Corwin Holtz, Exiting NEAFA Secretary
It is hard to believe that ten years have passed since I was contacted by Peter Karnezos about my possible interest in being a member of the Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance Board of Directors. I was standing in a freestall barn somewhere in Germany when I answered the call. One of my first questions to Peter was “what is NEAFA”? I truly had no idea what role this organization played in Northeast agriculture but was curious to learn more. Following more conversations with Peter and others associated with NEAFA I agreed to be considered for a board seat. After ten years I can’t express enough my gratitude to be a member of this great organization.
The changes and growth in NEAFA that I have witnessed over these ten years is both extraordinary and exciting. As with any industry, change is inevitable, and we have certainly seen and continue to see this in agriculture and our members that NEAFA board listens to and advocates for. One of these continuing changes is that of company consolidation. I have often made the comment that I need to read Feedstuffs regularly to find out who bought who and who changed companies as an employee. This consolidation has presented challenges for NEAFA and other agriculture advocacy groups as we shrink in numbers but still have ever-present issues that face us. Who would have thought ten years ago that topics impacting Northeast agriculture would be things such as climate change, transportation and labor regulations being forefront for our members and the producers they serve.
Your NEAFA board is dedicated to our three organizational pillars of Advocacy, Collaboration and Education.
ADVOCACY – we must have a voice in Northeast statehouses to ensure that the challenges we face are conveyed to political decision makers so that rules and regulations are not onerous and punitive to our members and the producers they service. As I noted above, we need to have our pulse on what the new political challenges are and how we best address them. The Board’s decision in late 2022 to employee the resources of Himan Straub for our lobbying activities has exceeded all expectations that we had. They continue to be an invaluable resource for us. Our most recent venture has been our very close involvement with the Vermont Dairy Producers Association. This venture expands our political reach to a significant portion of our membership.
COLLABORATION – as consolidation in our industry continues and our numbers shrink, we know that we must collaborate with other organizations that share common challenges. Over the past two years our growing collaboration with the Northeast Dairy Producers Association (NEDPA) and New York Farm Bureau has been extremely positive. Messaging the same challenges to decision makers from differing industry points of view leads to impactful discussions within statehouses across the Northeast.
EDUCATION – I view this NEAFA pillar from two different standpoints. First is our continued relationship with Cornell and ProDairy. Our annual Herd Health and Nutrition Conference is always viewed as a very relevant and take-home message meeting. Along with this we continue to advocate for the funding of ProDairy to allow them to continue to educate the industry through the many subjects they cover. Secondly, our education efforts tie back to ADOCACY as our lobbying efforts involve a great deal of education of political decision makers to keep them in check with the realities of agriculture.
As 2024 comes upon us I encourage all of our members to convey your thoughts, ideas and concerns to the Board so that we can best serve you. It is our presence in front of the right people and addressing the right topics that will continue be our strength in serving NEAFA membership.
We have an excellent agenda for our upcoming Annual meeting in Albany on February 6-7. I encourage you to attend to be educated, interact with your Northeast agribusiness colleagues and express any thoughts you might have on how NEAFA can better serve you. Also, please take time to read the NEAFA Accomplishments flyer that is included in your membership renewal. It is a great summary of what your organization has accomplished over the past few years. Lastly, if you know of any prospective members that we should be recruiting please encourage them to join or let us know and we will pursue their membership.
It has been my honor and privilege to serve NEAFA for these past ten years. As I exit the Board, I know that NEAFA leadership is in very good hands and look forward to my continued involvement in this great organization.
My best to everyone for a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year and look forward to seeing you in Albany!