agriculture

As I was leaving Le Roy yesterday, I saw this crop-duster flying over a field off Route 5.

Out on Starr Road in Pavilion, on 125 acres of farmland with a view, Randy Starr farms his way.

He's not making a political statement, riding an organic trend -- Starr Farm is not organic -- or trying to reach for some idyllic, romanticized agrarian lifestyle. He just farms according to his own idea of how farming should be.

It's a little bit old school, a little bit high tech, and without the headaches that go with larger operations, but still all the frustrations of a two-person farm using older equipment.

“Once in a while I’ll have somebody say, ‘hey, if I was ever going to be a farmer, I’d be a farmer like you,’' Starr said. "And I think, 'Yeah, but you ain’t doing it, are you?'"

Starr was born to be a farmer. It's all he's even known and what he went to college to study. He's never given a second thought to doing something else.

As the fifth generation to plow and plant the hills along Starr Road, Randy is just pursuing the family tradition.

The farm was started by Noah Starr, Randy's great-great-great grandfather, a Dutch immigrant who bought 270 acres in what's now Pavilion from the Holland Land Office in 1818.

Noah built a log cabin high atop a ridge, married four women during the course of his life (three divorces, one death) and fathered 10 sons.

One of Noah's sons built the first version of the house (about 1890) that Randy and his wife Cindy live in, and it's been added on to and taken away from so many times over the years that now "it's just an old house," according to Randy.

Randy and Cindy both attended Pavilion High School (Cindy was four grades back from Randy) and met when Randy's older brother married Cindy's older sister.

Starr graduated from Alfred College with an agricultural degree in the late 1960s. He said of the couple hundred ag students in his class, only a handful became farmers.

"For some foolish reason I wanted to be a farmer all my life and now here I am. I’m 61 years old. Was that the right move or not? Who knows?"

The Starrs married in the early 1970s and moved into the farmhouse in 1974.

Son Chris, 37, and daughter Sarah, 33, are also farmers. Chris and his wife own a farm on West Middlebury Road, Wyoming County, and Sarah and her husband own a farm off Route 63 in Pavilion. Both Chris and Sarah also work other jobs, and both have children who might some day become farmers.

The Starr Farm sits on rolling hills above Pavilion with a clear view far into Wyoming County. The farm's white house, red barns, glistening silos and well used farm equipment could fit on a picture postcard depicting agricultural life in Upstate New York.

Starr said his son Chris has an even more picturesque farm, but like Chris told him one time, he said, "You can't pay your bills with a view."

No doubt about it, the Starr Farm is a working farm. Cindy helps out as do Chris and Sarah, but Randy does most the work.

On the 125 acres, Randy grows wheat, barley, hay, oats and black beans. They also run about 80 head of cattle -- mostly steers bought as calves from a neighboring dairy, and sold for meat after 18 to 22 months of raising.

Cindy takes care of the hogs, which also go to market.

“Divide that into 125 acres -- we don’t have a lot of anything."

Irrigation is rainwater, so when it was too wet in May, it was hard for Starr to plant, but for the past few weeks, he's been praying for rain.

Life on the Starr Farm certainly has its frustrations.

Just about all of the farm equipment Starr runs is decades old, some of it he bought decades ago (or his dad bought), some of it he finds at auction.

Starr's father, who died 22 years ago, taught him that equipment may become obsolete, but if well maintained, it will run forever.

What Starr needs to buy, he said, he can get at a pretty good price. The equipment he needs is too big for the hobbyist looking to tinker with old farm machinary and too small for the mega-operations.

“It’s an area where you can find things sometimes that nobody else wants. My combine is a good example. It's got a 12-foot grain head and 3-row corn head. It’s a good little combine. I picked it up for $1,400. Sometimes if you’re at the right place at the right time you can get the equipment I need at a reasonable price."

The big operations, of course, are spending $150,000 to $200,000 on a single piece of farm equipment. The plowers and planters are guided by GPS to make perfectly straight rows over dozens of rows.  

Big or small equipment breaks down and it's just a different kind of headache.

"My tractor breaks down and their tractor breaks down, theirs is maybe a $50,000 fix and mine is a piece of baling wire and something I can keep it going with."

Why does he farm the way he does? Can't really say. His operation just kind of evolved that way.

When he was young, he said, it seemed like any time he bought a bigger truck or bigger piece of equipment, something would go wrong.

"I can’t be real specific, but it just seemed liked any time I’d jump ahead, I’d got slammed against a wall. It was like, ‘OK, slow down and do it my way.'"

He also watched some of his fellow farmers try to take on too much and it often didn't work out well for the farmer or their suppliers.

He's never going to get rich farming his way, Starr admits, but he'll also be able to keep farming.

"Nothing ventured nothing gained, perhaps, but that’s the way I’ve always been," Starr said. "I’ve seen people go too big too fast and the people they did business with got hurt financially. They file for bankruptcy and these people who put their trust in these farms, building, equipment, whatever it would be, and they lose it all."

Starr's way isn't a complete rejection of technology. He owns a new hay baler because they're now easier to get supplies and parts for, and he grows, for example, genetically modified corn to help control pests and disease (which keeps the farm from being certified as organic).

The reason Starr doesn't spray his crops with a lot of chemicals, has nothing to do with trying to be organic, he usually doesn't see much of a need.

If there was a need, he says he would spray.

He doesn't spray for weeds in his wheat, for example, because the wheat grows so fast, it smothers out the weeds.

As for insects, he tells a couple of stories about what he's learned about using pesticides.

First, there is the story of the army worm.

"A few years ago the alert went out, look out for army worms, and the guys, they had their sprayers and were just flying, but we didn’t spray," Starr said. "I went out looking to see if I could find army worms. I went through all my fields – I had a grand total of I think 40 acres of wheat that year – and I found one little army worm about a quarter of an inch long. It didn’t do any sort of damage at all. We didn’t need to spray."

The second story goes further back and is about a salesman visiting the Starr Farm.

"I had a guy come in years ago and say, ‘I went through your field’ – and I didn’t even know he’d done that -- and he said, ‘Oh, man, have you got insects. We’ve got to spray.’  

"Now this was years ago," Starr said, "and I said, 'How much will that cost?' and he said, 'How many acres do you have?' I told him. He said that will probably cost you $3,000 to $4,000. I said, 'Oh my gosh, I haven’t got that kind of money.' I said, 'What would happen if I don’t spray?' He said, ‘Oh, by the time the frost comes, it will kill them all and it won’t be a problem.'”

Starr laughs and adds "He almost got me."

Typical of Starr's demeanor, he's quick to add that he's not criticizing the salesman for trying to make a living or the farmers who think spraying for insects is necessary. He just does it his way for his own reasons.

"I always thought the old-timers knew what they were doing. Work hard, keep your nose clean and you’ll be all right. This is just the way we go. It’s the way we do it. I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody else in the world, but it seems to work for us all right.”

Genesee County's farms are facing some of the same difficulties hitting farmers across the nation -- a combination of increased use of E-verify, bureaucratic difficulties with H-2A visas, a dwindling supply of immigrant labor and few U.S. citizens willing to do the work, making it difficult to bring crops in on time.

The confluence of events led to an unusual meeting in Washington, D.C., this past week, organized for Rep. Lois Slaughter (D-Fairport), with participation from Rep. Kathy Hochul and one of Genesee County's farmers, Maureen Torrey.

Torrey, owner of Torrey Farms, said the meeting was the first time high-level representatives of the U.S. Department of Labor, congressional representatives and famers have been able to sit down and discuss immigration issues.

The meeting lasted longer than planned, going two hours.

"Some of the old-timers there were surprised at some of the responses that we got," Torrey said. "We do think maybe there might be some improvement."

Hochul also said the meeting was productive and a unique opportunity to bring together two sides -- the DOL and farmers -- who are historically adversarial. 

"There is so much bureaucratic red tape it that it becomes a challenge for the farmers to get the workers they need," Hochul said. "These are people who are playing by the rules and they deserve all the help they can get from the government."

Torrey said the way the H-2A visa program is handled can really jeopardize the ability of farmers to harvest crops at the right time.

For example, she said, apples need to be picked on just the right day and pickers need to be experienced at recognizing the right color and firmness to pick apples at the right time, as well as be able to handle them properly to avoid damaging the fruit.

U.S. citizens, Torrey said, typically don't want the jobs and they lack the experience and training necessary to do the job properly.

Farmers want to be able bring back the same workers year after year to ensure they have the best labor force.

H-2A visas can be held up for a variety of reasons -- mistakes in the multiple pages of paperwork, a barely missed deadline, or a bureaucrat snafu can delay approval past harvest time.

Torrey said that a farmer might submit a batch of applications, have one disapproved and then face getting the entire batch rejected if she appeals just the one disapproval.

Hochul said the situation is just unacceptable.

"Some of the fields can’t be brought to market in time because they don't have enough popele to harvest the crops," Hochul said.

While the H-2A program requires that farmers first seek qualified labor among U.S. citizens, Torrey said few American ever respond to the required job listings.

In states such as Georgia, Florida and Alabama, where state legislatures have mandated use of a program called E-verify to check the legal status of workers, crops have been left to rot in the fields because there's been no workers available.

Torrey said even the DOL admits there are only about 50,000 qualified legal agricultural workers in the United States, but the annual demand is for 900,000 to one million workers.

Torrey said even Darien Lake Theme Park has trouble filling all of its season worker positions with citizen workers. The park hires about 300 foreign students  on J-1 visas.

"If Darien Lake needs 300 people on J-1 visas, it just shows you there are not enough people to take these jobs," Torrey said. "And that's fun work compared to working in a field."

Until there is a sustainable guest worker program, Torrey said, farmers are going to struggle to fill positions at harvest time.

A guest worker program has been under negotiation for 16 years, Torrey said, and while it wasn't the topic of the meeting organized by Slaughter, Torrey did attend a meeting on the subject while in D.C.

Meanwhile, according to a recent story in  The New York Times, the immigrant labor pool from Mexico is drying up. As economic and educational opportunities improve in Mexico, and the Baby Boom population that fueled the big illegal immigration moves in previous decades is getting older, there are fewer workers willing to take the risk of coming to America for work.

It's all of these forces pushing down the labor pool that made the meetings in Washington so important, Torrey said, and why she's glad they seemed so productive.

"It was really positive," Torrey said. "It is not only going to help Genesee County, but it's going to help farmers all across the country who are having the same issues, so our peers were really happy these meetings took place."

When Deputy John Duyssen isn't on patrol, investigating accidents or otherwise helping to keep fellow Geneseeans safe, he's doing what he loves -- growing things.

And one he hopes sometime soon will become a full-time business.

For the past seven years, along with his wife Jessica, and children Jonah, 14, Colton, 13, and Julian, 9, he runs a fruit farm on Bater Road in Le Roy.

The Duyssen's specialize in strawberries, but have added blackberries and raspberries in recent years.

The farm also now includes 22 beehives and John said the plan is to start selling honey.

Strawberry season is just about over -- if you want to pick your own, there's only a day or two left and what's left is best suited for preserves -- but John, Jessica and the boys have plenty to keep them busy.

The growing life for a strawberry plant is three years. The plants that are two years old this season will get mowed to the ground so they can regenerate, the three-year-old plants will get plowed under and something else will be planted in their place for crop-rotation purposes, and there is the blackberry and raspberry plants and bees to take care of.

The family is also adding hoop houses to protect young strawberry and other fruit plants from the elements.

"It's a growing business," said John, with no sense of "pun intended."  

He said two or three weeks ago during the height of the strawberry season, people were flocking to the farm to pick their own strawberries. John took four weeks off from the Sheriff's Office to help with the chores and the customers.

This year, Jonah said the person from the furthest away he met was Florida, but the all-time record was set last year, he said, when a group of nuns from Africa stopped by the farm.

Their first question, "Where are the strawberry trees?"

Jonah had to politely point them to the small green plants close to the ground.

Typically, John, said, he grows three to four thousand strawberries, and could grow more if he had the time.

"I can't grow fruit full time and be a full-time deputy," he said.

He's eligible for retirement in a year in a half, but he isn't sure the farm will generate enough revenue to provide both family income and family health insurance.

But if you see John out on patrol some evening and ask him about strawberries or bees, it's clear, this is what he loves to do.

Farming is in his blood.

His father and brother own a farm just down the road where they grow dry beans, corn, soybeans, hay, wheat and oats. The current Duyssen fruit farm was owned by John's grandparents.

"We have pictures of what the old farm looked like and it's fun to think we're doing what they used to do," John said.

Pictured in the top photo are Chris DeFelice, 16, who has been helping the Duyssens for seven years, Jonah, Colton, Julian, John and Jessica.

Here's a press release from Assemblyman Steve Hawley.

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,I,C – Batavia) recently sponsored a bill, that has passed the Assembly, which will allow New York’s world-class wineries to become more competitive, both within the state and abroad.

Assembly bill 7828-A repeals a number of onerous mandates on winery owners and grape growers that will streamline the licensing process and encourage the growth of this booming industry.

“Wineries and grape-growing farms are cornerstones of New York’s agricultural industry,” Hawley said. “By reducing the red tape that owners of these businesses must sift through in order to become properly licensed, these establishments will save time, money and resources that will encourage existing operations to expand and new businesses to open.

"As a sponsor of this legislation and a member of the Committee on Agriculture, I commend my colleagues for helping me achieve these sorely needed, procedural reforms for our wine industry.”

The provisions of A.7828-A will:

• Allow the owner of a winery license to sell wine in bulk to wholesalers, retailers and other major distributors;
• Authorize a winery to manufacture, bottle and sell various fruit products on-premises;
• Allow wineries and farm wineries to charge event operators for the use of their premises; and
• Reduce the number of specialized licenses for wineries and farm wineries, providing a more efficient registration process.

“With places like Leonard Oakes Estate Winery and Schwenk Wine Cellars located right here in Western New York, it is imperative that we encourage our agricultural job creators to set up shop in our communities,” Hawley said. “I am confident that this legislation will not only benefit our current grape growers and winery operators, but will draw even more business owners to our fertile soil and spacious landscapes in the future.”

This is a news release from Genesee Community College.

Genesee Community College is offering a new agriculture class this fall. The new Western New York Agriculture (AGR190) course is the first of its kind at the college.

It will involve a vibrant blend of classroom lectures and labs along with multiple field trips to local farms and agriculture-based businesses to provide extensive hands-on experience and onsite information gathering.

Among the topics for new AGR 190 course will be agronomy, animal care, integrated pest management, dairy, fruit, vegetable and organic food production, high-tech farming equipment, labor issues and conservation planning to name a few.

Overall, the new class focuses on the challenge of feeding an ever-growing world population and the changes needed to increase food productivity through better crops and farming efficiencies. According to the AGR course coordinators and instructors: "If you eat, this course is for you."

The Western New York Agriculture course has been developed in a collaborative effort by GCC and Cornell Cooperative Extension -- Dairy, Livestock and Field Crops Team. Together, these educators are at the forefront of knowledge and new developments of what farmers in our area face each season, according to James Kingston, a specialist on the team.

The course will not only explain critical aspects of today's agriculture, but also take students right to the farms and many regional businesses that serve and depend on agriculture. Students will have the opportunity to observe all levels of employment and investigate agricultural career paths as they progress through the Western New York Agriculture course.

Students will also use today's computer technology for a portion of the course. Online discussions, readings, assignments and assessments will be conducted through Genesee's Blackboard computer system.

"We're so excited to be able to offer a course of this relevance," Kingston said. "Our area has diverse agricultural needs that will face many challenges as production must continue to grow in the future in response to population growth."

The course will delve into agriculture's economic impact in our region and touch on bioengineering, environmental issues, harvesting, storage and distribution, the biology of livestock, grazing, farm economies, and agricultural careers. Half of the classes will be farm field trip exercises to develop a comprehensive understanding of the importance and scope of the agriculture industry.

Serving the four county GLOW region, which includes Genesee, Livingston, Orleans, and Wyoming counties, GCC's seven campus locations are in the heartland of New York's most fertile and abundant agricultural area.

From this strong farming base, GCC students will have a chance to embrace their farming community and truly understand how "AG business" is not only the backbone of the local economy but that these fertile valleys are intricately linked to a prosperous future.

"This course represents significant new opportunity for the both the college community and the agricultural community to fully engage one another in the teaching–learning process," said Maureen Leupold, instructor of Biology and Environment Science.

"The diversity of agriculture in Western New York and its economic impact in the region is a topic of great concern and importance to all of us, and I am delighted that GCC students will soon be on the front lines of exploring this critical frontier."  

The AGR190 class will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. on Mondays in room C303. For further information on the AGR190 course, go to:  http://www.genesee.edu/academics/catalog/AGR/190/201109/

To register for the class online go to: http://www.genesee.edu/depts/admissions/apply/

Leupold can be reached via email at MALeupold@genesee.edu  <http://MALeupold@genesee.edu> or by calling 585-343-0055, ext. 6394.

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

Lawmakers have restored funding for agricultural programs in the state budget, and Dean Norton, president of the NY Farm Bureau, had this to say about the overall budget agreement.

"Just as we're about to roll our tractors into the fields for a new growing season, our allies in the senate and assembly have come through with a budget that will help ensure a brighter future for our farm families.

"Farmers are full of gratitude this morning for Governor Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Skelos, Senate Ag Chair Patty Ritchie and Assembly Ag Chair Bill Magee. Our leaders in Albany have made an investment in rural New York by restoring funding to dozens of vital agricultural programs that will help grow our industry and create jobs.

"Not only were agricultural programs restored, but the overall budget did make a significant start at tackling our state’s larger fiscal problems, caused mainly by mandatory, nondiscretionary spending levels for labor, education and health care.

“I would particularly like to commend our Senate and Assembly Agriculture Committee chairs -- Senator Ritchie and Assemblyman Magee. Both the Senate and Assembly Majority budget proposals contained substantial investments in agriculture infrastructure programs, and Senator Ritchie and Assemblyman Magee worked very hard with members of their respective conferences to make sure that the budget was a fair one for the farm community.

"Programs such as the Integrated Pest Management, Pro-Dairy, New York FarmNet, and the New York Farm Viability Institute, as well as several promotion and agricultural education programs and others are crucial to the future success of our farm families throughout Upstate New York and the farm towns of Long Island.

"Other programs like Re-Charge NY will expand low-cost power to businesses, including farms. Re-Charge NY was one of New York Farm Bureau members' priority issues this year and we are very pleased with its accomplishment for our farmers and the food processing industry.

"We are equally excited about regional economic development councils that we expect to include stakeholders in agriculture and food processing.

Farm Bureau members lobbied hard for restoration of our agricultural programs with a message to the governor and legislature that if you want to revive the state economy, a great place to start is with agriculture. Our leaders listened.

"We have nearly 36,000 farms in New York, which means there are 36,000 small businesses employing New Yorkers, stimulating the economy and most importantly, producing food, fuel and fiber for our neighbors."

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.

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.

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.