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New & Young Farmers Focus Group Notes Feb 10, 2014 6 Attendees Need to address OSHA. Probably not a farm in NYS that would pass. Farms with 10 or more non-family workers or with less than 10 but provide housing are subject to the new regs. Dairy is targeted in NYS but this may end up including grain storage. One participant took over multi-generational family greenhouse business. He’s the only family member of his generation still involved in the business. He started at the bottom and worked his way up. Now he’s general manager. They have about 115 employees, about 70 full time equivalents. Have about 10 acres under cover. Has a degree in marketing. Biggest challenge for the business is labor. There isn’t a big pool of new and young farmers out there. They hire a lot through temp agencies. The Cornell Horticulture program toured our farm, there were only 9 students in the group – very small group. It seems like he’s the only young person in trade shows. One beef farmer-participant didn’t come from a farm background, grew up on Long Island. In high school, she would visit relatives upstate who had animals and got interested that way. Went to SUNY Cobleskill for an Ag Business degree and started a farm with partner. Just bought a farm in an “under cover mission,” got lucky that the property never went on the market. Partner had a long relationship with the farmer who was selling, worked on a feed lot in Conquest. He got an Ag Technology degree from SUNY Cobleskill. Works at John Deere and also runs the farm. Another participant runs a dairy farm. His father started the farm, he grew up there. Knew that was where he was headed, so didn’t go to college. Just formed an LLC with his father, so now they are co-owners of the business. 1200 acres, 175 cows. Made some mistakes at first but doing well now. Education One participant got his knowledge of farming and running the business as he grew up on the farm. Went to Skaneateles High School, there’s no ag education there. Toured the BOCES campus when he was in school but he’s stuck in his ways and didn’t see the point of taking the ag courses that were offered. In retrospect, he should have looked at the business offerings more seriously. As he goes, it would have been helpful to have more business knowledge. Young people 10-25 years old, it’s difficult to get them interested in ag. Why? No one wants to work, and farming is hard work. What about FFA and 4-H? Did anyone here participate in these organizations as a kid? No. Would have if it was available. Auburn, Red Creek, and Skaneateles High Schools- no ag presence. 4-H youth development through CCE: the program is mostly horses with some dairy and small animals. “Kids with calves.” Perhaps a way to get kids/young people interested in agriculture is to make a connection between technology and ag. For example, O’Hara’s employs computer technicians. But you need to go to school out of the area for this. Ward O’Hara Museum holds a youth fair, and it is gaining momentum. ---PAGE BREAK--- Ag literacy Week – CCE coordinates this. Need to get more people involved. (just 9 out of 23 school districts in the county are participating this year) Farm Bureau is paying for school field trips to farms but are getting very little interest from schools. Auburn Headstart has a garden that feeds its students There’s less participation in FFA and 4-H than there used to be. Part of this could be due to the consolidation of farms, there are simply less farm families. Some parents who farm know it is very hard work, they have a hard life, and discourage their children from doing it. Want their kids to do something else. Talked to Ag Educator at BOCES about mini-internships. Some students do 1-2 days working with animals. This can really pull them in, some find that they really like it. Seems to be headed in the right direction. Farmers bellyache a lot. So, who would want to do this? Need to put on a more positive face. The organic farmers tend to be more positive, get a lot of positive reinforcement from customers. Implementation: create a program where young farmers could be showcased, like better integrate young farmers into existing programs such as Ignite through the Chamber. It’s also important to keep in mind that you don’t have to own a farm to be a farmer – farm workers are also farmers! Financing FSA- young farmer program – multiple participants said that there is so much paperwork that it is very discouraging. There’s no one there to check up on the program, there’s no mentorship. So if a young farmer does go through the headache of all that paperwork and actually manages to get a loan, there’s no one there to help make sure the business succeeds. The program is just not set up for mentorship support; if the business fails, FSA can go in and take the collateral. Program is like a bank for young farmers. It’s a great idea, but there’s no follow through (business support). One participant recounted that they asked for in-person assistance and was turned down. Requires 3 years of Schedule F, OR someone to vouch for you, but close farmer mentor wasn’t considered good enough. Could possibly gain from a microloan program (put this as part of plan implementation) Farm Credit: Really good but not cheap. Nice classes about borrowing, how much capital you need. Mostly second generation farmers, not a lot of new farmers were in the class. Can use the classes if you loan from them. Before the recession, they gave a line of credit with no problem. Now they want an inventory every quarter, etc., so a lot more oversight Used to have commercial banks that lent to farms, but a lot are out now. They feel that it’s too risky. Banks want projections but for cash crops, beef, milk, it really depends on the weather and the market. Risk management resources are offered through Dairylea. Mentorship and Networking Look to older farmers for guidance Trade conferences such as the beef producer conference are a great way to meet people. Also, trade groups such as the NYS Flower Industries and AmeriHort. Try to attend meetings and learn at least one thing at each ---PAGE BREAK--- Farm Bureau has a Young Farmers and Ranchers Program – there aren’t a lot of people involved but it is nice to get together with people your own age. Going to combine with Seneca County’s. The group talks about farming when it gets together. Need to encourage continued participation in Chamber and CEDA. There’s no incentive for the older generation to help the younger generation, unless there’s family involved. No incentive for mentorship or to pass the land on to a new or young farmer once the older farmer retires. Maybe give a tax credit to incentivize this? A transfer tax? Some far-reaching incentive. FarmLink – doesn’t work so well, probably only 1 in 10 works. Need someone in the middle to facilitate the connections. It’s also happening that rich people who are looking for investments are looking to buy up farmland to rent to farmers. This relieves the problem of accessing credit for farmers to buy land. Other One participant tried a Profit Team for his dairy farm. Supposed to do 1.5 years of work, but only held two meetings and then the thing fizzled. The consultant facilitator didn’t follow through. It’s supposed to bring together everyone who has an interest in the farm, such as the nutritionist, the vet, etc. But you have to be careful who you put on your team. Cuomo just put a bunch of money into this, the NY Farm Viability Institute to do more dairy Profit Teams. It has potential to benefit farms. Through work that the CCE field agents do, have seen a lot of new and young farmers, but they’re just not visible. Want to get a group together – maybe with the Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Program? CCE – there are less field agents than there used to be. There had been 3, now there is less than 1.5.