COVENTRY – Natural gas exploration, milk pricing, alternative energy products and country of origin labeling are some of the hot-button issues for local agricultural producers, according to the latest policy resolutions ratified by the Chenango County Farm Bureau.
Members of the farm advocacy organization reaffirmed 15 existing local, state and national policies and approved 16 new resolutions regarding their stance on industry issues at the group’s annual dinner, held Tuesday at the Silo Restaurant in Coventry.
“Policy development starts at the grassroots level, by those that participate,” CCFB President Bradd Vickers, said as he addressed the 50 or more members who attended the event.
Several policy items pertained to the dairy industry, which is of paramount concern for many local farmers.
Bob Shaw of Lyon Brook Farms in the Town of Guilford was unhappy with the way in which one of the proposed state resolutions was worded.
“It’s not strong enough,” he said, referring to the language of resolution 13 which “encouraged” an investigation into allegations of milk price manipulation and anti-trust violations in the beef and dairy industry.
After a discussion during which several members gave their input, it was decided that the resolution be reworded to state, “We demand the Department of Justice and the NYS Attorney General investigate milk price manipulation and prosecute violators of anti-trust and anti-monopoly laws in the beef and dairy processing industry.”
Fellow CCFB member Ken Dibbell proposed an additional resolution be included in the policy book, stating the organization’s support for Senate Bill 1645 which would base milk pricing on the cost of production backed by a farmer-funded supply management system. Members present voted unanimously to adopt the South New Berlin dairyman’s resolution as proposed.
CCFB members also voted to affirm two resolutions pertaining to the growing of hemp as an industrial product. The first recommended that the state-level organization “rescind any policy that supports any illegally grown crop(s) such as hemp.” The other, aimed at the local level, stated the CCFB’s objection to the Chenango County Board of Supervisor’s support of hemp cultivation.
