agriculture

From left, Dale Stein, Sen. Mike Ranzenhofer and Dean Norton.

Following the defeat of a farm labor bill in the Senate Agriculture Committee this week, New York Farm Bureau President Dean Norton said agriculture leaders are more than willing to sit down with farm labor advocates and discuss compromise legislation.

He said while proponents of the recently defeated bill said they agreed to compromise on changes, that isn't really how it worked.

"There was no compromise," Norton said. "They came in and said, ‘OK, we tweaked it a little bit. Take it or leave it.’ In my world, that’s not a compromise."

Now that the bill is dead, Norton said maybe the farm-labor advocates will realize they tried to take too big a bite out of the apple, and will be willing to sit down and really talk.

"I think with 2247B being defeated, perhaps we have the opportunity to go back and have that open dialogue," Norton said. "I hope the other side really takes the opportunity to do that."

Norton's remarks came at the end of a press conference with Sen. Mike Ranzenhofer to discuss the bill's defeat.

Ranzenhofer thanked Norton and Genesee County farmers, with dairyman Dale Stein at his side, for their efforts to help defeat the bill, which he said would have killed agriculture in New York.

Getting the bill out of the labor committee -- where he said it was just rubber-stamped -- and into the agriculture committee was key to giving the bill a fair hearing and have it publicly weighed on its merits.

The hearings, he said, brought in both opponents and proponents of the bill.

Ranzenhofer once again praised the work of Daily News staff writer Tom Rivers for his series on farm labor, which he said opened eyes in Albany to what farm labor is really like, and made it harder for bill supporters to spread misinformation about farm-labor practices.

Stein said the misinformation spread by bill supporters really made him unhappy.

"Where can you make $34,000 or $35,000 a year in Genesee County without a high school diploma, without a driver's license?" Stein asked rhetorically. "On a farm. You can’t do it anywhere else. They’re not telling the truth about what the farm workers are making. And that’s my real disagreement with them."

A key factor in getting the bill defeated, Ranzenhofer acknowledged, was the willingness of  Sen. Darrel Aubertine, a Democrat from the Watertown area, to buck his party and get the bill moved into the ag committee, which he chairs.

Aubertine is the first Democrat in 100 years to represent that area of New York in the Senate. His district still leans Republican, but based on comments from Ranzenhofer today (in response to a reporter's question), it doesn't sound like the GOP will cut Aubertine any slack in November's election.

Asked if Ranzenhofer would endorse Aubertine, Ranzenhofer said flatly, "No."

"At the end of the day," Ranzenhofer said, "when you vote for a budget, like he did last year, that increases taxes $8.5 billion, increases spending over $12 billion, I mean that to me is a non-starter. When you take a position like that, which continues to kill the whole economy in the State of New York, I mean, I didn’t vote that way. I don’t support that point of view and I can’t support senators who advocate for increasing taxes and increasing spending."

A bill that would have instituted new overtime rules, unemployment benefits and allowed farm workers to organize into collective-bargaining units died in the New York Senate's Agriculture Committee today.

On a 6-3 vote, the committee voted down the measure, known by opponents as the "Farm Death Bill."

Opponents said the bill would have increased costs for New York's farmers by $200 million per year.

"It would have killed agriculture in New York State, and that's the state's number one industry," said Sen. Mike Ranzenhofer, who sits on the committee and voted against the bill.

After passage in the Assembly last year, the bill was looking like it would make it to a floor vote in the Senate when Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine, a Democrat who chairs the agriculture committee, lobbied to have the bill reviewed by his committee before letting the full Senate vote on it.

In a statement today, Aubertine said:

"The committee came to its conclusion following a lengthy, open process which included participation from all sides of the issue. The committee worked diligently to cut through the rhetoric, and aggressively pursued the facts of this matter. Toward that end, the committee voted based on the merits of this bill and its impact on farm workers, farmers and consumers; not partisan attacks, half-truths, rhetoric or political polling."

Ranzenhofer said that articles by Batavia Daily News staff writer Tom Rivers, which he collected in a book, helped educate legislative leaders about farm labor and dispel a lot of misinformation being spread by supporters of the bill.

"Tom was  able to bring reality check to what some of the more sensational special interest people were saying," Ranzenhofer said.

Amish construction workers have been on the Cleveland family farm for the past two days re-roofing an old barn. The farm, off Cleveland Road in Pembroke, is now owned by John Cleveland and his wife, Melissa. The farm has been in the family since the 1830s, according to Mike Cleveland, assessor for the Town of Batavia. John and Melissa's daughter, who is 3, is the eigtht consecutive generation of Clevelands to live on the farm.

NOTE: This is an updated version of the story that corrects the implication from the Albany Times-Union story that the Batavia Kmart was involved, and the error in the TU story that warning letters were sent to the stores.

-----

Six grocery stores in New York -- including one in Batavia -- were notified by the state that some fish products the were selling were apparently overpriced.

The allegation is that the stores were selling seafood packed in ice, and the ice was being weighed so that consumers were paying not just for filets and shrimp, but ice as well.

The Batavia Tops was one of the six stores asked to remove products from its selves and either re-label the packaging or return it to the distributor, a company out of New Jersey, according to Jessica Ziehm, spokeswoman for the state Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Tops reportedly sold fish fillets packed in ice that was counted as part of the weight.

Press release available here.

Bigness is killing New York dairy farmers.

Big and ever-growing milk processors and retail chains are controlling the market and driving down the prices paid to farmers, but not passing on the cost savings to consumers.

That was the message of a meeting yesterday at GCC of dairy farmers and the Assistant U.S. Attorney General Christine A. Varney, who is in charge of the Antitrust Division.

From the Buffalo News:

"Our farmers are getting paid less and consumers are paying more," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer, who invited Varney to the meeting. "Someone's walking away with all the money."

Schumer said processors are making record profits at a time when farmers are on the brink of losing their family businesses. He wants the Justice Department to investigate anti-competitive practices in the dairy industry.

Consolidation among milk processors is one of the chief reasons prices paid to farmers has gone down, Varney was told. There are simply fewer outlets for farmers to sell their product to, meaning less competition, and without the competition it's easier for the buyer to set ever lower prices.

In some states, Dean Foods controls as much as 90 percent of the market, and about 70 percent in New York.

From the D&C: 

Bill Cook, who milks 1,800 cows near Aurora, Cayuga County, said he used to deal with five different milk buyers who were willing to pay a premium for the high-quality milk his cows produced. Premiums can mean the difference between just paying the bills and actually making a profit.

Meanwhile, Cook said none of those buyers is still operating because they went out of business or were consolidated into larger operations, such as Dean Foods, a giant among dairy processors. Cook had to borrow $500,000 to cover his losses last year.

The Buffalo News quoted a sixth-generation Wyoming County Farmer who used USDA figures to point out that the dairy farm share of retail dollars have dropped from 37 percent to 25 percent in the past three years.

Bigger and bigger retail chains were also blamed for downward prices on milk products.  Walmart's outsized pressure for lower and lower prices isn't helping farmers.

"Walmart's 'everyday low prices' applies constant downward pressure on all commodities, squeezing the supply chain while demanding more," said Ed Schoen of Shoe-Acres farm in Phelps, Ontario County. Pricing at Wegmans, on the other hand, is sensitive to the prices farmers are getting, he said.

Barbara Brown, a county legislator in Oswego County, said her district once had 26 dairy farms. Now it has three. She recently sold off her cows and closed her farm.

Varney offered the farmers hope.

"We will not let you down," she said, according to the Buffalo News. "We know the problem you're facing."

Sen. Schumer has called on the federal government to take several steps to help dairy farmers:

• Deal with the consolidation of milk processors and the lack of competition.
• A program called MILC provides aid to farmers when milk prices fall to a certain level. That target price needs to be raised.
• Raise MILC reimbursement from 45 percent of the price difference.
• Reform the milk marketing order system, which helps set commodity prices, used by the USDA. The current system doesn't adequately measure the cost of milk production in the Northeast.
• Return to a dairy compact system that helps New York farmers set prices.
• Pass a Milk Import Tariff act to ensure that milk producers and processors in other countries are playing by the same rules as the United States.

Are New York's dairy farmers being harmed by possible monopolies in the milk-processing industry?

That's one of the questions the nation's top anti-trust cop will try to answer when she meets with a group of dairy owners at Genesee Community College at 11 a.m., March 27.

The meeting isn't a hearing, but Assistant Attorney General Christine Varney will be on hand to hear directly from farmers what complaints they might have regarding alleged price fixing.

New York Farm Bureau President Dean Norton said the farm bureau has been working on getting farmers to the meeting, but he doesn't have a position on whether there are monopoly practices in the industry.

"I can't say yes or no to that question," Norton said. "There are some people who believe there are monopolies in the industry, but I don't know if there is any hard evidence to prove it. That's one thing I guess Varney wants to find out."

Sen. Charles Schumer helped arrange the meeting after learning that Varney has been working on anti-trust issues in other parts of the agriculture industry.

(via Watershed Post)

Tom Rivers is a reporter of boundless energy. He's run in marathons and worked day-long shifts in local farm fields.

Now he's published a book.

The Batavia Daily News staff writer wrote an award-winning series 2008 about his laborious research into just want it takes to work at local farms in Western New York. Those articles are the basis of Farm Hands: Hard work and hard lessons from Western New York fields.

"Books have a little more permanence," Rivers said. "You can read about the titans of industry, such as Dean Richmond, in books, but there aren't a lot of books about the people doing the work. I just think the farmworkers make a great contribution to our community. They deserve the recognition (of being in a book)."

The stories of Tom's days and nights in the fields of Genesee, Wyoming and Orleans counties picking apples and chopping and throwing cabbage give the reader a great sense of just how hard farm work is.

Although he knew it would be challenging, Rivers said he was surprised by how taxing it really is. And it takes training, experience and dedication to ensure that the produce isn't damaged before it's delivered to market.

"There's this feeling that we can just throw anybody into farm work, but not just anybody can do this," Rivers said. "Buyers could reject 40 tons of cabbage if it's not just perfect, if the heads are bruised. There's more pressure on the workers than there is in my job or in most people's jobs. They have to aim for perfection."

The book contains additional material not included in the original newspaper series, Rivers said.

Rivers self-published the book and had it printed at Hodgkins Printing in the Harvester Center.

The full-color book came out looking great, Rivers said. Daily News Publisher Tom Turnbull didn't hesitate to give Rivers permission, without fee, to reprint his own articles as well as the color photos that ran with the series.

"I like that it says, 'Printed in Batavia,' but I don't feel like I was working with a second-rate company," Rivers said. "They were great over there."

The book is for sale locally at the Holland Land Office Museum and Present Tense Books on Washington Avenue.

That big blue and white object in the background isn't some jet engine I PhotoShoped into a farm picture -- it's a wind turbine, called the WindTamer.

Owner Garry Wilson said the turbine will be fully operational this week and will provide more power than he needs for his farm.

Wilson's farm is on Route 19 in Le Roy, right next door to the suspected meth lab police found this morning.

While Wilson said he's never heard a blade-type wind turbine, this one doesn't make much noise at all.

"We had quite a bit of wind a few nights back and it was no louder than a truck idling," Wilson said.

The turbines are advertised as more efficient, producing more power, than conventional turbines.

Wilson said he believes he has the first WindTamer in Genesee County, and the first turbine of any kind in Le Roy.

I got a chance to talk with Garry because while I was waiting for something interesting to happen at the suspected meth lab house (more on that later), I stood along the edge of the road and started trying to take some pictures of his horses, which is when I spotted one laying on the ground with its hoof apparently caught on a fence railing.

I spotted Garry's number and gave him a call. He came out immediately to help the horse get uncaught and get back up. He said it happens once in a while when the horse lays down too close to the fence and then rolls over, getting its hoof caught.

Pictures below of the horse rescue as well as one of Garry throwing some hay to his horses and of his cattle.

The horse seemed perfectly fine after it got up, even coming over to the railing where I was hoping I might be a person with a treat. Sorry, horse, no treats.

A welcome sight on a long stretch of Route 5, at 857 Main Road in Corfu, is Kutter's Cheese Factory Store. Epicures, bus loads of tourists, wine lovers, cheese tasters and other customers make regular stops at the retail shop because they like what it offers.

The variety is impressive. Blocks of Swiss cheese, wheels of jack cheese, spreads, curds, cheesecakes, specialty cheeses like Stilton with lemon or double-cream Spanish cheddar, crackers, cranberry horseradish sauce, New York maple syrup, eggs, fresh local apples, hot mustard, bologna and more.

The success of Kutter's Cheese Factory Store and its positive impact on local agriculture are why it is being honored Saturday by the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce as Agricultural Business of the Year for 2009.

It is also a "satellite winery" of Hunt Country Wines and carries its New York wines exclusively. Wine sales at stores offering local farm and dairy products are allowed under New York Department of Agriculture and Markets law. In fact, at one time, dairymen grew grapes for vintners to augment their income.

Even so, the retail pairing isn't commonplace, according to 77-year-old Tony Kutter, son of the late founder, Leo.

"I've always been adament about promoting wine and cheese," Kutter said. "We also supply a lot of wineries with cheese for wine tasting."

In fact, the business ships worldwide, from California to Taiwan.

The small Corfu store property is leased from the adjacent Yancey's Fancy cheese producers as well as the equipment to make its own cheese. Kutter's produces fine cheddars and other cheese varieties, plus it sells products made by others, including some imports, like Port Salut from France.

Kutter lives just two houses away from the store, but is retired from the business. So is his 80-year-old brother, Richard, who lives in the area but spends winters in Florida.

Yet Tony remains active in the industry. He's on the board of directors of the New York State Cheesemaker Association and usually attends the Cheesemakers Convention. He's proud to note that the association pays half the salary of a professor at Cornell University to fund ag research.

Kutter says he's happy to work with the chamber of commerce to promote agritourism and he's honored to receive the chamber award. It recognizes a business that is now 63 years old.

In a way, it started in Bavaria, before the Great War. Leo (1893-1962) was born there and as a young man, his chosen vocation was cheese making. He was especially good at crafting the pungent Limburger variety.

Then World War I came and he served Germany. Two days prior to his being discharged, he was captured by the French and became a prisoner of war. But once the "War to End All Wars" was over, he returned to his roots. As the German economy faltered, inflation ran amouk and panic began setting in. He left for Buffalo, USA, thanks to the sponsorship of his sister. That was 1923-24.

Buffalo before the Great Depression was a boomtown, boasting large steel plants, flour mills and plenty of railroads lines to further commerce. He went to Wyoming County to find work in the dairy industry. Although the Great Depression created a shortage of milk, according to Tony, WWII created a shortage of sons to milk the cows.

Some historians claim there were more than 20 cheese factories in Western New York at the time. Leo told dairymen to bring him their milk, or let him milk their cows and otherwise make himself useful. What he really wanted, was to start his own cheese-making business.

He did so in Cowlesville in 1947, purposely on a main route with great access and visability. Tony and Richard learned young how to scrub vats and clean up equipment and the grounds after school.

After Leo's death, then-29-year-old Tony, a Korean War veteran, and his brother took over the business. It was hard, familiar work.

Early last year, they approached Brian Bailey and his wife, Heather, about buying the retail store. Brian had been a business partner of the Kutter brothers since 1995.

In November, they sealed the deal and along with Christine Adamczak, formed BHC Cheese, Inc. The trio constitutes the board of directors, with Heather as president, Brian as vice president of operations, and Adamczak as vice president of sales and marketing.

"It's an honor to be recognized, to be part of a business that is being carried on successfully after 63 years," Heather Bailey said.

Tony Kutter takes pride in creating a mighty "stinky" Limburger, the first cheese he learned to make, and claims more and more people are rediscovering it. Now with Kutter's Cheese Factory Store in award-winning hands, he's probably planning his 32nd trip to Russia.

There's a strong possiblity he'll be tempted to promote Limburger and vodka. The bold pairing does seems fitting. "Na zda-ro-vye!"

The following article was submitted by Beverly Mancuso, executive director, Cornell Cooperative Extension Genesee County, and Brad Rogers, chairman, Genesee County Soil and Water.

This is Food Check Out Week, a nationwide effort begun by Farm Bureau to raise awareness that we have a safe and affordable food supply readily available in the United States. Thank you to our farmers!

The focus is “Stretching Your Food Dollar with Healthy, Nutritious Food." Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County can work with everyone to help achieve this goal. Just give us a call at 343-3040.

Feb. 21-27 is the week when the average American earns enough disposable income to pay for his or her family’s food supply for an entire year. Thanks to the hard work of farmers, U.S. consumers spend just under 10 percent of their disposable annual income on food. Compare this to the fact that most Americans work into April to pay their taxes.

More and more people are realizing how important food is to our quality of life, in fact, to our daily survival. This is great news!  Several local people were recently recognized for their efforts in this arena by the New York State Ag Society at its 178th Annual Meeting & Agricultural Forum held in Syracuse Jan. 7.

Batavia Daily News journalists Tom Rivers and Sharon Larsen were awarded the “Cap” Creal Journalism Award for telling the story of New York Agriculture. Tom also won last year with his farm labor story. This year, he won for the story “Raising Pigs.” Sharon Larsen was recognized for her editorial "Farm ‘omnibust’ bill."

CY Farms, Batavia Turf, CY Heifer Farms received the Business of the Year Award, an award developed to promote the state’s food system and recognize the quality, leadership and innovation demonstrated by New York agribusinesses. Carl and Craig Yunker were present to receive this award.

Many organizations in Genesee County support and promote agriculture in our area. This is important to each of us because we all depend on agriculture for food, fuel, clothing and shelter. Agriculture is the number one economic driver in our community. Genesee County Farm Bureau, the Ag Committee of the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce, Genesee County Ag Farmland Protection, Genesee County Soil and Water and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County are just some of the many groups that continually reach out to our Community. The Genesee County Legislature is also very supportive of agriculture, and for that, we are all very appreciative.

Frankly, it’s easy to take agriculture for granted. Our food is readily accessible and safe. For this, we’re unbelievably fortunate. Before you know it, Farmer’s Market will be operating, and this represents just one opportunity to buy local. Visit this website for more information:
http://geneseebuylocal.shutterfly.com/agritourism

The Farmworker Fair Labor Practices Act, also known in these parts as the "farm death bill," will be the subject of a public hearing March 1 by the State Senate Agriculture Committee.

Sen. Darrel Aubertine (D-48) chairs the ag committee and requested the hearing after the bill, S-2247-B, passed the Senate's labor committee.

Aubertine told the Syracuse Post-Standard:

“This hearing will enable us for the first time as a committee to listen to the concerns of both the advocates for this bill and the farmers who will bear the responsibility of adhering to its new regulations,” said committee Chair Sen. Darrel Aubertine.

“We need to better assess the impact of this bill and be sure that we have the facts regarding how this bill will affect our economy, our farm workers and our family farms. We’ve lost more than a farm a day in New York State over the past 30 years and there’s no question that we cannot afford to lose another industry, especially agriculture, which is a cornerstone of our economy,” he said.

Opponents of the bill say it will devastate New York's 35,000 family farms, driving up costs and causing many farm workers to earn less.

The bill could also increase the costs of farm goods for consumers.

In an e-mail, Aubertine invited interested parties to submit testimony on the bill, which he said subjects farmers to new, complex mandates presenting a yet-undetermined impact on New York's food supply.

About the hearing, Aubertine wrote:

The Agriculture Committee will be hearing testimony on the proposed Farmworker Fair Labor Practices Act on March 1st in Hearing Room A of the Legislative Office Building. While there is limited availability to provide oral testimony, I encourage you to share written testimony with the committee. If you would like to provide testimony on this topic, please contact Sarah Blood, Senate Agriculture Committee Director, at 518-455-2761 or blood@senate.ny.us by February 26. Please also provide a copy of your testimony to the committee no later than February 26. The Hearing will be streamed live via the the Senate Website starting at 9:00 AM.   

According to Wikipedia, Aubertine is a dairy farmer. He represents a primarily Republican, agriculture district. He is the only working farmer currently in the Senate.

No one spoke in favor of proposed zoning changes, intended to protect agricultural land, at tonight's public hearing in the Batavia Town Hall. Not the county, nor farmers, nor just plain property owners.

The draft Agricultural and Farmland Protection Plan aims to preserve tracts of land big enough to farm by limiting the creation of non-farm lots as well as the subdivision of farm parcels. It's a long-term strategy to deal with growth and yet maintain a highly important resource -- local agriculture.

Two more public hearings will be held before it's considered. Nothing is settled, everything is negotiable.

About a dozen people were at the Town Board meeting and they got an overview of the plan before getting a chance to speak.

First to the podium was Penfield resident Jeffrey Peters who owns property in the town as does his sister.

Among Peters' complaints was the possible rezoning of 120 acres he owns, which could be changed from residential to agricultural. What he could build 100 houses on now would be rezoned to allow only about 5.

"This impedes our ability to market properties," Peters said, adding that the economic loss would be tremendous.

He figures at least 180 current landowners will be affected by the proposals.

"I'll guarantee they won't like the numbers," Peters said.

Furthermore, there is no compelling reason to make the changes, Peters went on, because residential encroachment on ag land here amounts to less than 1 percent, hardly justification for taking away his property rights under the Constitution.

His attorney, Edward Pucino, echoed his client's concerns.

The draft plan places severe limitations on the exercise of property rights. It's too restrictive, Pucino said. He recommended the town negotiate conservation easements and other incentives with property owners to preserve land.

Putting highly restrictive zoning in place would result in multiple variance requests and, possibly, lawsuits.

"Twenty-five acres per residential lot constitutes a 'taking' of property -- that's unconstitutional," Pucino said.

Joe Jaszko questioned the whole enterprise. He said nothing needed to be changed and that it all just amounts to more government in people's lives, and for no good reason.

Town Supervisor Greg Post said he understood Jaszko's concerns about more government and agreed with him. But Post said the town has a responsibility to be good stewards of the land for future generations, and it's better to work out the plan at the most local level than have some other government entity do so.

"There may be a debate about how it's being done, but I'm glad it's being done and you're not ignoring it," said Jim Duval, planning director for Genesee County.

Duval asked that the draft be revised to reflect that the area north of town, some 1,500 acres, be declared the wet and unproductive land that it is, rather than designating it as protected agriculture property.

Gary Diegelman, in a similar vein, suggested that land that has not been tilled, say, within the last 10 years, not fall under ag protection.

"If wetlands and woodlands and all were lumped in that protected designation, it would be a burden to the property owner and they would need to seek variances to make changes," Diegelman said.

After the hour-long hearing, Roger Saile walked into the hallway and just shook his head. He was not pleased with the draft plan in the least.

"We've been here 100 years and we've protected our land just fine," Saile said. "And now someone from out of town comes here and tells us how to protect it.

"It's too much government. I need protection -- from them!" Saile said, pointing toward the well-intended people in the other room.

Stuart Brown Associates in Fairport prepared the bulk of the plan in conjunction with a 10-person steering committee from the town. The work was funded with a $25,000 state grant. Copies are available from the town clerk's office.

The distinction of Conservation Farm of the Year 2009 has been awarded to John and Shelley Reynolds of Reyncrest Farms.

The Genesee County Soil and Water Conservation District Board of Directors made the selection and will present the award at the "Celebrate Agriculture" dinner on March 13 at the Alexander Fire Hall.

Reyncrest Farms is located on 9666 Alleghany Road in Corfu. It grows feed crops on 1,500 acres and has more than 600 dairy cows.

The longtime family business was chosen because of its environmentally friendly ways, including crop rotation, growing grass buffers along streams and ditches and installing an extensive and sophisticated drainage system.

The Reynolds family also tries to be a good neighbor when it comes to spreading manure -- they limit it to dry days and will postpone the chore if a neighbor has a party.

It's not the first time Reyncrest has received the Conservation Farm of the Year award. It also won it in 1982 when the farm was operated by John's father, the late Ed Reynolds.

Reyncrest Farms built a new barn in 2008 and a new milking structure in 1997. The big, old red barn -- plainly visible on Alleghany Road -- was spruced up last year thanks to about $5,000 from the Campbell's Soup Co. The barn was one of only five chosen nationwide for refurbishment as part of Campbell's "Help Grow Your Soup" campaign.

A so-called compromise bill on changes to farm labor laws would cost New York farmers more than $200 million in added expense, according to New York Farm Bureau President Dean Norton.

In a press release from the bureau, Norton says the proposed changes to labor laws are more onerous than any other state, except California, which has an agriculture industry three times larger than New York's.

Ironically, Norton noted, that primary backers of the bill -- legislative staff and nonprofits -- are exempt from the same kind of labor laws they now advocate for family farms.

"Food is a basic human need, and this legislation seeks to ensure that local farms won't be around to produce local food for local people. This bill would force us to turn our farms into factories, to meet these onerous labor mandates that virtually no other state in the union has. It's yet another example of Albany seeking to drive businesses -- and farmers -- out of New York," Norton said. 

The bill, S.2247b, was introduced by Sen. Pedro Espada Thursday night and it opens the door to collective bargaining on family farms and forces small, seasonal operations to pay unemployment benefits for temporary workers.

"This proposal forces mandates on our family farms that will put New York at an extreme competitive disadvantage," Norton said. "Sen. Espada and the legislature need to consider the long-term viability of the Upstate and Long Island economy before passing legislation that wrecks it."

The American Farm Bureau is putting PETA and other animal rights groups on notice -- they're not going to let these groups define their industry and spread misinformation about their farms any longer.

That was the message from Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman at the group's annual convention last week.

Batavian Dean Norton, president of the New York Farm Bureau, was there and he said he agrees with Stallman's message.

At a time when New York farmers are facing dire economic consequences from lower commodity prices, high production costs, climate change legislation and proposed migrant worker reforms, the animal rights activists and others who would spread misinformation about farmers are going to face a more energized opposition, Norton said.

"In the current political environment, rallies and campaigns get more attention than just sitting down in a room and discussing issues," Norton said. "That's why we're going to get out and rally and campaign, so we can get our message out."

About 99 percent of America's farms are family owned, Norton said, so the idea that there are these large corporate farms engaged in factory farm is really a myth.

"Sure there are bad apples," Norton said. "There are bad apples in every bunch, but people never look at the good stuff. They only look at the bad stuff. Only the bad stuff makes the news."

Norton said he is particularly concerned about climate change treaties known as "cap and trade."

Cap and trade, Norton said, will drive up costs for American farmers by $5 billion, cost to consumers by $7 billion and reduce agriculture profits by $2 billion, based on a study commissioned by the American Farm Bureau.

"American farmers have fed and clothed American families for more than 200 years and we're the leaders in the world in providing food and fiber," Norton said. "We're not going to let people not part of our industry tell us how to raise our animals healthy. We're already doing that."

Photo: File photo of Dean Norton

New York's struggling dairy farmers are going to receive a good chunk of federal aid, the D&C reports this morning.

The USDA announced a nationwide distribution plan that favors smaller dairy farmers for a $290-million aid package. Some $40 million of the funds are slated for New York's farmers.

Checks will be mailed this week and there is no application process.

“Dairy farmers are the backbone of New York’s agricultural economy, and they are in the middle of the worst crisis in recent memory,” Sen. Charles Schumer said. “This congressional aid could not come a moment too soon.”

The average dairy farmer, with 116 cows, according to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's office will receive about $7,400.

Read More.

Genesee County will soon be home to the first shovel-ready agri-business industrial park in New York, according to Chad Zambito, spokesman for the Genesee County Economic Development Center.

GCEDC breaks ground on the project Tuesday and expects the first tenant to start building a $15 million food-processing facility in the spring.

"These are expensive ventures and private developers aren't willing to do it because of the cost that’s needed up front and the long-term return, so it’s something we have to do and we need everybody’s participation to make it happen," Zambito told WBTA.

The groundbreaking is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Kennedy Building of the Genesee County Fair Grounds.

The 200-acre park is located between state routes 5 and 63 in Batavia and sits in close proximity to O-AT-KA Milk Products. 

At full build-out, the park is expected to provide 1,200 jobs in Genesee County and generate $2 billion in revenue over 25 years.

The first tenant, a Canadian-based food processor, will hire 100 people to work at its facility.

When the infrastructure installation is complete, the site will contain nearly 200 acres  serviced by industrial-class electric, gas and rail. The park is dedicated to agri-business applications including food and bio-fuels processing and is owned by a unique public/private partnership.

It also has access to 6 million gallons of aquifer water daily, ideal for food production applications, and sits in an Empire Zone.
 
The GCEDC, along with its real estate affiliate the Genesee Gateway Local Development Corporation and an affiliate of Farm Credit of WNY share ownership of the park.

It was largely made possible by a state grant recently approved by Empire State Development and a matching grant from Genesee County. The GCEDC, Town of Batavia, National Grid and National Fuel are also providing funding. 

Phase 1 construction, being completed by Zoladz Construction Company Inc. of Alden, NY, will include water, sewer and roadway base installation. 

Food safety has been in the news recently, and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who sits on the Senate Agriculture Committee, has a plan to improve food inspections, recall response and public education.

Gillibrand said she is calling for:

• Improving testing of ground beef
• Improving regulation of all other food, with a focus on prevention, more oversight and higher quality lab testing
• Increasing FDA resources
• Improving the safety of imported food
• Making recalls of contaminated food mandatory
• Improving public education

“In America, in 2009, it is unconscionable that food is still going straight to our kitchens, school cafeterias and restaurants without being properly tested to ensure its safety,” Sen. Gillibrand said. “It’s spreading too many diseases and costing too many lives. We need to do a better job of catching contaminated food before it ever comes close to a kitchen table. My plan addresses the gaps in the inspection process and improves recalls and public education, so parents have access to the information to keep their families safe.”

The New York Times recently ran an interesting investigative piece about ongoing issues with E. coli in ground beef.

Full press release after the jump:

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the first New York senator to sit on the Senate Agriculture Committee in nearly 40 years, today announced a comprehensive plan to overhaul the nation’s food safety laws by improving inspection, recall response, and public education.  A cornerstone of Senator Gillibrand’s plan is new legislation to mandate E. coli inspections of ground beef.
 
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), every year an estimated 87 million Americans are sickened by contaminated food, 371,000 are hospitalized with food-borne illness, and 5,700 die from food-related disease.  While the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has made some progress improving food safety regulations, the nation’s food safety laws have not been significantly overhauled in more than a century, according to the Congressional Research Service.

“In America, in 2009, it is unconscionable that food is still going straight to our kitchens, school cafeterias and restaurants without being properly tested to ensure its safety,” Senator Gillibrand said. “It’s spreading too many diseases and costing too many lives. We need to do a better job of catching contaminated food before it ever comes close to a kitchen table. My plan addresses the gaps in the inspection process and improves recalls and public education, so parents have access to the information to keep their families safe.”


Across New York State, approximately 5 million people are afflicted with a food-borne illness each year.
·        In New York City, an estimate of nearly 2.1 million are afflicted with a food-borne illness each year;
·        In Western New York, an estimate of nearly 360,000 are afflicted with a food-borne illness each year;
·        In the Rochester-Finger Lakes Region, an estimate of over 310,000 are afflicted with a food-borne illness each year;
·        In Central New York, an estimate of over 250,000 are afflicted with a food-borne illness each year;
·        In the Southern Tier, an estimate of nearly 170,000 are afflicted with a food-borne illness each year;
·        In the Capital Region, an estimate of over 280,000 are afflicted with a food-borne illness each year;
·        In the North Country, an estimate of nearly 125,000 are afflicted with a food-borne illness each year;
·        In the Hudson Valley, an estimate of an estimate of over 570,000 are afflicted with a food-borne illness each year;
·        On Long Island, an estimate of over 715,000 are afflicted with a food-borne illness each year.
Salmonella is the most common food-borne illness – causing over 1 million illnesses each year in the U.S., according to the CDC. Another 70,000 in America fall victim to E. coli each year. From meat and poultry to peanut butter, fruits and vegetables, almost every type of food we eat each day has the potential for contamination because of outdated, insufficient safeguards and testing processes.


Responsibility for enforcing America’s food safety measures is shared by 15 federal agencies – with the FDA and USDA responsible for the bulk of the oversight.  However, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is often limited to reactive regulations once outbreaks have already begun instead of preventing contaminations from spreading, and risking the safety of our food and the health of millions.

Senator Gillibrand’s plan to improve food safety will streamline and strengthen regulations at the USDA and FDA.  Senator Gillibrand’s efforts will also alter the fundamental approach to food safety by focusing on prevention to catch food-borne illnesses, and more quickly preventing further illness when an outbreak is detected.


 
STRENGTHEN INSPECTION AND SURVEILLANCE

Improve Testing of Ground Beef
During a 2008 industry-wide sampling of all ground beef produced, the CDC found that nearly 1 in every 200 samples of ground beef was contaminated with E. coli.  Ground beef is especially vulnerable to E. coli because its source material is not from a single cut of meat, rather, from a compilation of trimmings from many parts, including fat that lies near the surface of possibly contaminated hide. While some grinders that process ground beef voluntarily test the meat before and after grinding, there is currently no federal requirement for grinders to test their ingredients for E. coli. 

To reduce the risk of E. coli ending up in the hamburgers and other food we eat, Senator Gillibrand is authoring the E. Coli Eradication Act – new legislation that would require all plants that process ground beef to test their products regularly before it is ground and again before it is combined with other beef or ingredients, such as spices, and packaged. If ground beef is found to be contaminated, the bill requires the company to properly dispose of the contaminated batch, or cook the meat to a temperature that destroys the E. coli. Senator Gillibrand’s legislation will include appropriate penalties for companies that fail to implement testing mechanisms at their facilities. 

Improve Regulation of All Other Food
Ground beef isn’t the only food infecting people with E. coli and salmonella. Fruits and vegetables can also be contaminated. Senator Gillibrand is co-sponsoring the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act – legislation authored by Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) that would make comprehensive improvements to the safety of fruits and vegetables, and help prevent outbreaks before they start.
 
·        Focus on Prevention, requiring all facilities to establish preventive plans to address hazards upfront, prevent adulteration, and give the FDA access to all of these plans and procedures.


·        Expand Access to Records, giving the FDA access to the records of all food processing facilities.


·        Establish Oversight of High Quality Testing Laboratories, by granting the FDA authority to check the credibility of the laboratories testing the safety of food, requiring the labs to report all of their findings to the FDA, and certify that foreign food facilities comply with U.S. food safety standards.


·        Improve Detection, by increasing inspections at all food facilities, including annual inspections of high-risk facilities, and inspections of all facilities once every four years; enhancing food-borne illness surveillance systems to improve the collection, analysis, reporting, and usefulness of data on food-borne illnesses; and creating a pilot project to test and evaluate new methods to quickly and accurately track and trace fruits and vegetables in the event of a food-borne illness outbreak.
 
·        Enhance U.S. Food Defense Capabilities by helping food companies protect their products from intentional contamination, and commence a national strategy to protect our food supply from terrorist threats, and rapidly respond to food emergencies.


·        Increase FDA Resources, increasing federal investments to give the FDA all the resources it needs to implement comprehensive food safety improvements.

Improve Safety of Imported Food
15 percent of America’s overall food supply is imported from overseas, including 60 percent of fruits and vegetables and 80 percent of seafood.


America imports $5.2 billion worth of food from China alone – including 10 percent of our shrimp. In 2007, the FDA issued important alerts for five kinds of farm-raised fish and shrimp from China due to unsafe additives, inadequate labeling and poor manufacturer registrations, as well as potentially harmful veterinary drug residues in farm-raised fish and shrimp.

To ensure the safety of food we import matches the standards of food grown and processed in America, Senator Gillibrand is calling on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to prioritize the hiring of inspectors to protect consumers from contaminated imported food. 
 
In 2003, when the DHS took over the inspection of agricultural products on the border, the position of “agriculture specialists” was created.  While the number of people in this position has been slowly increasing, we are still one-third short of the number of specialists needed to test the ever increasing array of agricultural products coming into the country. 
 
The overall agricultural inspection rate for cargo has declined from nearly 70 percent in 2001 to about 40 percent in 2008 and down to 13 percent for passenger inspections.  Better inspections will not only protect humans from pathogens, but will protect American farms from agricultural pests and disease.

Additionally, Senator Gillibrand will work to require importers to verify the safety of foreign suppliers and imported food by allowing the FDA to require certification for high-risk foods, and deny entry to a food that lacks certification, or that is from a foreign facility that has refused U.S. inspections.
 
 
IMPROVE RECALL RESPONSE

Recall Contaminated Food in School Lunches
Last month, in response to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report <http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09649.pdf>  that revealed federal agencies are not adequately alerting schools about recalls, Senator Gillibrand introduced the Safe Food for Schools Act – legislation that would protect the 31 million schoolchildren who participate in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs by requiring federal agencies to issue proper alerts to schools.


Make Recalls of Contaminated Food Mandatory
For additional improvements to our food recall processes, Senator Gillibrand will work with her colleagues to give the FDA the authority to order a mandatory recall of a food product when a company fails to voluntarily recall the produce upon FDA’s request.  Right now, recalls are only voluntary. 
 
 
IMPROVE PUBLIC EDUCATION

To make sure information about food-borne illnesses and recalls is distributed accurately and efficiently, Senator Gillibrand is authoring the Consumer Recall Notification Act ­– legislation that would direct the Secretaries of the Department of Health and Human Services and the USDA, as well as the Commissioner of the FDA to improve communication among states, state and local health departments, food distributors and vendors to provide consumers with faster and more complete information. 


Specifically, the legislation would:
·        Provide information to health professionals to improve diagnosis and treatment of food-related illness;
·        Develop a procedure to distribute regional and national advisories concerning food safety;
·        Allow the FDA to share trade secrets, and commercial or financial information, and its list of registered facilities with other federal, state, local and foreign agencies – provided those agencies can assure confidentially of the information;
·        Allow the FDA to share confidential information with the public when necessary to protect public health;
·        Develop standardized formats for written and broadcast advisories;
·        Mandate on-site notification of a recalled product by posting notification in the freezer case or shelving unit where the product is, or has been sold.