By Jenny Mills
NEAFA President
Fall is in full swing – harvest, cooler nights and shorter days. We hope that you and your families and customers stay safe this busy season! In August, we focused on the collaboration efforts that NEAFA is involved with, and education seems to be a great topic to explore this month as another great Cornell Nutrition Conference wraps up!
First, it was wonderful to see so many members in attendance at the Cornell Nutrition Conference in Syracuse, NY. Thank you to the CNC program committee that we collaborate with for giving NEAFA time on the program for an update. We also appreciate Papillon giving us a few minutes during their CNC breakfast presentation to promote the value of NEAFA membership. We had great conversations around membership, current happenings in agriculture and the advocacy efforts being made throughout the Northeast on several topics. As we quickly approach another cycle of state budgets and new legislative sessions, we need your input on priority issues, such as transportation and future regulation around environmental sustainability. Please reach out to anyone on the NEAFA board with your ideas!
Education is a key pillar to our NEAFA strategy. Part of our mission in education is to support programs to develop agriculture’s next generation of leaders. The Northeast Dairy Challenge is one program we sponsor through our Good Works fund. Please check out the article written by Dr. Carie Telgen on this college event that took place this past month. If you have programs that support the development and education of youth for consideration of Good Works funds, please reach out.
In addition to supporting youth, NEAFA is committed to continuing education efforts for our members and industry partners. Our education efforts for 2024 start with our upcoming Annual Meeting, to be held February 6-7, 2024 in Albany at the Marriott on Wolf Road, which will include lobby day activities at the Capitol, updates from our many collaborators and an agenda around the theme “Navigating the New Frontier.” Trent Loos will be our keynote speaker and emcee. Plans are also being made for our annual Herd Health Conference that will be held in April 2024.
Membership is key to our education efforts. If you collaborate with partners in your day-to-day, please encourage them to become members of NEAFA – the first year is half off as a bonus! Seeking different perspectives and experience within our industry will allow us to strengthen our efforts towards NEAFA’s mission of supporting and growing a sustainable agribusiness industry in the Northeast.
As we finish harvest, I hope you, your families and clients have a wonderful Thanksgiving!