By Jenny Mills, NEAFA President
It is time for the changing of the seasons again – cooler nights, State Fair, kids returning to school – signs of the harvest to come! Last month, we focused on the advocacy efforts that NEAFA is involved with and with another great turnout for the annual Golf for Good Works tournament, collaboration seems to be a great topic to explore this month!
Collaboration can be defined in many ways, but visually the diversity of members, friends, agricultural partners and non-agricultural partners that were in the Turning Stone ballroom on August 22 demonstrated collaborating to support youth education through many agricultural organizations. The partnerships, sponsorships and participation by so many from diverse backgrounds was amazing. Great weather, great golf and conversation – all positives from your collaboration. Thank you again for all your support! See the recap of the Golf for Good Works event in this newsletter!
NEAFA has viewed collaboration as a key pillar in education and advocacy. A few highlights from these pillars include:
Education – the investment that NEAFA put into the two faculty positions within the Department of Animal Science at Cornell continues to pay dividends for our members. Dr. Charlie Elrod and I were fortunate to get some time with Dr. Kristan Reed and Dr. Joe McFadden in July to review updates with their research programs. Their focus on environmental modeling and mitigation of greenhouse gas production will continue to help our producers and industry solve challenges and potential future regulations around sustainability. Stay tuned for updates from both Dr. Reed and Dr. McFadden at our Annual meeting, taking place February 6-7, 2024 in Albany.
Advocacy – NEAFA’s collaboration with Vermont Dairy Producers Alliance (VDPA) has resulted in a collaborative investment to have Shouldice and Associates represent our legislative priorities in Vermont. NEAFA is excited to invest in a collective voice with VDPA with the goal of multiplying efforts from both organizations. As a result of this collaboration, NEAFA will have a seat on the VDPA board. Kevin Kouri will serve on the board of VDPA and help shape the future of this important collaboration in Vermont. We look forward to an update on this new collaboration at our Annual meeting as well.
Advocacy – NEAFA is proud to continue to work with several industry groups to collaborate on legislative priorities and promotion of agriculture through several annual events. Again, the goal of collaborating with groups such as Northeast Dairy Producers’ Association, New York Farm Bureau, Vermont Dairy Producers Alliance, GROW-NY, Council of Agricultural Organizations (CAO) is to identify common priorities (realizing not all priorities are in common with all groups). This fall, we look forward to collaborating with these groups to help craft legislative priorities around transportation that were brainstormed this past year. More to come, but we welcome your input to these priorities as we work with Hinman Straub to shape what NEAFA focuses and collaborates with other agricultural organizations on next legislative session!
Lastly, collaboration isn’t possible without a strong membership – the heart and soul of NEAFA. At our last strategy session, we had healthy discussion around NEAFA’s mission and if we are “inclusive” versus “exclusive” to our membership. As we tackle the consolidation of some parts of our agriculture industry in the Northeast, we are happy that we have taken the “inclusive” approach and reached out to get more diversity on our board and members from the ag finance, insurance, transportation, equipment suppliers to broaden our voice. At one of our first board meetings this year, we discussed what we want members and the industry to think of when they heard our name – NEAFA. New board member Jen Conard from NBT Bank said “to be the Chamber of Commerce for Agriculture.” I think that is fitting as we all collaborate to advocate and educate for agriculture throughout the Northeast. 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!
Stay tuned for more information on our 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 collaborations and an agenda around the theme “Navigating the New Frontier.”
Have a safe and enjoyable end to summer!