bill

By Billie Owens

We received this news release today from Dean Norton, president of the New York Farm Bureau.

Sen. Michael Ranzenhofer last week cast a vote in favor of our local family farmers. He voted to defeat the Omnibus Farmworker Labor bill that threatened to devastate agriculture as we know it here in Upstate New York.

In turn, the bill would have had an equal impact on the overall local economy. It would have dramatically increased our costs and made it impossible for us to keep producing food in this area.

Sen. Ranzenhofer recognized that Albany should be coming up with ways to help agriculture, not hinder it. Like so many times before, Sen. Ranzenhofer cast a vote in favor of our local farmers and the rural economy.

New York Farm Bureau is grateful for the senator's leadership and looks forward to the continued support of our local farmers.

Senator Gillibrand to hold 'listening sessions' statewide to hear from farmers

By Billie Owens

Here's a news release sent today from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.

As Congress begins debate over the next Farm Bill, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced that she will hold listening sessions around the state over the next several months to discuss new efforts to help New York farmers and farming communities.

(Times, dates and places have not yet been announced.)

As the first New Yorker to serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee in nearly 40 years, Gillibrand plans to focus on key areas of the Farm Bill that will have major influence on New York.

These area include access to financing, new market opportunities, assistance for specialty crops, and investments in renewable energy. From dairy farms, black dirt farms, and apple orchards to vineyards, artisanal cheeses, and other specialty crops, New York farmers and communities will have a lot to gain in the next Farm Bill.

“New York is home to the hardest working farm families and the finest locally grown produce in the world, but outdated regulations and a bad economy are hurting our farmers and farming communities across the state,” Senator Gillibrand said.

“We need to make sure the next Farm Bill is a good deal for New York. I plan to take the next several months to listen to farmers and businesses in every corner of the state and discuss my ideas on how to help farmers survive and prosper in the new economy.”

She will begin the listening sessions this month in Western New York, the Finger Lakes region and the Hudson Valley.

More than 35,000 farms stretch across 7.1 million acres statewide -- one-fourth of the state -- generating nearly $4.5 billion for New York’s economy.

Here are some notable statistics:

  • Western New York is home to nearly 6,500 farms stretching across over 1 million acres and generating over $710 million for the economy.
  • The Rochester/Finger Lakes Region is home to more than 6,000 farms stretching across nearly 1.5 million acres and generating over $1 billion for the economy.
  • Central New York is home to more than 6,000 farms stretching across over 1 million acres and generating nearly $736 million for the economy.
  • The Southern Tier is home to more than 5,000 farms stretching across over 1 million acres and generating over $372 million for the economy.
  • The Capital Region is home to nearly 5,000 farms stretching across nearly 850,000 acres and generating over $430 million for the economy.
  • The North Country is home to more than 4,000 farms stretching across over 1 million acres and generating more than $1 million for the economy.
  • The Hudson Valley is home to more than 2,000 farms stretching nearly 135,000 acres and generating over $120 million for the economy.
  • Long Island is home to over 640 farms stretching across over 35,000 acres and generating nearly $260 million for the economy.

Issues to be Addressed in Listening Sessions

Providing Access to Capital

Like all small businesses, family farms are struggling to secure access to the financing they need to grow or, in many cases, survive in this difficult economy. Gillibrand plans to strengthen the Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program to help New York farmers develop value-added products.

She also plans to bolster the Farm Services Agency (FSA) loan program to give farmers the resources they need to purchase land, livestock, equipment, feed, seed and other supplies. The senator recently helped secure an additional $39 million for FSA operating loans to help give New York farms the capital they need.

Additionally, Gillibrand will fight to exempt New York State from the USDA’s 10,000 population criteria – the maximum population to qualify for USDA water and wastewater funding. Many parts of New York would be ineligible for funding under the new USDA guidelines since many New York towns include villages and other municipalities, putting a town’s population over the 10,000 threshold.

Red Hook, Arcardia, Kirkland, Utica, Cortlandville, Herkimer, Waddington, Massena, Alden, Sullivan, Wawarsing, Kingsbury, Plattsburgh, Lansing, Lysander, Fallsburg, Lowville, LeRay and Moreau are already threatened from being denied access to these resources.

Addressing the Dairy Crisis

Due to outdated dairy-pricing regulations, dairy farmers pay more to produce their products than they make from selling them. Senator Gillibrand has introduced legislation that would double the amount of money farmers get from the MILC program, retroactive to the low point of the crisis in March of 2009.

While raising the MILC payment rate to 90 percent will not completely make up the gap between cost of production and market rates, it will certainly help prevent more New York farms from going under.

Senator Gillibrand also introduced legislation to index the MILC rate to inflation. The MILC program payments were originally designed to help dairy farmers in their time of need, but funding levels have remained stagnant.

In the next Farm Bill, Senator Gillibrand intends to work with New York farmers to make these improvements and overhaul the milk-pricing system and secure a fair price for producers.

Additionally, she will work to make the opaque pricing system of the dairy market more transparent. Senator Gillibrand is cosponsoring the Mandatory Price Reporting Act to reauthorize the electronic price reporting of dairy prices -- helping to increase transparency -- and change price reporting from weekly to monthly.

Senator Gillibrand has also introduced legislation to make Cold Storage Inventory Reporting to the National Agriculture Statistics Service mandatory, and give the USDA the authority to audit the survey. Experts agree that reducing the influence of the thinly traded Chicago Mercantile Exchange is the best way to increase market transparency.

Expanding New Markets

Senator Gillibrand intends to expand the Market Access Program (MAP) to enable our farmers to sell more New York products worldwide. The MAP program provides funding for the creation, expansion and maintenance of foreign markets for U.S. agricultural products.

Gillibrand is also planning to introduce an infrastructure provision in the Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program to help farmers reach new markets.

Additionally, she will work to secure more federal funding to promote the USDA’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable program to give New York farms more opportunities to supply schools with fresh, locally grown products.

Targeted Assistance to Specialty Crop Farmers

Specialty crop farmers stand to gain tremendous benefit from the conservation programs in the Farm Bill. Senator Gillibrand intends to bolster: the Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP); the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP); and the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

Gillibrand will also introduce a new program -- called the Conservation on Muck Soils (COMS) -- to provide additional assistance to New York’s specialty crop farmers.

Investing in New Sources of Clean, Renewable, New York Energy

New York’s agriculture industry is rich with opportunity to help lead America to a clean energy economy that can create good-paying jobs and rebuild our economy, strengthen our national security and cut pollution.

Senator Gillibrand plans to work for more investments in the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) that provides loans and grants for farmers and small rural businesses that build renewable energy systems, such as anaerobic digesters.

She also intends to push for greater investments in the Rural Energy Self Sufficiency Initiative, which assists with installation of integrated renewable energy systems in rural communities that make use of wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal and biomass sources.

Additionally, Senator Gillibrand plans to work to secure more investments in the Biomass Research and Development Program and the Biomass Crop Assistant Program to harness more of our state’s potential to convert biomass and agricultural waste into renewable energy.

Photos: Massey-Harris combine comes out of storage

By Howard B. Owens

The Alexander Steam Show will have another classic piece of farm equipment to display this year. The Hegge family, which has farmed on Dodgeson Road since about 1930, is donating a 1950s era combine built by Massey-Harris.

Above, Matt Meyers operates a Massy-Harris tractor owned by his father, Vinnie Meyers, as the combine is turned over for the first time since sometime in the 1970s.

Rob Hegge is making the donation, but his son Lee was on hand Saturday to help the Meyers get the combine out of storage.

I stopped on Dodgeson Road to take a picture of the Hegge barn and the group noticed me out by the road and we talked a bit, so I went over and introduced myself, which is how I came across these two classic, Batavia-built, examples grand old farm equipment.

Lee let me wander around a bit and take a few more pictures.

Photo: Hay rolls on Clinton Street Road, Stafford

By Howard B. Owens

I spotted the possibility of this hay field with its crop cut and rolled a few days ago, but wanted to go out on a clear morning for a picture. I did that this morning. The location is on Clinton Street Road near Griswold.

Genesee Country Farmers' Market Unveils New Cookbook

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Normal 0 Local cooks and “wanna-be Iron Chefs” will be able to test their culinary chops with a new cookbook from the Genesee Country Farmers’ Market. Field Notes: Recipes from the Genesee Country Farmers’ Market contains nearly 200 recipes contributed by market vendors and customers. It is available at the market every Tuesday and Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. through the end of October.

 

Work on this cookbook began last summer when 2010 market manager Patty Hawley pitched the idea of a cookbook that focuses on local ingredients to the farmers and vendors at the market. “Customers are often eager to try new fruits and vegetables but are at a loss as to how to prepare them once they get them home,” Hawley said. “Farmers and vendors are the best source of information for food preparation because they’re so knowledgeable about their produce.”

 

Likewise, many customers would approach Hawley with information on a particular item. “Our customers were anxious to talk about their own personal recipes, some of them handed down through the generations, so the next logical step was to gather all of this information into a usable format,” Hawley added.

 

A call for customer recipes was advertised in various media outlets and vendors provided many of their own recipes as well. After months of collecting submissions the work of compiling them into a printer-friendly format began. “I was still receiving recipes sent in by the community through early May,” said Hawley, even though the deadline was March 1.

 

“We were fortunate to have secured assistance from Upstate Farms and Bison Foods, who underwrote the production costs of our cookbook,” Hawley said. The Daily News also donated the photos that appear throughout the book, taken by Rocco Laurienzo at last summer’s market.

 

Field Notes is a 248-page homage to the “locavore” movement – a growing trend that urges people to eat healthy and keep food dollars in the community by purchasing food locally, fresh, and in season. “Almost all of the recipes include ingredients that are grown here,” according to Sharon Brent from Schwab Farms. “This is a four season cookbook; menus can be planned throughout the year using fresh, local ingredients at their peak.” Most cooks will be able to easily recreate the recipes in Field Notes. “Because they are time-tested by real people and not in a test kitchen, the recipes tend to be quick and easy, even for a novice cook,” Hawley explained.

 

Field Notes: Recipes from the Genesee Country Farmers’ Market is available now. A launch party is planned for Friday, July 30 from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.; free samples will be available and representatives from the Niagara Wine Trail will provide wine pairings for each dish. Cost of the cookbook is $10 and all sales go to the Genesee Country Farmers’ Market Association. 

Photos: Genesee County Fair

By Howard B. Owens

The Genesee County Fair opened Tuesday.

All of the typical county fair goodness is available this year -- carnival rides, food, games, big farm equipment, a chance to get up close to farm animals, livestock competitions, crafts and contests, music, dancing and live entertainment.

There will be a meat auction on Thursday.

The fair runs through Saturday.

More photos after the jump.

 

 

Genesee County Fair is July 20-24

By Billie Owens

Here's a news release from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County about this year's fair and the 4-H Club.

It’s summer. And it’s been awesome! Looking for something to do? Something that will support our community, and our youth, and our roots? Something that will be fun, relaxing, easy to do, and, if you aren’t careful, you might even learn something?

It’s the Genesee County Fair – July 20 through 24. Five bucks per carload to park, and then free admission. Where else are you going to get a deal like this?   

The Genesee County Fair has been in existence for 170 years! That’s 170 years of countless volunteers working to entertain each of us, right here in Genesee County.

These numbers speak to the rich history of our community, its foundation, and the drive of countless residents collaborating to make our community stronger, involving youth in positive activities, and trying to give each of us something positive to experience and remember.

The fair is sponsored by the Genesee County Agriculture Society, a non-profit organization, made up of farmers, businesses, and concerned citizens, dedicated to preserving and promoting agriculture in an effort to enhance the quality of life in our community.

Why is this important? Well, if you like to eat, drive, wear clothes, use blankets, live in any kind of structure, agriculture should be important to you – since everything begins with agriculture.


The fair – it brings up all kinds of memories for each of us. The fair has certainly changed over time, but then, what hasn’t? Regardless of what you might think of the fair, I happen to know that there are many 4-H youths and their families and their leaders and their educators that work all year long for the opportunity to show everyone what they have been learning.

4-H is just one component of the fair. Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County, the home for the 4-H program in our county, is celebrating its 90th Anniversary - 90 years of educating youth in our community.

During the fair, 4-H members have the opportunity to showcase their projects. These hands-on experiences help youth improve skills, learn the importance of following rules carefully, gain confidence in interacting with judges and speaking with confidence about their project, all while handling the excitement and nerves that come from public presentations.

Please show your support for this event. The fair is an important staple in the 4-H program. Projects and animals are judged according to county standards with a select few being awarded the opportunity to be displayed at The New York State Fair in Syracuse.

In case you don’t know about 4-H, it is the world's largest, dynamic, informal educational program for young people and is based on democratic principles. Nearly 7 million youths, ages 5-19, participate in 4-H Youth Development experiences.

For more information, please contact Paul Webster at  HYPERLINK "mailto:pvw7@cornell.edu" pvw7@cornell.edu, or 343-3040, ext. 117.

See you at the fair!

Corn and soybean growers invited to 'knowlege event' sponsored by ag company

By Billie Owens

Area corn and soybean growers will have an opportunity to see and hear about the latest in seed trait and crop protection technologies as they perform in the field at local Answer Plot® Knowledge Events sponsored by CROPLAN GENETICS® seeds and AgriSolutions™ crop protection products.

The next Answer Plot® Knowledge Event will be held on Aug. 20 in Perry. It begins at 9 a.m. and lasts approximately three hours.

The WNY Answer Plot is located at 7543 Route 20A in Perry.

Attendees will be entered into a national contest to win a $5,000 gift card to Cabelas, a speciality outdoor goods retailer. Winners will be drawn at the end of the Sweepstakes term, which goes through Sept. 31.

Answer Plot® Experts in agronomy will be available to meet with attendees to answer questions about the technology on display, as well as to address each grower’s unique field challenges. Upon request, they will also set up on-farm visits to work one-on-one with growers to develop customized crop production programs.

To find out more about this Answer Plot® and other Answer Plot® Knowledge Events in the area, or to arrange to have an Answer Plot® Expert call you, log on to www.AnswerPlot.com, or call 1-888-295-3011.

The website also features agronomic and product information.

Growers can also contact Perry Denton at pwdenton@landolakes.com or
585-259-9170 for more information.

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