Study: Feed Mills Help Finance Northeast Dairy Industry

By Chad Fiechter

Historically, the evaluations of U.S. farm debt have focused on traditional lending institutions like commercial banks, Farm Credit System lenders, Farm Service Agency, and life insurance companies. This focus excludes the role agricultural input suppliers play as creditors for their farm customers, as most agricultural input suppliers are not required to publicly disclose any information on their lending practices. Given the challenges facing the Northeast Dairy Industry, we chose to “lean into” this challenge and see if there was a way to provides timely insights.

Discussions with producers and extension educators led us to conclude the relationship between feed manufacturers and their dairy farm customers held the most opportunity. In identifying the key stakeholders of the Northeast dairy industry, we discovered the Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance (NEAFA). Graciously, NEAFA has furthered our efforts by providing useful direction and the Board of Director’s endorsement. Board members Andy Dugan, Clayton Wood, and Blake Lutz served as a voluntary review and consulting board for our project. 

Feed manufacturer survey. With the help of Rick Zimmerman and the voluntary NEAFA board, we designed a survey for dairy feed manufacturers. They advised on the best way to collect useful information from common industry accounting practices. We identified 29 feed manufacturing firms and contacted them via phone and email from March to November 2018. Twelve firms joined our survey and provided the following information from 2014 – 2018: 

• Trade credit terms offered to customers

• Annual sales

• Annual tons of feed sold

• Sales past due

• Sales past due 90 days or more

The participating firms jointly represent more than 70 percent of the total annual sales volume of dairy feed grain and dairy feed concentrates in the Northeast. 

For our purpose, delinquency is the total volume of past due invoices, including those invoices that are considered uncollectable. Any trade credit delinquency we consider “effective credit”, as the feed industry has become a creditor with an uncertain repayment timeline. The following chart shows the growth of effective credit supplied by the feed industry to the dairy industry.

A simple calculation suggests the overall magnitude of effective credit provided by the feed industry was nearly $100 million in 2018. We consider this a conservative estimate due to the fact that survey participation was voluntary and that financially stressed feed manufacturers may have been less likely to participate. To provide some context for the magnitude of $100 million, a regional commercial bank with a significant ag lending portfolio in New York maintained a balance of $54 million of “loans to finance agricultural production and other loans to farmers” during 2018. As an industry, feed manufacturers have become an important creditor of the dairy industry.

Farm-level analysis. Spurred on by our survey results, we analyzed dairy farm survey data from New York to gain insight into the relationship between dairy farm stress and trade credit. We used the Cornell Dairy Farm Business Summary (DFBS), an annual farm-level survey of key financial and production metrics. We use the annual difference between All Milk price and average operating expense from the DFBS, to calculate average operating margin. We define farm stress as periods of loss making. The average farm operating margin per hundredweight is detailed in the table below. It is clear the “average farm” from the DFBS is stressed during 2015 – 2018, which coincides with the increasing volume of delinquent accounts receivable.

This is consistent with the stories the participating feed manufacturers shared. We further looked for additional evidence of characteristics which are common across farms which are utilizing trade credit at a disproportionate rate. 

We used the dairy farm’s reported balances of accounts payable from 1993 - 2018. While maintaining a balance of accounts payable is expected, persistent large balances would reflect some level of delinquency. We find that more indebted dairy farms maintain higher balances of accounts payable. The chart below shows farms with 225 to 899 cows subdivided into two debt-to-asset ratio classes and the corresponding median balance of accounts payable. We find that more indebted farms use accounts payable at a much higher rate, further confirming the role of feed manufacturers as a creditor.

Data Source: Cornell Dairy Farm Business Summary

Conclusion Northeastern dairy feed manufacturers are a meaningful creditor of the dairy industry during times of farm stress. Dairy farms utilizing this mode of credit have relatively higher debt-to-asset ratios, suggesting this credit may be riskier than common perception. We are grateful to the voluntary advisory board and NEAFA for helping to facilitate our survey. It is our belief that studies like this will be necessary in understanding the current changes in our agricultural economy. Ultimately, we hope this information can be useful for all dairy industry stakeholders as they plan for the future success of the industry in the Northeast.

We welcome feedback and questions sent to jifft@cornell.edu. This research was supported in part by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, NC-1177 Multistate project, number 1016791. We are grateful for the collaboration of NEAFA and the Cornell DFBS team (Jason Karszes and Wayne Knoblauch).

Authors:
Chad Fiechter, MS student, Cornell University Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management

Jennifer Ifft, Assistant Professor and Mueller Family  Sesquicentennial Faculty Fellow in Agribusiness and Farm Management, Cornell University Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management

 1. Defined as the volume of feed sales in US dollars reported in the 2017 USDA agricultural census for CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, RI and VT.

2.  Calculated as 10 percent of approximately $940 million of feed sales from the 2017 USDA Agricultural Census in CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, RI and VT.

3.  A calculated annual average of “All Milk” price reported by “Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Outlook” Economic Research Service:  U.S. Department of Agriculture (2014–2018).

4.  Above 0.40 debt-to-asset ratio 

NEAFA/NY FarmNet Stress Management Webinar a Success

NEAFA, in conjunction with NY FarmNet, hosted a free stress management and mental health awareness webinar April 29th. 190 registrants signed up for the event, which was aimed at dealing with the additional stress Covid-19 has recently placed on the agriculture community. “The webinar that NY FarmNet and NEAFA coordinated was critical in these uncertain times,” said Kate Downes of NY FarmNet, Downes cohosted the event with Brenda O’Brien. “It was a great way to have an open and honest conversation with people across all sectors of agriculture. Talking openly about mental health is a pretty taboo topic for many people, but by sharing language to use, and ways to talk about it without adding to the stigma is incredibly helpful, especially in our agricultural communities. We want to people to realize they can connect with and help each other, in very simple ways.” 

Downes found that there were a lot of positives for registrants. “I believe many attendees were able to recognize that some of what they’re feeling and experiencing is stress, and that they’re not alone. There’s a lot going on in the world right now, and to know that they’re not an island in all of this, can be really validating. I know two hours may have felt like a long time, but as a presenter, I feel like we barely scratched the surface with all of the topics of stress management, building resiliency, mental health awareness, and having tough conversations. These topics are so incredibly important to people, which was evident as more than 100 people tuned in for the live webinar.”

Going forward, Downes will continue to work on the topic with people throughout the agribusiness sector. “I had many stress management webinars at the beginning of The Pause, but now that has quieted down a bit, as people have settled into this new normal. That being said, I would love to schedule some more. I will be speaking at the Mid-Atlantic Consortium Dairy and Beef Extension In-service Training at the end of the month about caring for your mental health and managing stress; I’m really looking forward to that. I’m also really excited that NY FarmNet expanded its services to provide personal consulting to people involved in NY agribusiness, those folks who work directly with farmers. We realized that the levels of stress are only increasing, and this part of our agricultural community needed assistance too.”

NEAFA would like to thank Downes and O’Brien for their work in making the agribusiness community a safer place for those dealing with stress and mental health concerns. If you’re struggling, it’s ok and there are people that can help. You can reach NY Farmnet at 1 800-547-3276, or fill out the contact form at www.nyfarmnet.org. The National Suicide Prevention hotline is 1 800-273-8255, and the crisis text line is 741741, just text HOME. For those under 18 in need of help, they can also call the Kids Help Phone at 1 800-668-6868.

DFA Cares to Feed Families during Covid-19 Shutdown

DFA employees pose for a photo at a Destiny USA dairy drive through event on April 22nd, 2020, in which DFA Cares gave away fluid milk to the community. 

The last few months have been a complete upset for many families across the US, leaving them without a job, dwindling savings, and hard pressed to put food on the table as community resources become stretched. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, over 30 million Americans have sought unemployment benefits, many having to wait weeks to hear back from backlogged caseworkers. Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) has worked to fill that need through their DFA Cares fund. The nationwide co-operative represents 13,000 farms across the country, with 3200 members in the Northeast alone.

“DFA Cares is a non-profit that DFA has created, and it offers the opportunity for scholarships for students in agricultural careers, and support for members that are experiencing extreme hardship due to weather, crop failure, etc.,” said Jennifer Houston, the senior director of marketing and council affairs for DFA in the Northeast. “In light of everything that is going, on we created an offset branch called Farmers Feeding Families Fund (FFFF). With the outbreak of COVID-19 and the widespread closures of businesses such as restaurants, schools, hotels, etc., there has been a decrease in demand for dairy products. In many cases there is no home for the milk that we were marketing, and our farmers have been forced into the position of disposing of milk. That’s a last resort, no one wants to dispose of milk. And often when that moment has been reached, we have dairy farmers coming to us, as well as people in the community asking if there’s a way to get it in to the hands of those that need it most. So in quick fashion we made the decision at DFA  to start making donations to food banks and communities to get it into the hands of those that need it. Outside of FFFF, DFA has donated over 150,000 gallons of milk. We created FFFF because we also had folks that were willing to donate money so that food banks could purchase the products and get dairy products into the food banks across the country through normal channels as well.

DFA took the initiative one step farther by partnering with Feeding America, a nationwide network of over 200 food banks providing food to approximately 46 million people. “Our members are able to go in, select their local food bank or where they’d like to see a donation of dairy products go to,” said Houston. “The food bank can then purchase dairy products through a normal mechanism or purchase a retailer. The farmer/processor then gets paid for their product through the normal supply chain. As a dairy co-operative that is owned by family farmers, we’re dedicated to providing nutrious dairy foods to families across the board.”

For those interested in learning more about the program, please visit www.dfamilk.com/dfacares

Important Words From COVID-19

Caption: Volunteers at the Elmcor Food Pantry, Queens, NY, prepare food packages filled with produce and dairy products from upstate NY farms.

By, Rick Zimmerman

Even though we all are growing weary from the massive disruption of our lives, we are becoming accustomed to this new world.  B.C. has a new meaning: “Before COVID-19”.  We know that the future will not completely return us to pre-COVID-19 status, and we will determine what the new normal looks like.  This evolutionary process is remarkably rapid, particularly when you reflect on events that occurred just a couple of months ago.  This experience will make us stronger, more resilient and the following words have taken on new meaning.

Patience: As someone who is often impatient, this epidemic has tested my limits and I have surprised myself.  It appears that my patience has been stretched beyond what I thought possible.  That does not mean I don’t relapse at times, but I quickly pause and realize that there are millions of people who are much worse off than me and that I have much to be thankful for.  I am thankful for the ability to practice patience on a daily basis.

Respect:  One critical element for successfully transitioning from this pandemic is respect for authorities who have the responsibility to manage through this crisis and lead our society to a better place. We may not always agree with the objectives, strategies, tact, or tenor of the authority in charge.  Without respect from our society, the imposed inconveniences and rules get ignored and the crisis lingers.  Respect and patience work together to enable our leaders, who were elected to handle such crisis, find the path forward and bring us out to the other side.

Empathy: Always an important trait to aspire to, this one is mandatory during current times to keep our society grounded.  Concern for each other brings out the best in us and fortunately we are seeing many good examples of empathy in our community, our country, and our world.  Once empathy is employed, it becomes a recharging source of energy and purpose.  Our society is sustained through the empathetic actions of its people.  

Adaptation: As a member of the agriculture community, I know we are good at adaptation.  Our business model requires that we remain nimble and flexible, to be able to pivot immediately given the circumstances.  COVID-19 has allowed us to demonstrate our adaptability to the rest of society.  A can-do attitude is part of our DNA because it is this trait that has helped us to survive and thrive in the face of adversity.  COVID-19 is testing our adaptability, but the stories of success are all around us and I am proud to be a member of the agriculture community.

New Opportunities:  This characteristic walks hand in hand with adaptability.  It is an attitude that permeates all good business leaders because they know that those who identify and develop the next new opportunity, in the face of adversity, will be better equipped to thrive going forward.  COVID-19 is creating new opportunities within the food and agriculture system.  Keep your eyes and minds open and be receptive.

Silver Linings:  This phrase is the reason why I wrote this column.  A “silver lining within a dark cloud” is the more precise reference and is often used during times like this.  I challenge you to look for the silver linings from COVID-19.  They are all around us, and they motivate and encourage us because they are proof that there will be a brighter day ahead.  One silver lining example I am involved in is the shipment of fresh fruit, vegetables, and dairy products from upstate farms to the epicenter of COVID-19: Elmhurst Queens.  This part of town tends to be a food desert without a pandemic, so things went from bad to worse when NYC was shut down.  Fortunately, the farm - city connection was in place and, in a matter of a few phone calls, along with the can-do attitude, farmers stepped up to the plate (pun intended).  Weekly for the past month, a trailer load of 40,000-45,000 pounds of fresh food has been loaded, delivered, and distributed to thousands of people in need in Queens. Through Governor Cuomo’s Nourish New York Program, farmers are getting paid for their fruit, vegetables and dairy products which otherwise may not have a market. Definitely a silver lining to this dark cloud! 

This pandemic has challenged us in ways we never imagined, and our industry and society will be better as a result. 

NEAFA Supports NYS Efforts to bring relief to Dairy Farmers, Foodbanks

NYS Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball during the 2020 NEAFA Annual Meeting in Albany, NY on Feb. 5th, 2020.

The Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance (NEAFA) recognizes New York State (NYS) Governor Andrew Cuomo and NYS Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball for their leadership in guiding USDA’s effort to provide essential support to the dairy industry during this extraordinary time. Commissioner Ball’s letter to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Sonny Perdue today calls for continued and additional aid for NYS dairy farmers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The economic impact on the US dairy industry resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has not been appropriately addressed through current emergency relief measures. Additional action is essential to stem the tide of market loss due to the economic shutdown.

In addition, NEAFA supports the efforts of the Nourish NY Program to get wholesome food, including dairy products, to people in need resulting from the economic shutdown. Launched by Gov. Cuomo on April 27th, this new program provides $25 million for emergency food providers and food banks throughout NYS for the purchase of dairy and other agricultural products from NYS farms and processors.

Commissioner Ball said, “The Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP) provides critical dollars to assist in the purchase of agricultural products that will then be provided to our food banks, which will build on our Nourish NY initiative. However, after reviewing USDA’s projections of losses for several agricultural sectors and the actual payments to be made to New York dairy producers, I am concerned about the effectiveness of the CFAP in providing sufficient direct relief to the dairy industry. New York’s dairy industry is our largest agricultural sector and we need to ensure we are doing all we can to make sure our dairy farmers are receiving the help they need. Adjustments should be made to the CFAP to resolve this funding gap.”

John's Jottings

By John Clark

April 2020 is historic, though not in the way we would like. The government at state and federal levels has ordered all “non-essential” businesses closed due to the threat of the Chinese Flu. NEAFA members and their customers are showing incredible resilience during this time of uncertainty. When Executive Director Rick Zimmerman checked in with our board members, they responded with how they have changed their daily business practices. First and foremost was clearly the safety of the people that work daily manufacturing and distributing feed and feed products.

Feed manufacturers, dealers and distributors, like the people they serve, are hardworking, resilient folks. It is impressive to see how quickly they implemented these safety practices to keep everyone safe. Employees are encouraged to self-monitor and stay at home if they feel sick. Employees are encouraged to be comfortable with their new working environment and if not, they are offered leave, in many cases paid leave.

NEAFA would like to thank those businesses who responded and gave us a glimpse into their continued commitment to safe food production and abundant food supply.

Recently, there has been wide spread coverage about the required milk dumping. My heart, like yours, breaks for those that have worked incredibly hard to make a first rate, high quality product only to have to watch the fruits of their labor be dumped down the drain. The economics of it are horrible enough, but the sheer frustration must be difficult to endure. Beef producers are in a similar boat with little ability to ship cattle ready for market. Considering the plight of dairy farmers and beef farmers, the industries that support those businesses, like feed, are under personal stress. 

A friend of mine told me a personal story that made me reach out to Ed Staehr, Executive Director of NY FarmNet. He in turn got Kate Downes and Brenda O’Brien involved to create a webinar focusing on stress management, how to identify stress in ourselves and others, and what to do when you are under stress.  You can join the webinar on Wed April 29th from 9 – 11 AM. Registration is easy to do on-line, and it’s free for any that wishes to participate! We have had an exceptionally good response so far, but there is always room for more.

The NEAFA board of directors has decided to move forward with its strategic planning update process. Prior to its completion, you will receive a survey to help us focus attention where it is needed the most. Please fill out that survey thoughtfully and timely. 

Lastly, please keep safe out there. Use common sense and follow the guidelines. If you are a prayerful person, keep our leaders in those prayers. Whatever side of the aisle they stand socially distanced from, they deserve our encouragement, our prayers, and good thoughts towards resolving the health and economic crisis that we are facing.

NEAFA will be keeping you updated on upcoming events as decisions are made. Thank you for your attention and your support of NEAFA. We are here to represent your interests and help the Northeastern agricultural community flourish, especially during difficult times.

John’s jottings over and out for April.

NEAFA Remembers Industry Leaders

To our NEAFA membership, we have the sad duty of sharing the recent passing of three industry leaders. Lloyd James of McDowell and Walker, Robert “Bob” Nearing Jr., former board member of Eastern Federation of Feed Merchants, NEAFA Board member, CFD and owner of Cochecton Mills, and Robert D Wellington, the long time Chief Economist at AgriMark. Each of these individuals were not only friends and colleagues, but integral parts of the growth and success seen by agribusiness in the northeast for decades. Their knowledge and commitment to our industry will be missed. Our most sincere condolences to their families. 

Lloyd E. James, 87, died March 22 after a brief sickness. James was a dairy farmer and previous owner of McDowell & Walker, a feed and fertilizer manufacturer with three retail stores in Delhi, Afton and Sidney. For more information, click here.

Robert Arthur Nearing Jr., 76, passed away on March 30, 2020 and is survived by his wife of fifty years, Mary Ann (Wagner). A graduate of Mohawk Valley Community College and a United States Army veteran, Nearing joined his family business, Cocheton Mills, Inc. in Cochecton, NY for almost 50 years of service to the farming and agribusiness communities. For more information, click here.

Robert “Bob” Dwight Wellington, 65, passed away March 29, 2020. Wellington held Bachelor and Master’s Degrees in Agricultural Economics from Rutgers University, where he also taught. Wellington served numerous roles in the agricultural community, including working as a Milk Market Administrator's Officer in New York City for 11 years, where he was the Chief of Research and Senior Economist. Wellington began his 30-year career with Agri-Mark in 1989, where he was the Senior Vice President of Economics, Communications and Legislative Affairs. For more information, click here.

Report from Montpelier

By Margaret Laggis

The Vermont legislature continues to meet via Zoom meeting.  They are trying to focus mostly on what they can do to help Vermonters during the pandemic.  Vermont is one of the very few States whose legislatures didn’t adjourn or at least take several months off.  
 
The Agriculture committees in both the House and Senate have focused their energy over the last several weeks on two main issues.  Opening up Farmers’ Markets as soon and as safely as possible, and dealing with a growing concern over the spreading of sludge on farm fields. Farmers’ Markets have been cleared to open on May 1st with social distancing guidelines in place.  It is likely that the State may decide to stop the practice of spreading sludge on farm fields following the detection of PFAS in some water samples.
 
Both committees are very concerned about how agriculture will look in the near and long term with dairies dumping milk, grocery stores not keeping shelves stocked, and vegetable and cheese producers losing huge volumes of business due to restaurant closures.
 
The VT Farm Bureau spoke to the committee about fairs and field days and the issue of trying to make contingency plans since many of them have very high fixed costs and have paid for entertainment that they may now not be able to host.
 Those that normally work in the legislature are struggling to find better ways to effectively communicate with legislators than using traditional methods.  Members are being swamped with the needs of their constituents and are overwhelmed.  It is certainly interesting to be a part of these unprecedented times.

COVID-19 Impacts NYS Budget

NYS Senator James Seward receives a Certificate of Appreciation for his service to agriculture from NEAFA President John Clark.

By Rick Zimmerman

Governor Cuomo and NYS lawmakers came to terms early April on a spending plan for the 2020-21 state fiscal year. Given the COVID-19 crisis, there was much speculation as whether there would even be a new state budget. Not only was it physically difficult for lawmakers to pass a spending plan, the pandemic also led to an increasing gap between revenues and expenditures. Suffice it to say, the process and procedure was quite unorthodox.

From an agricultural perspective, Governor Cuomo’s executive budget, released mid-January, contained an ag program spending plan that was positively received by agricultural leaders. Due to the Governor’s initial spending proposals, the annual process of restoring funding to the long list of ag programs became a bit easier this year. Assembly and Senate Agriculture Committee Chairs Donna Lupardo and Jen Metzger were optimistic that funding levels would be restored and perhaps increased in some cases. The ag community, including the Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance (NEAFA), actively collaborated on the lobbying front to assure adequate funding for the essential programs including PRO-DAIRY, NY FarmNet, Integrated Pest Management, Farm Viability Institute, the Farm Labor Specialist, Cornell Veterinary Diagnostic Lab, among others.  NEAFA’s February 4th lobby day at the NYS Capitol was a timely contribution to the ag lobby’s collaborative efforts to secure funding to these critical programs. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit!

The state budget process ground to a halt when the Capitol was locked to outside visitors and the legislature had to figure out how to vote without being in the same room. Unfortunately, several lawmakers, including Senator Jim Seward, who was recognized by NEAFA in February for his outstanding service to agriculture, was stricken by COVID-19. Eventually, the voting rules were changed, and negotiations resumed between the legislature and the Governor’s Office. Lobbyists tried to follow along via emails, phone calls and texts. At the same time however, the state budget deficit continued to balloon from the original estimate of $5 billion to as much as $15 billion. 

In the wee hours of April 3rd, the final budget bills were passed. As the dust settled, it became clear that unprecedented authority was granted to the Governor to adjust spending levels during the fiscal year, as determined by quarterly revenue forecasts that could change drastically due to the pandemic and the closure of non-essential businesses. Because of this, there is still a chance that agricultural program appropriations could be reduced from their current levels. Such actions will impact programs, people, and research that our industry depends upon. NEAFA and other industry leaders will continue to monitor the situation and fight for the funding that our industry needs.

Some agricultural programs took funding hits, particularly the Farm Viability Institute and the Veterinary Diagnostic Lab. A list of specific programs and their funding levels is available at the end of the article.

NY Agriculture Committee Chairs Senator Jen Metzger and Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo should be lauded for their tireless leadership and commitment to agricultural funding priorities. NEAFA appreciates their great work on behalf of the agriculture industry. In addition we recognize the NY Assembly and Senate agriculture committee members, including NY Senators Rachael May, James Skoufis, Robert Ortt, Pam Helming, and NYS Assemblymembers Aileen Gunther, Al Stirpe, Angelo Santabarbara, Carrie Woerner, Billy Jones, Marianne Buttenschon, Didi Barrett, Ken Blankenbush, Cliff Crouch, Gary Finch, Steve Hawley, Mike Fitzpatrick and Brian Miller for their ongoing support of New York’s agriculture industry.  

New York Agricultural Program Funding:

Farm Viability Institute: $1.55 million Reduced by $350,000; Additional funds promised to restore to last year’s levels 

Veterinary Diagnostic Lab: $4.632 million; Reduced by $200,000 over last year

PRO-DAIRY: $1.201 million Core Program

Profit Teams: $220,000

Dairy Acceleration Program: $700,000

Ag Nonpoint Source Pollution Control: $18 million

NY FarmNet: $872,000 / $400,000 Mental Health Component

Integrated Pest Management: $1 million

Pesticide Management Education Program: $250,000

Farm Labor Specialist: $200,000

Agriculture Education and Outreach Programs

• FFA: $842,000

• Agriculture in the Classroom: $380,000

• Agriculture Educators: $416,000

Annual 2020 Herd Health and Nutrition Conference Draws Record E-Attendance

Speakers gathered online for seminars and a panel discussion during the 2020 Herd Health and Nutrition Conference April 5th, 2020.

Due to Covid-19 and social distancing restrictions, the 2020 Herd Health and Nutrition Conference moved to an online webinar format on April 5th, 2020, instead of being held in its traditional home of Syracuse. NEAFA would like to thank Cornell PRO-DAIRY for the great job that they did in making the switch to an online conference, securing the speakers, handling the webinar logistics, and assuring that conference sponsors were appropriately recognized. “NEAFA is extremely pleased about the smooth transition from a traditional conference to a virtual experience,” said NEAFA President John Clark. “NEAFA values our conference partnership with PRO-DAIRY and we very much appreciate the strong support from our industry sponsors.” Attendance reached an all-time high of 424 attendees, with twenty-nine different sponsors.  Next year, the conference will be held April 5-6, 2021 at the Doubletree Hotel in East Syracuse, NY. Due to the success of this online format, a hybrid approach is being investigated for next year.

The one day program included seminars from industry leaders and educators, including Bill Weiss of The Ohio State University, on energy and protein interactions, Phil Cardoso, University of Illinois, on new perspectives in transition cow management, Luiz Ferraretto, University of Florida, on optimizing the role of starch as an energy source in dairy cattle diets, and Trevor DeVries, University of Guelph, on feed bunk management. The day wrapped up with a panel discussion on feed bunk management moderated by Corwin Holtz of Holtz-Nelson Dairy Consultants with Bill Bullard of Brigeen Farms, Inc., and Amos Smith of Lawnel Farms, Inc. answering questions on how they manage feed on their respective farms.

Weiss kicked off the day with his talk on how protein and energy interact and their ability to limit milk production. Weiss believes that the “industry has gone too far in recommending low protein diets. Lower protein diets give you less energy, but the other thing that worries me is the uncertainty of feed. You’re never certain exactly what’s in the diet, and there should be some sort of cushion. We should aim for 17.5%, because at 15% there’s no spare room.”

Dr. Cardoso continued the day by discussing key nutritional strategies and feeding management during the pre-calving and post-calving periods. He believes that the impacts of the transition program should be evaluated in a holistic way that considers disease occurrence, productivity, and fertility.

After a short break for lunch, Dr. Ferraretto addressed starch and its importance to dairy cows and strategies to optimize its digestibility and utilization by lactating animals. This lead into DeVries’ talk on bunk feed management, a prelude to the panel discussion for the day. DeVries addressed how dairy cow production, health, and efficiency are optimized when they eat a consistent diet, both in time and composition. From a feed bunk management perspective, this includes ensuring rations are delivered accurately and precisely, as well as by ensuring cows have good continuous access to that feed. DeVries joined in on the panel discussion with Bullard and Smith as well. 

The panel discussion took on a global perspective on feeding management during Bullard and Smith’s discussion. “I think it comes down to the ability to measure parameters that you otherwise may not be able to,” said Smith. “I remember being a student at Cornell years ago now, and in my nutrition class, we were talking about data. Whether you’re in a feeding system or collecting data in the field, if you can’t measure it you can’t manage it. You need to know what’s actually happening to make good management decisions. Which is why we invested in feedwatch and weighrite. They both tie so nicely in with dairy cows, and they work well together. Without that data piece, it makes things harder. I attribute a lot of our success over the years to using the tools that we’ve invested in.

Bullard added that consistency is also key. “The consistency of the feed going on the mixer, you need to make sure that every load, every feed is the same. We try to make sure that the same feed is dropped within a couple of minutes of when they were done the day before. It’s important to keep the same routine day in day out.” The panel also touched on adding feed pushups, keeping bunks covered and minimizing top exposure, labor efficiency, and maintain scales and mixer calibrations, among other topics.

NEAFA would like to thank all of our speakers, sponsors, and participants for their flexibility during the pandemic. We hope to see everyone, either in person or virtually next year as well.

Covid-19 Response in the Feed Industry

Goldstar Feed and Grain has implemented strong practices to combat covid-19

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to reshape the ways that our country and the rest of the world operates, NEAFA and its membership are committed to maintaining safe working conditions as our essential businesses continue to work. 

The actions recently taken by Gold Star Feed and Grain (GSFG) are one example of how the industry is adapting to the current situation. “We’re very focused on employee safety,” said Andy Dugan, past NEAFA President and General Manager of GSFG. “Usually that involves avoiding injury on a piece of equipment, or a proactive measure to prevent a future problem. But we applied that same process to this invisible bug. We’ve been sanitizing our workplace since March 2nd. It started out with washing hands and sanitizing your work station and 2 ft distancing. Then 6 ft distancing and sanitizing common areas. The owners started buying lunch for everyone, because we want them to stay here and not get sick. That attitude has helped us to date with our goal of employee safety. We’ve had a couple of people tested but no positives. We’ve also set a protocol that if you have a fever over 100.4 go home, period end of story. And don’t come back until your temperature is below 100.4 degrees for 24 hours or 72 hours or 14 days depending on circumstances. Everyone that works at our facilities are hands on people. My staff is the admin group, and 80% have been working are at home since mid March for more than 2 weeks. Twenty percent come in for the physical and handling paper tasks we require.”

GSFG has also taken precautions with whom can enter the building during work hours. “We lock our doors right now, no one is allowed in without a key,” said Dugan. “A lot of our customers are on the same page with restricting visitors and with social distancing. Our sales people aren’t making normal sales visits, just doing phone work, computer work, or records analysis. They still have to physically go to farms on occasion for a number of reasons, but our people adhere to our policies while on other people’s sites. I hold myself to the same standard when I have to go out.”

Dugan also touched on the topic of farmers that are currently facing difficult choices as the pandemic has cut into dairy farm profits.  “Our company and myself personally get very concerned about increasing farmers’ debt in a non-structured manner. It’s something that our industries grapple with, and I do not want to help the farmer get in over their head in debt. I want to help them be profitable. It’s a massive topic to tackle, and there are a wide variety opinions from farmers and feed companies on what’s best to do. What I’ll say is if you understand your costs of production and if we assume that future milk price will be below the cost of production what should you do? You could take on more debt, or look to remove nonproductive assets, or reduce feed costs which will reduce your milk output. These are all discussions that we want dairyman thinking through right now. When you’re profitable you want the last drop of milk out of your cow - when you’re not profitable, maybe squeezing that last drop of milk out might not be the best strategy.”

Dugan doesn’t however see this being a long term slump for farmers. “The unforeseen cannot be planned for. And when it happens it’s always a much more positive or negative change than what we would have thought of previously. Because in the markets (i.e. milk, feed, soy, corn markets), people’s perceptions of what is going to happen dictates the prices. So, when things are black and everyone thinks the world is ending, prices go too low. My opinion is that this will bleed out faster and turn around faster and become more positive than most people can believe at this time. There are 350 million people in the US that have to eat food tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. So agricultural businesses inside the US will be the ones that will provide that food for all those people. You can agree to stop buying jewelry for a year or two, but you cannot stop buying food. Our NEAFA organization is working overtime to help politicians understand what they can do to help feed America. Members of NEAFA benefit from that hard work. If we manage our businesses appropriately during difficult times, we will all enjoy the favorable times when they return.”

NY State Budget, Pesticide Bans, Farm Labor Law, & Legislative Priorities for NEAFA

Hal McCabe and Lucy Shephard of the Legislative Commission on Rural Resources meet with NEAFA members as part of the annual NEAFA lobby day. 

 Members of the NEAFA lobbying team met with Assembly Agriculture Committee Chair Donna Lupardo

In conjunction with NEAFA’s Annual Meeting, twenty four volunteer advocates worked together to lobby Albany lawmakers for important state supported agricultural programs on February 4th, 2020.  The April 1st budget deadline was on the minds of legislators as NEAFA advocates competed for space in the halls of the Legislative Office Building with dozens of other special interest groups. 

The Governor’s Executive Budget, introduced in mid-January, includes funding for many significant agricultural programs, including PRO-DAIRY, Integrated Pest Management, and NY FarmNet.  However, the Governor’s current proposal leaves an approximately $4 million deficit between his numbers and current budget appropriations. Therefore, lawmakers must prioritize their budget options, and the ag community is actively working with them to ensure legislators have their spending priorities straight.  

The NEAFA budget priorities includes $1.201 for PRO-DAIRY, $2.9 million for NY Farm Viability Institute: $2.9 million, $900,000 core program and $500,000 mental health component for NY FarmNet, $200,000 for Farm Labor Specialist, $842,000 for FFA, $18 million for Ag Non-Point Pollution Control, and $1 million for IPM.

In addition to advocating for budget priorities, NEAFA volunteer lobbyists warned legislators about the perils of banning pesticides. Several bills have been introduced in the NYS Legislature that would ban pesticides ranging from glyphosate and neonicotinoids to atrazine and simazine.  These bills ignore the Department of Environmental Conservation’s authority to review and register pesticide use in New York, and the bills remove the science driven decision-making process currently employed by DEC experts.  NEAFA advocates advised state lawmakers to avoid playing politics and keep DEC in control of pesticide use.

Another budget item this year is legislation to fix the farm labor law that was passed in 2019.  The agricultural community has been aggressively promoting amendments that will address issues that are the subject of a lawsuit brought against the state by the Northeast Dairy Producers Association and the NYS Vegetable Growers Association.  Legislative fixes are essential to making the new law viable in context to farm family members and salaried supervisor employees.  NEAFA actively supports these legislative amendments. 

Despite the new hurdles created by the COVID-19 pandemic, lawmakers are working aggressively to meet the April 1st adoption deadline for the state budget. NEAFA will continue to work with legislators to make sure that the economic needs of the agricultural community are met within the state budget.

NEAFA Recognizes Joel Newman with Distinguished Service Award

NEAFA was proud to present longtime agricultural industry leader Joel Newman with their Distinguished Service Award (DSA) during the 2020 NEAFA Annual Meeting, held February 4-5, 2020 in Albany, NY. The DSA is the highest accolade that the organization can give to recognize not only someone’s service to NEAFA, but to the entire agricultural industry throughout their career.

Newman served the agricultural industry for over 48 years. He received a bachelor’s in animal science from Wester Virginia University, and a MBA in finance and marketing from Syracuse University. Along with holding executive positions at Agway, Inc., Maple Leaf Foods, Inc. and United Cooperative Farmers, Newman led AFIA for 15 years and served as the president of AFIA’s 501(c)(3) public charity, the Institute for Feed Education and Research (IFEEDER), since it was introduced in 2009. IFEEDER supports critical education and research initiatives that assure consumers a safe, healthy and sustainable food supply. During his tenure at AFIA, Newman also built the organization up from less than ten employees, to having twenty three employees today, along with having strong engagement in the state, federal and international arenas, and providing educational opportunities and networking events.

“The Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance is proud to bestow our organization’s highest honor upon Joel Newman”, stated John Clark, NEAFA President.  “Joel’s service to the feed industry, particularly the northeast feed industry, highlights the leadership and dedication he brought to the job throughout his career. Northeastern agriculture, and indeed agriculture across the world have benefited from the insights and hard work of Joel Newman.

COVID-19 Updates and Resources Available

The Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance is your source of sound information pertaining to the COVID 19 epidemic and its impact on the agribusiness community.  Updates will be periodically sent to members via email and resources are available on our website, www.northeastalliance.com. 

Resources:
USDA COVID-19 website:
https://www.farmers.gov/manage/h2a

NYS Agriculture and Markets COVID-19 website:
https://agriculture.ny.gov/coronavirus

NY Farm Bureau COVID-19 Updates:
www.nyfb.org; news tab

NY Paid Sick Leave for COVID-19:
https://www.governor.ny.gov/programs/paid-sick-leave-covid-19-impacted-new-yorkers

View the following Cornell CALS and CCE Resource Pages Updated Regularly

General Questions & Links:
https://eden.cce.cornell.edu/

Food Production, Processing & Safety Questions:
https://instituteforfoodsafety.cornell.edu/coronavirus-covid-19/

Employment & Agricultural Workforce Questions:
http://agworkforce.cals.cornell.edu/

Cornell Small Farms Resiliency Resources:
https://smallfarms.cornell.edu/resources/farm-resilience/

Financial & Mental Health Resources for Farmers:
https://www.nyfarmnet.org/

April 7th, 2020 Herd Health and Nutrition Conference Transitions to Virtual

The HERD HEALTH AND NUTRITION CONFERENCE WILL CONTINUE VIRTUALLY FOR 2020 Due to THE evolving novel coronavirus outbreak situation

Due to public health concerns related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, and in accordance with guidance from the CDC, the State of New York, and Cornell University, PRO-DAIRY and the Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance (NEAFA) have decided to transform the Herd Health and Nutrition Conference into a virtual conference, rather than an in-person event. A virtual conference will be held on April 7, 2020 utilizing the Zoom video conference tool.

This new opportunity will allow us to continue to share education related to current herd health and nutrition management techniques with our dairy industry and partners. Participants will be able to attend sessions, ask questions, and chat with other attendees from the comfort of their home. Each session by industry leaders will be presented live and include live Question & Answer (Q&A) sessions and virtual discussion among attendees.

“We are pleased to announce that registration and sponsorship for this new virtual conference are now open!”, stated John Clark, NEAFA President. “Registration is just $75 to join the virtual webinar and all registered attendees will receive access to recorded sessions after the event.”

Sponsorship opportunities are available and include visibility prior to and during the virtual event. For more information, visit prodairy.cals.cornell.edu/HHNC.

Contacts: Heather Darrow, PRO-DAIRY, hh96@cornell.edu Sue VanAmburgh, NEAFA, sue@nysta.org

2020 Annual Meeting Photo Gallery

John's Jottings

As I write this edition of John’s jottings, we have just finished another successful NEAFA Annual Meeting, coupled with a strong lobby effort of New York legislators. The annual meeting is one of my favorite highlights of the year as it brings together many members, friends and elected officials. While there were many highlights, I would like to take the time to focus on a few memorable ones.

Nearly thirty people joined us Tuesday morning for our yearly collaborative lobby effort. NEAFA welcomed partners from Pro-Dairy, Farm Viability Institute and FarmNet just to name a few. Combined, our joint views on the current needs of agriculture in New York had in a positive effect on our lobbying efforts. Tuesday evening, we welcomed several elected and appointed officials, including NY Assemblyman Brian Miller, NY Assemblyman Steven Hawley, and NY Commission of Agriculture & Markets, Richard Ball. The highlight of the evening was honoring and giving thanks to special longtime friends, NY Assemblyman Cliff Crouch, and NY State Senator James Seward. Rick Zimmerman and I had the pleasure of making these presentations. Many folks went off to dinner after our reception and enjoyed a night out and met later at the Hospitality Suite for further enjoyment.

Wednesday morning began with traditions. Our early bird prizes were followed by the NEAFA Annual Business Meeting. As has been the tradition for several years, we were treated to the NYS FFA State Officer Team presenting their “Opening Ceremony.” It is always moving to see these young people in fine form. During the business meeting we reelected NEAFA Board Members Jenny Mills, Greg McCulloch and Mark Anderson, and welcomed our newest board member Michael Howlett. Our Wednesday speakers gave us their insights into the industry and made us pause and think outside the box of our daily routine. Delaney Howell, Ag TV personality from the mid-west, did the MC duties and offered an insightful recap of the day during her keynote remarks.

During the closing luncheon, it was our pleasure to honor long time member of the northeast feed industry and most recent CEO of AFIA, Joel Newman with the distinguished service award. We also recognized retiring board member Ryan James for his service. Following the lunch, the NEAFA Board met briefly, and among other items of business, reelected NEAFA Secretary Lon Stephens, and NEAFA Treasurer Barry Baetz.

There are many great activities coming up. By the time you read this, we will announce the second annual NEAFA NYS FFA Scholarship Recipients, during a Facebook live edition at the NY Farm Show. In March, we’re taking part in New England dairy nutrition conferences in Connecticut and Maine. In April, we will hold a Board Meeting, before the start of the Herd Health Conference April 6th & 7th in Syracuse. NEAFA has cosponsored this Conference along with Pro-Dairy for many years. Throughout the spring, many standing committee meetings will also take place. Want to join in on these important discussions about different aspects of our industry? Let us know if you’d like to serve. In June, NEAFA will again hold the Golf for Good Works Tournament at the Turning Stone Golf Course June 28th. In July we will go through a strategic planning process.

As I close, two things come to mind. First, to all our members, THANK YOU. If you’re not currently a member, consider signing up and joining today. This organization continues to grow and serve the agribusiness & feed communities, and with your help we can expand our knowledge base as well as give a stronger voice to the needs of the agriculture in the northeast. Which brings me to the second thing on my mind. For our members, it’s time to get involved. Let us know how you’d like to be more engaged in the NEAFA Committees or other areas. There’s lots to do, so come join in today! Until next time, John’s Jottings over and out.

Animal Agriculture’s Carbon Footprint: Underrated, Positive Trend

During the 2020 NEAFA Annual Meeting, at the Albany Marriott in Albany, NY on Feb. 5th, Cornell professor Mike Van Amburgh addressed the environmental stigma that the dairy industry has faced recently, and why it’s unfounded given the evidence that he and other professionals have documented. “New York agriculture is moving in the right direction,” said Van Amburgh. “We’ve seen a 15 to 30 percent decrease in carbon emissions during the last 10 years. When you look at analyzed forages and other cattle related information, we’ve decreased nitrogen excretion between 5 to 20 percent. Because we can’t talk about carbon dioxide and methane independent from nitrogen and phosphorus. Looking at income compared to feed cost, that’s increased as well. These tools that we keep developing, when we get them applied, they work really, really well.”

These achievements have been helped immensely by the Cornell Net Carbohydrate Protein System (CNCPS), which according to Cornell “was developed to predict requirements, feed utilization, animal performance and nutrient excretion for dairy and beef cattle using accumulated knowledge about feed composition, digestion, and metabolism in supplying nutrients to meet requirements.” (http://blogs.cornell.edu/cncps/) “Any nutritionist using the model can tell you the carbon balance at the cow level,” said Van Amburgh. “Nobody cared until recently about CO2 and methane. And yes, as a cow does more work, more co2 is emitted. But if you look at it from CO2 per unit of milk basis, the more milk a cow makes, the more efficient we are. Overall, CO2 emissions decrease. The focus in the media has been on the cow, but that’s not the right metric. The data tells us we need to be more productive, and that cows that make more milk are happy cows. We see the same thing for methane. Yes, it goes up with the work done by the cow, but overall it’s lower when you look at overall milk production.”

Van Amburgh also took the time to tackle the myth that milk is more environmentally damaging than a beverage derived of soy or almond. “We have to talk about byproducts, and where they go,” said Van Amburgh. “Cows eat a lot of plant byproducts. Canola meal, soybeans, and at least 30% of the corn used is corn rejected for human consumption, and that corn is a byproduct as well. When you look at soybean byproducts, it’s five times less CO2 when fed to a cow. When you look at almonds, there were 2.2 million tons of hulls produced in 2018. Cattle consumed 70% of those hulls. So ff you like your almond beverage, thank a cow for making it affordable and possible. That part of the food chain isn’t well described, and often gets ignored.”

Beyond the consumption of byproducts, Van Amburgh looked at how nutrient density and greenhouse gas emissions are related. “From a nutrient density to greenhouse gas emissions standpoint,” said Van Amburgh, “milk is almost double orange juice, and is more than double soy. On a nutrient basis, dairy is the best. We need to keep in mind that everyone has an environmental impact, no industry is neutral.”

Going forward, Van Amburgh had suggestions for the industry to help illustrate the positive environmental aspects for those unfamiliar with agriculture. “Record and report the amount of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients sold to the dairy industry or other businesses every year so they can document what was supplied to them. It helps in two ways. It provides documents about the tons of nutrients coming onto the farm, and it provides an opportunity to understand how efficient the nutrients are being used.”

Noblehurst Farm Leads the Way on Environmental Stewardship

Seven generations have worked the land at Noblehurst Farms. Starting with with fourth generation, Kenneth Noble in the 1960’s took on nine shareholders, comprising seven members of Kenneth and Ethel Noble’s family and two key non-family employees. Today, five of those original owners are still part of the farm’s forty shareholders, which range in age from 27 to 92 years. “Our focus on the farm is on having a progressive and economically healthy agricultural operation that produces and markets quality products,” said Chris Noble of Noblehurst Farms during his presentation to NEAFA members at the 2020 NEAFA Annual Meeting February 5th in Albany, NY. “We strive to provide the best products and/or services to the community that we can.”

One way that Noblehurst has done that is with their Craigs Creamery venture. Created in partnership with other local farms in Western NY, the creamery services 13,000 cows to create 120,000 gallons of milk per day. “In 2010’s, we needed to change market share,” said Noble. “And we did that by banding together to make the Craigs Station venture.”

With over 30 employees and milk from the same eight local farms, the station has an excellent and reliable milk source that provides the needed consistency for the plant to make quality products, such as cheese that is sold throughout the region at a wide variety of larger national chain groceries. “It’s a new way to buy a locally made product from a store or from a large national chain, and we’re proud to be providing it.”

Another way that Noblehurst has moved forward with their environmental stewardship is with Noblehurst Green Energy, which is one of the first anaerobic digesters in the state of New York. Completed in the fall of 2014, the plant was connected to the grid April 7th, 2015. “There were multiple drivers for the project,” said Noble. “With the economy the way it’s been, diversification was another factor, and the plant helps us reduce costs in getting rid of waste products, eliminates smells for our neighbors and provides electric service to our onsite milk processing center at Craigs Station.” Using manure and food waste, the anaerobic digester creates biogas that runs an engine to produce electricity for the on-campus facility, as well as for the local electric grid. “We feed the digester manure, high strength dairy processing waste, acid whey, food scraps, condensed whey, packaged liquid and semi-solid organics.”

Tied into the Noblehurst Green Energy business is Natural Upcycling - a waste collection service that hauls food waste from all over the Northeast and parts of the Mid-Atlantic. “Food waste is a big problem in the US,” said Noble. “Forty percent of food is wasted, and there’s not a lot done about it. Collecting it is messy - it’s not a sexy business to get into. But it’s the second largest contributor to landfills in America behind paper products. We collect pre and post-consumer food scraps from restaurants and supermarkets, which we truck back to be used at our digester. There are other opportunities to be green with food waste though, through the renewable gas it produces. Generating electricity is one way, but you can also upgrade equipment to get that methane into a pipeline, and it can be used for vehicles that run on methane as well.”

Noble sees that diversification as a key for Noblehurst to survive and thrive for generations to come. “We lead by example, and believe that a sound, progressive business structure and strong work ethic can help us lay the foundation so that the next generation can enjoy the fruits of this place.”

NYS Commissioner of Agriculture Addresses Annual Meeting Attendees

NEAFA would like to thank New York Commissioner of Agriculture Richard Ball for addressing our membership during the 2020 Annual Meeting February 5th, 2020 at the Albany Marriott Hotel in Albany, NY. As always, Ball had an insightful take on the current state of agriculture, not only in New York but throughout the country and our trading partners across the world. “I’m encouraged about the budget we have,” said Ball in reference to Governor Cuomo’s State of the State address. “I’m happy about what’s in there for agriculture. Pretty excited about the things in the budget that I see for agriculture.”

According to Ball, farmland protection, and tax cuts for farmers are one of the reasons that New York agriculture is in the top five across the country. “If you look at the last couple of years, even the last 5 years, they have been rough sledding,” said Ball. “We looked at farmland protections and what we could do. We provided additional funding for farmland transitions, to help those interested in transitioning to next generation, or to rotate in a new crop or create more efficiency in operating. We had 30 million dollars in the program. Currently we are starting a second round and those applications are coming in. For the second round, we looked around and looked at the effects that tariffs and trade deficits have had, and we saw that there was indeed a need there as well. So, we opened the program up to non dairies as well with an additional 14 million in funding. We’ve seen it as a great opportunity to advance and keep that land in agriculture in our state.”

Ball also took the time to talk about a personal project of his, a farm to school initiative. “It’s a great way to connect dots between 1.5 million students and our farmers,” said Ball. “NY Thursdays is a program that celebrates what’s on the menu from NY state in 1200 different schools. It’s a great opportunity to get our toe in the door there and showcase what’s grown in NY. It’s also a great example of that handshake between rural and urban communities that will help grow our system going forward. NY Milk, apples, salads, protein in hamburgers and hotdogs, NY chips, French fries made with NY potatoes. It’s a game changer, and we will see better economics for NY agriculture, and better health for our students 10 years down the road.”

Another important topic that Ball touched on is the changes to farm labor laws in the state. “The legislature changed dramatically last election,” said Ball. “And the farm labor bill is one that’s been around for a long time. There was a lot to do, educating a new group of legislators about farms. But with a unified voice from the industry, it was quite remarkable to see how well that education went. There is an Article 7 amendment to address some of the problems with the bill and talks are continuing about those issues, and what constitutes family has been broadened. I think we’re going to have some progress moving forward. We still have a huge educational challenge; what can you say, and how can you say it to reach people. But by and large the outpouring of concern and energy was amazing. It is in the interest of the agriculture community at large to get these amendments across the finish line.”