By Jenny Mills, NEAFA President
Spring is trying to come to the Northeast – one week we were reaching for the t-shirts and shorts and the next week we were digging the winter jackets back out - a reminder of how diverse our weather and agricultural landscape is! Spring’s cycle of planning and planting is not just seen in the many fields being worked, but also in our state capitols with legislative sessions in full swing as well as industry meetings and gatherings.
We look forward to connecting with many of you at the Herd Health and Nutrition Conference on April 8th and 9th in Syracuse. We will hold our NEAFA spring board meeting just prior to the conference (taking some time to witness the eclipse!). This meeting will be focused on advocacy updates with Hinman Straub, our lobby team in New York reviewing the current budget proposals, as well as VDPA and our advocacy efforts in Vermont. Hinman Straub continues to monitor committee agendas and how our state budget in NY is shaping up – the “one house” budgets are being updated regularly and it is encouraging to see agricultural and NEAFA’s priorities supported, however, there will be many discussions between the executive and one house budgets as the total budget number is about 2X what is available to spend. More to come in the next couple of weeks.
We are excited to continue advocacy efforts in Vermont by collaborating with the Vermont Dairy Producers Alliance (VDPA). Thank you to our board member Kevin Kouri for representing NEAFA on the VDPA board. One bill of interest in the VT legislature is the ban of neonicotinoid pesticides – a similar measure that passed in NY this past session. Here is the summary of the bill and movement:
Oppose - H 706 - An Act Relating To Banning The Use Of Neonicotinoid Pesticides
NEW STATUS: Read third time and passed
Action Calendar: Third reading (03/22/24)
This bill proposes to prohibit the sale, offer for sale or use, distribution, or use of any neonicotinoid treated article seed for soybeans or for any crop in the cereal grains crop group. The bill would also prohibit the application or treatment with a neonicotinoid pesticide for multiple other uses.
The House passed this vote by roll call and they will send it over to the Senate early next week. We expect to have a robust and open conversation with the Senate Agriculture committee. Organizing knowledgeable members to speak in front of committee is very important. We have spoken with some of the Senate Agriculture members to let them know the bill is coming and we are ready to be heard in their committee.
If you are willing to testify for opposition of this bill, please reach out to VDPA at vdpacommunications@gmail.com, or Kevin Kouri.
On the education front, kudos to the Cornell Pro Dairy team and our education committee, headed up by Dr. Kristan Reed, on planning a great Herd Health and Nutrition Conference. Check out Dr. Elrod’s article highlighting the presentations! Thank you to the many sponsors of the conference. We look forward to your feedback to continue to improve the program and topics for next year!
Looking forward, we will once again be excited to see you at our Annual Golf for Good Works Tournament to be held on Tuesday August 20, with a reception to be held Monday evening August 19 at the Turning Stone Resort in Verona, NY. Great golf combined with a first-class networking event are in store again for this year. Please note, due to the many conflicts that our June date posed with graduations, we pivoted this event to hopefully accommodate your schedule!
I look forward to seeing you soon – Happy Spring, stay safe as we plant and plan for a successful harvest all over the Northeast – in the fields, state capitols and with many industry happenings!