NEW BERLIN – New York 22nd Congressional District Congressman Anthony Brindisi and United States Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue visited Chobani’s plant in New Berlin and discussed issues dairy farmers are currently facing in the United States.

The meeting was held on Wednesday afternoon, at the Chobani plant. Agriculture representatives that attended the panel included Chenango County Farm Bureau President Bradd Vickers, Cornell Cooperative Extension Executive Director Ken Smith, Farm Credit East Vice President Tom Cosgrove, IDFA President Michael Dykes, Dairy Farmers of American Senior Director Jennifer Huson, and Chobani Senior Director of Government Affairs Mark Broadhurst.

“It is an honor to bring Secretary Perdue to Upstate New York,” said Brindisi. “We make the finest agriculture products in the world and we need to make sure these producers can bring those products to market. We had a great discussion today and I think both the Secretary and I have some good ideas on how to improve the situation for our producers.”

At the event, Brindisi urged Perdue to recognize the high nutritional value of Greek yogurt in the school lunch program and led a bipartisan effort to crack down on the false labeling of plant-based products.

Chobani representative Broadhurst also spoke about the dairy industry and the needs of dairy farmers at the event.

“Our communities are at the heart of everything we do,” said Broadhurst. “We’re proud to call Central New York home, and continuously do our part to shed light on the needs of dairy farmers and advocate for this important American industry. We applaud the Secretary and Congressman Brindisi’s focus on agricultural communities, and look forward to continued work with our partners in government to make meaningful progress towards supporting dairy in New York, and promoting it across the country.”

Chenango County officials, Smith and Vickers spoke at the event, highlighting concerns they have for the growing need for more agriculture business throughout the world, and getting whole milk into schools.

"According to the latest statistics, by 2050 it is projected that there will be 9.2 billion people on the planet, and recent estimates suggest that food production will have to increase by 70 percent if we are to feed everyone," said Vickers. "To feed the world in the next 50 years farmers will need to produce more food than was produced in the last 10,000 years combined."