Infrastructure, farm labor laws, and the high cost of doing business in New York dominated the conversation when Assemblyman Chris Tague gathered 50 colleagues, farmers, and industry representatives Thursday for a Zoom Dairy Forum.
A half-dozen legislators pledged their support to dairy, where even in small Schoharie County, Assemblyman Tague said, it’s worth $30-$50 million to the economy.
Michelle Hinchey, who chairs the Senate’s Agriculture Committee, and Donna Lupardo, who chairs the Assembly’s, said they’re especially interested in seeing more facilities for processing both milk and meat.
No problem, said Keith Ellis, CEO of Cayuga Milk Ingredients, a seven-year-old, 30-member dairy processing co-op near Auburn.
“I’ve got a half-page list for Senator Hinchey,” he said at the end of the hour and a half long session. “Ways we can improve processing in New York. I know where the problems and pinch points are. If New York could build the infrastructure to grow…”
Both the farmers and legislators said too many in Albany and Washington—and even the general public—have no idea of the challenges they face daily.
Assemblyman Lupardo, who grew up in New York City and now lives in Broome, used to be one of them.
“People don’t understand what it takes to get milk to the table,” she said—something she learned about through farm tours like the one Assemblyman Tague hosts locally every fall.
“Consumers are just fixed on low prices. If they understood what it costs to produce milk…”
Town of Sharon dairy farmers David and Suzanne Graulich said restrictions limiting overtime to 60 hours has been especially difficult for their 500-cow farm—a struggle other farmers on the Zoom shared.
The Graulichs said they’re also concerned about environmental concerns coming down the road.
Denise and David Lloyd of Middleburgh—who run a relatively small, diversified farm of about 140 cows—said the cost of doing business in the state can be crippling.
“We’re price takers, not price setters,” Ms. Lloyd said. “We can’t control what we get for our milk.”
Just as bad: fuel prices—which also impact the cost of fertilizer and the plastic farmers use in ag bags—have increased by 50 percent over the last six months, Mr. Lloyd said.
The current price of milk is about $17 per hundred pounds. Minimum wage for ag jobs is $12.50.
“Owners aren’t making $12.50 an hour,” Ms. Lloyd said.
John and Debbie Stanton of Cobleskill said no one likes the limit on the hours their employees can work—especially not the employees—and Keith Kimball, who milks 2,700 cows in Western New York said farm labor laws pit him against his 36 employees.
Mr. Stanton also called for the establishment of some sort of a watchdog committee to track the increase in the price of dairy from farm to store.
“People love the product…” he said. “But everyone chews at our money.”
Ray and Brenda Dykeman of Canajoharie shared the others’ concerns over the lack of processing plants and wages and said they’re looking at downsizing—something that was never part of their plan.
Too many people passing ag legislation have no background in farming, Mr. Dykeman said.
“I see people worried about getting the hemp industry going,” he said. “But in dairy you have an industry that turns a dollar over seven times. Where’s the concern about that?”
Answering a question on solar, Mr. Kimball called it a “sensitive issue” within the farm community.
While he said he hesitates telling anyone what they can do with their land, he thinks natural gas is a better energy option.
“We can’t pay what solar companies can,” he said. “I don’t think enough homework has been done.”