NY Farms!

Building Farmer-Consumer Connections in the Empire State

P.O. Box 210, Watkins Glen, NY 14891
Phone/Fax: 607-535-9790
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NEWS TO SHARE
April 18, 2007

NEWS FROM NY Farms!

My sincere appreciation is extended to many of you for the kind words and support during our email catastrophe on March 5th. Please share this News to Share edition with friends and remind them to re-subscribe by sending an email to nyfarms@nyfarms.info with subscribe in the subject line. While sharing is great, it doesn't give us a reader count, which is helpful when seeking out funds to support these efforts. Please re-subscribe and ask others to do the same.

Remember to send us YOUR news and calendar items. We are looking for events for the Celebrate the Harvest Calendar, especially for June which is dairy month, and coming up quickly. Please add nyfarms@nyfarms.info to your newsletter mailing list. It's a long slow process of re-subscribing so help us out!

The Cornell Farm to School Program, NY Farms!, and the New York School Nutrition Association are pleased to announce the publication of a new Farm to School Toolkit: Farm to School in the Northeast: Making the Connection for Healthy Kids and Healthy Farms by Jennifer Wilkins, Heidi Mouillesseaux-Kunzman, Meredith Graham, Betsey Bacelli, and Martha Goodsell. This long awaited toolkit is available on line Click Here

What's in Season?

We're glad you asked. This month we're featuring lamb and goat. If you are a producer and not listed on this website please send us your contact information. Click here

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

FARM TO SCHOOL NEWS

USDA Seeks More Healthful School Meals. Plan Calls for Menus to Follow Dietary Guidelines With More Fruits, Vegetables - As part of a sweeping effort to help improve nutrition for schoolchildren and fight childhood obesity, the Agriculture Department is proposing for the first time to require schools to bring their cafeteria menus into compliance with the latest U.S. dietary guidelines. While the USDA has limited the sale of soda and some junk foods in school cafeterias, it has not required schools to implement the 2005 Dietary Guidelines, which call for increased consumption of whole grains, fruit and vegetables. Nor does it regulate vending machines, a la carte menus, or other food and beverages sold in schools outside the cafeteria, although a bill introduced by Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) seeks to have it do that. - April 7, 2007 Washington Post Read More

Healthier food and drinks slowly enter schools. These are welcome changes since 17 percent of Americans between the ages of 2 and 19, or 12 million of them, are overweight. But nutrition experts said the food and beverage industry needs to do more. "There are definitely healthier products in schools (today) than three years ago," said Joy Johanson, a policy analyst at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), a nutrition advocacy group that has negotiated with soft drink makers for healthier beverages in schools. "But there is still a long way to go." --April 13, 2007 Reuters Read More

HUNGER

NUTRITION NEWS

Study adds data that vegetables reduce cancer risk. New research is strengthening evidence that following mom's admonition to eat your vegetables may be some of the best health advice around. A large study of 500,000 American retirees has found that just one extra serving of fruit or vegetables a day may reduce the risk of developing head and neck cancer. Read More

Taste of Organic Food. Organic fruits and vegetables tend to score higher in taste because they are sweeter than conventionally grown foods. Why? Because organic produce is smaller in size and higher in nutrient density. Conventional farming methods are designed to produce bigger fruits and vegetables, but increasing cell size generally adds more water, diluting the concentrations of both vitamins and natural flavors. Organic apples, strawberries and tomatoes showed some of the most significant differences in taste, according to the report. Click here to download the complete report: Click here

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TRENDS

Ethanol Push Adds to Forces Lifting Food Costs. Americans face sizable increases in their grocery bills this year as a boom in ethanol production diverts more corn from the nation's dinner table to its gas tank. Indeed, their pocketbooks could feel the pinch for years to come. High corn prices, bad weather and steep energy costs have combined to make food a bigger potential contributor to inflation this year than it has been at least since 2004, when a cutback in dairy production boosted dairy prices and beef prices rose as mad-cow disease disrupted trade. - Wall Street Journal Read More

Organics: A Poor Harvest for Wal-Mart. After the retailing giant laid out ambitious plans to offer organic food last year, farmers say it's backing off -- April 12, Business Week Read More

Veal to Love, Without the Guilt. THE most successful animal rights boycott in the United States started more than 20 years ago and had nothing to do with foie gras. When photographs of formula-fed veal calves tethered in crates where they could not turn around appeared across the country, sales of veal plummeted. They have never recovered. In the 1950s and 1960s Americans ate four pounds of veal a year on average. Today per capital consumption is around half a pound a year. It wasn't until a few years ago that some farmers finally got the message and changed the way their calves were raised. Read More

U.S. Meat Supply To Drop As Corn Prices Rise The U.S. meat supply will fall by 1.7 pounds per person this year as demand for ethanol pushes corn prices to their highest level in a decade, boosting livestock feed costs. Beef, pork and chicken output will fall by 1 billion pounds, the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts. That translates to 220 pounds of meat and poultry per American in 2007, down from 221.7 pounds per capita in 2006. Feeders are using less corn and more wheat in their rations and are sending cattle and broiler chickens to market at lower weights because of rising costs. Farmers have indicated they will expand corn production by 15 percent this year, making a record crop possible. Food prices, meantime, will rise by 2.5 percent to 3.5 percent this year, USDA estimates. --April 13, 2007 CattleNetwork.com

NFU: Study Shows Ag Market Concentration Increasing. Agricultural market concentration is rising steadily, according to a study released today by National Farmers Union. NFU released the findings of a NFU-commissioned study conducted by Drs. Mary Hendrickson and William Heffernan of the University of Missouri on the concentration of agricultural markets. The statistics revealed increased concentration in every industry except ethanol production. The NFU study documents that the top four beef packers dominate 83.5 percent of the market, four pork packers control 66 percent of that market and the top four poultry companies process 58.5 percent of the broilers in the United States. Tyson Foods is listed in the top four of each of these categories. The retailing industry has been gradually increasing its degree of concentration, with the top five companies controlling 48 percent of U.S. food retailing, compared to 24 percent a decade ago. - April 16, NFU Read More

What's Happening to the Bees? Beekeeper James Doan first began finding empty hives last fall. Entire bee colonies seemed to have up and vanished, leaving their honey behind. Noting the unusually wet fall in Hamlin, New York, he blamed the weather. Unable to forage in the rain, the bees probably starved, he reasoned. But when deserted hives began appearing daily, "we knew it was something different," he says. Read More

Are Mobile Phones Wiping Out Our Bees? Scientists claim radiation from handsets is to blame for mysterious "colony collapse" of bees. It seems like the plot of a particularly far-fetched horror film. But some scientists suggest that our love of the mobile phone could cause massive food shortages, as the world's harvests fail. - April 15, The Independent UK Read More

Global Demand for Dairy Ingredients and Record High Feed Prices Drive Milk Prices to All-Time Highs Strong international demand for U.S. dairy ingredients, coupled with climbing corn and soybean prices, has caused milk prices to reach record highs recently, according to the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA). "Strong international demand and short global supply of nonfat dry milk, dry whey and lactose have steadily driven prices up in the past six months," said IDFA President and CEO Connie Tipton. "The price of nonfat dry milk has gone up about 30%, and the price of dry whey is at a record high; in fact, it's more than twice as high as it ever was before the current run-up in prices." -- April 10, 2007 IDFA Press Release Read More

Organic dairy farmers brace for milk glut. "It's a freak thing that all of a sudden we are having all this milk thrown at us."George Siemon,Organic Valley chief executive. The market for organic milk is expected to grow 25 percent this year, robust growth by most measures. Organic dairy farmers aren't kicking up their heels. That's because the organic milk supply is expected to grow by 50 percent. Spring flush, a time of year when the milk supply normally rises as cows graze on grass and produce more milk, might better be called spring flood this year. In a market that has seen nothing but growth, even shortages of supply, the situation has organic dairy farmers' concerned. Milk supply was on farmers' minds Friday at a regional meeting of members of the Cooperative Regions of Organic Producer Pools, the cooperative better known by its Organic Valley brand, at the DoubleTree Hotel Burlington. -- April 14, 2007 Free Press Read More

Contaminated wheat gluten in pet food has sharpened concerns over China's food exports and the limited ability of U.S. inspectors to catch problem shipments. Inspectors from the FDA are able to inspect only a tiny percentage of the millions of shipments that enter the U.S. each year. Even so, shipments from China were rejected at the rate of about 200 per month this year, the largest from any country, compared to about 18 for Thailand and 35 for Italy, also big exporters to the U.S. Chinese products are bounced for containing pesticides, antibiotics and other potentially harmful chemicals, and false or incomplete labeling that sometimes omits the producer's name. Over the past 25 years, Chinese agricultural exports to the U.S. surged nearly 20-fold to $2.26 billion last year, led by poultry products, sausage casings, shellfish, spices and apple juice, reported Bradenton Herald.

Imported food rarely inspected. Just 1.3 percent of imported fish, vegetables, fruit and other foods are inspected - yet those government inspections regularly reveal food unfit for human consumption. Frozen catfish from China, beans from Belgium, jalapenos from Peru, blackberries from Guatemala, baked goods from Canada, India and the Philippines - the list of tainted food detained at the border by the Food and Drug Administration stretches on. Add to that the contaminated Chinese wheat gluten that poisoned cats and dogs nationwide and led to a massive pet food recall, and you've got a real international pickle. Does the United States have the wherewithal to ensure the food it imports is safe? Food safety experts say no. With only a minuscule percentage of shipments inspected, they say the nation is vulnerable to harm from abroad, where rules and regulations governing food production are often more lax than they are at home. - April 16, Associated Press Read More

NATIONAL NEWS

Cold nearly wipes out Southeast fruit crops. Peach, apple and blueberry growers report heavy losses. In Georgia, farmers and agriculture officials were still assessing the damage, but the weekend freeze may have wiped out more than half the state's peach crop. In South Carolina, at least 90% of the peach crop was destroyed and officials will seek federal aid. - April 14, Modesto Bee Read More

FEDERAL AGENCIES ADVISED OF MISLEADING MILK LABELS AND ADVERTISING. Monsanto Company announced today that letters from more than 500 concerned individuals and Monsanto have been submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requesting action to stop deceptive milk labeling and advertising. The two letters outline how certain milk labels and promotions that differentiate milk based on farmer use of POSILAC bovine somatotropin (bST) are misleading to consumers and do not meet the standards set by laws and regulations for either the Federal Trade Commission or the Food and Drug Administration. - April 3, Monsanto Read More

Immokalee Workers Win Increased Pay From McDonald's. McDonald's USA, the largest fast-food burger business in the nation, Monday reached agreement with a Florida farmworkers organization to pay about 75 percent more for the tomatoes it buys from state farms. The Coalition for Immokalee Workers waged a two-year campaign for the increase. - April 10, Palm Beach Post Read More

EPA relaxes clean-air requirements for ethanol-fuel plants. The U.S. government said on Thursday it would allow corn milling facilities that make ethanol for fuel to spew more pollution before certain clean air rules are triggered, which could boost available ethanol supplies for blending into gasoline. U.S. ethanol is produced at corn milling plants for use as a fuel additive in gasoline or for human consumption in liquors. However, the facilities have different emission rules depending on the type of ethanol they produce. The Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule to treat the different ethanol producing plants the same when it comes to air pollution. - April 12, Reuters Read More

G-6 ministers promise new global trade deal this year. Trade ministers representing India, Brazil, Australia, Japan, Europe and the U.S. promised to conclude a new global trade deal by the end of 2007 at a press conference in New Delhi Thursday. The so-called G-6 nations also vowed to meet more frequently in the weeks ahead to revive the Doha Round of World Trade Organization (WTO) talks, which have been officially suspended since July of last year. - April 13, Brownfield Read More

Auditors criticize ag trade strategy. USDA rules are under fire as Congress works on a new farm bill. - - The Agriculture Department lacks a coherent strategy for boosting farm trade, auditors believe. The Agriculture Department disagrees, strongly. It's an unresolved fight, escalating just as California lawmakers try to boost federal spending on fruit and vegetable exports. With Congress now writing a new farm bill, there's millions of dollars at stake. But in their new report Tuesday, auditors warn that work remains unfinished from five years ago. At the very least, the alleged shortcomings show how even ambitious legislation can fall short. -- April 11, 2007 Fresno Bee Read More

Teresa Lasseter wants to stay focused on the mission of the Farm Service Agency as plans move forward to consolidate some of its offices. Except for a handful that have very few offices, virtually every state has submitted plans to close some county FSA offices, according to Lasseter. The purpose of the planed closures is to make the agency more efficient, she says. - April 5, Brownfield Read More

House Ag Subcommittee hears livestock market issues April 17, Brownfield Network. Read More

NFU President Testifies Against Market Concentration before House Committee. National Farmers Union President Tom Buis testified before the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry today on the negative effects of increased concentration and lack of competition in the agricultural marketplace and the need for Congress to take action in the next farm bill through a competition title. Buis called on Congress to immediately take necessary action to restore true competition in the marketplace for American farmers and ranchers. "Independent producers cannot be successful in the absence of protection from unfair and anti-competitive practices," he said. Buis outlined the provisions NFU would like to see included as part of a comprehensive competition title in the 2007 Farm Bill: Immediate implementation of mandatory country-of-origin labeling (COOL) for meat, produce and peanuts. Require USDA and all federal agencies enforce the Packers and Stockyards Act and other antitrust laws. Ban packer ownership of livestock to ensure independent producers have a place in the future of livestock production. Restore competition by requiring contracts be traded in open, transparent and public markets where all buyers and sellers have access to the same information. Stronger oversight and better enforcement of the Livestock Mandatory Price Reporting Act. End the ban on interstate shipment of meat to increase competition and economic, marketing and trade opportunities for rural America. Reform mandatory checkoff programs to become a truly voluntary program that earns producers' support and trust.Enhance contract producer protections by allowing producers adequate time to review contracts, prohibit mandatory arbitration, protect producers based upon membership in an organization or cooperative and prohibit confidentiality clauses. Read More

Grassley fears livestock price competition waning. Iowa Senator Charles Grassley is concerned about maintaining robust livestock markets. He says he'll ask questions about that at Wednesday's Senate Agriculture Committee hearing, which is to focus on competition issues in the livestock market. Specifically, fewer packing companies and packer livestock ownership have resulted in decreasing numbers of livestock being purchased from independent producers on the spot market, Grassley says. "I think this is the kind of vertical integration that we want to avoid, not only to protect family farmers as producers, but to protect the consumer and make sure that there's plenty of competition within agriculture," Grassley said Tuesday in a response to a question from Brownfield. The hearing is to include testimony from leaders of R-CALF, the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the National Pork Producers Council, among others. The Wednesday hearing comes on the heels of a similar hearing held Tuesday by the House Agriculture Committee. Read More

JOHANNS DISCUSSES USDA FARM BILL PROPOSALS FOR BEGINNING FARMERS. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns today described in greater detail a broad package of proposed changes to several titles of the farm bill that will help future generations of farmers and ranchers become established in production agriculture. Read More

Organic Valley Farmers Call for Permanent Injunction of GMO Alfalfa Organic Valley farmers are joining the Center for Food Safety in a fight against the sale of Monsanto's genetically modified (GM) alfalfa seed. Products certified under the USDA Organic seal cannot be genetically modified, and GM alfalfa drift threatens the integrity of certified-organic alfalfa crops, says the organic farmer-owned cooperative. "Consumers respect and trust what the USDA organic seal represents, which includes no GMOs," said Organic Valley CEO George Siemon. "If the seal no longer represents a GMO-free product, the integrity of the seal will be greatly compromised and consumers may no longer choose organic products. The organic dairy industry is now at approximately $1.4 billion in sales. GM alfalfa drift would severely impact the market for our farmers' products." -- April 17, 2006 Organic Valley Press Release Read More

Senate panel passes cloned food labeling bill. Products from clones and descendants move closer to stores -- If and when milk and meat from cloned livestock start showing up in your local grocery store, labels on the food would let you know if it came from a cloned animal or its progeny under a bill that moved forward in the state Legislature on Wednesday. The bill by Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco, was prompted by the Food and Drug Administration's recent preliminary conclusion that cloned cows, swine and goats are safe to eat. Although the FDA will continue gathering public comment until May 3, the agency is expected to adopt the preliminary decision as final. Migden said that regardless of whether one supports or opposes eating cloned animals, it is prudent public policy to at least let consumers know what's on their grocery store shelves. "It's a consumers' right to know measure," she said. April 12, 2007 SF Chronicle Read More

CDC Urges Dairy Price Investigation The California Dairy Campaign (CDC) and the National Farmers Union (NFU) are calling for USDA Inspector General Phyllis K. Fong to conduct an investigation into potential misreporting practices of non-fat dry milk (NFDM). In a letter to Inspector Fong, NFU President Tom Buis said the prices reported by the National Agriculture Statistics Service (NASS) have consistently been below actual prices in the marketplace, resulting in lower prices for dairy producers. Read More

U.N. Council Hits Impasse Over Debate on Warming. Britain and China faced off on Tuesday in the first United Nations Security Council debate on climate change, with Britain pushing the issue and China saying the 15-member body had no competence to deal with it. Read More

New source of pet food contamination. New Balance Pet Foods is recalling all its Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food and Venison & Green Pea Dry Cat Food in response to consumer complaints that animals were vomiting and experiencing kidney problems. The American Veterinary Medical Association says tests have found melamine in the food, but this time the contamination is from rice protein. Previous recalls involved contaminated wheat gluten. Like the wheat gluten, the contaminated rice protein concentrate was imported from China Read More

A Plan to Curb Farm-to-Watershed Pollution of Chesapeake Bay. Andy Young's dairy cows produce a lot of milk. They also produce a lot of manure. How much manure ends up in a nearby creek - and ultimately Chesapeake Bay - is the question at the center of an unusual effort to reinvigorate the bay's declining grasses, crabs, fish and oysters. Read More

NEW YORK STATE NEWS

COMMISSIONER ANNOUNCES $30 MILLION FOR DAIRY ASSISTANCE
Assistance for Financial Losses Incurred in 2006; Applications Due April 27, 2007
New York State Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker today announced the availability of applications for $30 million in State assistance for dairy farmers in New York State. Funding for the New York State Dairy Assistance Program was included in the 2007-08 State Budget to provide a direct payment to dairy farmers for milk produced during the 2006 calendar year. "Dairy farmers experienced one of the worst years on record in 2006," the Commissioner said, "and continue to struggle with low prices, escalating costs and acquired debt from the past year. We realize that time is of the essence and therefore our goal is to get this $30 million into the pockets of dairy farmers as soon and as fairly as possible. In order to guarantee every dairy farmer receives what they are entitled to under this program, farmers should not wait a single day to complete their application. Be sure to get your application for assistance completed accurately and in the mail by April 27." Read More

Small dairy farmers struggling in the Northeast bank on new protection act. In the last year, farmers have spent $16 to $18 producing each hundredweight of milk, while being paid an average of $12 for the product. The price to feed their cows has also risen because of a spike in grain prices, due to ethanol demand. Freshman representative Kirsten Gillibrand of New York is pushing for her first piece of legislation, the American Dairy Farmer Protection Act, to be attached to the Farm Bill. Although not well known for it, her state produces 7.2 percent of the nation's milk, third behind California and Wisconsin. The Northeast also consumes more milk than any other area of the country, reports Sarah Sutton of the Post Star in Glens Falls, N.Y. "While her long-term goal for the dairy industry is to facilitate a complete overhaul of the dairy pricing system, the congresswoman's initial attempt to improve conditions for dairy farmers includes increasing the floor on the price of milk, extending the federal Milk Income Loss Credit program and doubling the base amount of milk farmers can produce to be eligible for subsidies," writes Sutton. Gillibrand also plans to support sources of biofuel that do not use animal feedstock. She says her bill would support small dairy farms, and that she expects it to be resisted by large agribusinesses in the Midwest and West. She said small farms are essential in case of a bioterrorist attack, because large amounts of food could easily be compromised by hitting large farms. - April 13, Post Star Read More

New York Farm Net's Business Plan Consulting Featured at National Conference. New York Farm Net's business plan consulting will be among the featured projects at the National Farm Management Conference to be held June 12-14 in Rochester, Minn. New York Farm Net Communications Director Ed Staehr will share lessons learned in providing business planning assistance to agricultural producers. Staehr was recently selected to present at the conference, a joint event of the National Association of Farm Business Analysis Specialists, the National Farm & Ranch Business Management Education Association, and the North Central Farm Management Extension Committee. Read More

Cornell's new soil health test measures physical, biological properties as well as chemistry. The difference between visiting a doctor to treat a cold and a trip to the doctor for an annual checkup that offers recommendations for avoiding future illness is one way to appreciate a new soil health testing program being developed by Cornell University's Department of Crop and Soil Science. Soil health tests explore beyond the scope of traditional chemical tests, which measure soil nutrients and are used to determine the types and amount of fertilizer a given field may need to productively grow particular plants. Read More

SMALL BITES

"If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man." - Albert Einstein

WORTH READING

NAFTA at 13 - What Comes After NAFTA?
by: Ross Korves, Trade Policy Analyst, Truth About Trade & Technology Read Article

The Route of the Problem: Following U.S. consumerism through the fields of China and Brazil
By Tom Philpott 12 Apr 2007 Read More

How Food Became a Casualty of Biotechnology's Promise.
A new policy brief from the Oakland Institute, How Food Became a Casualty of Biotechnology's Promise, exposes how pharmaceutical conglomerates are using the agricultural sector to underwrite their research and development efforts as they work to transform plants and animals into drug and organ factories to further their profits. Read Article

Freeing the Farm: A Farm Bill for All Americans
by Sallie James and Daniel Griswold
( Sallie James is a policy analyst with Cato's Center for Trade Policy Studies and author of the Cato study "Milking the Customers: The High Cost of U.S. Dairy Policies" Daniel Griswold is director at the center and is coauthor of "Ripe for Reform: Six Good Reasons to Reduce U.S. Farm Subsidies and Trade Barriers." ) Read Article

Webcast Available of 2007 Farm Bill Discussion.
Author Michael Pollan moderates this discussion of the 2007 U.S. Farm Bill. Pollan thinks this could be the year that the bill will inspire widespread heated national public debate. 700 people attended this event, which was presented by the UC Berkeley School of Journalism. Speakers include Dan Imhoff, author of Food Fight: A Citizen's Guide to the Farm Bill; George Naylor, Iowa corn farmer and president of the National Family Farm Coalition; Ann Cooper, Director of Nutrition Services for the Berkeley, California, school system; Carlos Marentes, founder of the Sin Fronteras Border Agricultural Workers Project; and Ken Cook, president of Environmental Working Group. Listen Here

RESOURCES

OPPORTUNITIES

This is to serve as a reminder that farmers must apply (physically fill out all parts of the application) for the $30 million available through the New York State Dairy Assistance Program. Applications are due back to the Department by April 27th. Dairy farmers should have received an application in the mail yesterday or today. For those that have not received an application, applications are available at www.agmkt.state.ny.us, by calling 1-800-554-4501 or by visiting their local FSA office.

LOCALLY HATCHED BROILER CHICKS. Within the past few years two issues around air shipping of day old chicks have emerged as problems for pastured poultry producers: airlines hesitation to ship live animals, including chicks, resulting in uncertain and more expensive shipping and the effects of early stress on chicks that spend 48 hours or longer in transit, subjected to extremes of temperature and handling. NEPPA, after a SARE supported feasibility study, has opened a hatchery to offer New York State producers a local resource for chicks. Jill and Ken Gies of The Pasture have operated the hatchery for four full seasons, bringing the incubation equipment up to peak operating condition and perfecting their egg handling techniques. Successful incubation requires extremely precise temperatures, humidity and oversight. Ken and Jill have achieved hatch rates that equal the industry standard and are consistently over 80%. They also purchase eggs from a high quality source, ensuring that chicks start with good genetics and vigor, and they carefully inspect each chick at hatch and cull those that lack vigor or appear defective in any way. This results in lower brooder mortality at your farm. During the 2006 season the Hatchery sold 15,000 chicks to satisfied customers across New York. Hatches are scheduled every Tuesday from April through August. Chicks should be ordered 5 weeks in advance, with payment submitted at time of order. There may be a small number of chicks available on shorter notice. NEPPA is an all-volunteer organization devoted to helping interested individuals and families get started raising pastured poultry. Members are located throughout the greater NY Capital District and Northeastern NY. We sponsor formal and informal training and technical assistance on all aspects of pastured poultry production, coordinate utilization of a mobile processing unit, and can offer equipment or other loans to qualified families requiring assistance to get started. Our members are eager to pass on the gift of knowledge and experience to others looking for better know-how regarding pasture raised poultry and other animals. Hatchery Operated by: Jill & Ken Gies, The Pasture, 660 Fordsbush Rd, Fort Plain, NY 13339, 518-568-5322, giespasture@usadatanet.net

Community Markets is selling a 14' refrigerated produce truck. Its a 1997 Mitsubishi FUSO desiel with 130,000 miles. Its a 5 speed manual and is set up with racks for doing farmers markets (easily removed if you don't need them. It has 6 new tires. Its in very good condition. Asking price, $15,000. Parked in Ossining, Westchester County, NY. We used the truck for one season, exploring a mobile farm stand concept but decided not to continue the experiment. With sadness, we must sell the truck. I say with sadness because it is a pleasure to drive. Its a good truck. If you or someone you know is interested in buying our truck, please call or e-mail Jon at (914) 923-4837, jzeltsman@communitymarkets.biz

CALL TO ACTION

Articles are posted for informational purposes and do not necessarily reflect the opinions/stance or unanimous consent of the Board of Directors of NY Farms! and its members.

MONSANTO WANTS TO MAKE RBGH LABELING ILLEGAL. This week, Monsanto declared war on dairy companies that have chosen to ban the injection of their cows with Monsanto's genetically engineered Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH). Due to escalating consumer demand, an increasing number of large dairies around the U.S. have declared themselves rBGH-free in the last couple of years. Monsanto, the sole producer of the synthetic hormone, has seen substantial losses in sales as a result of this voluntary movement of the industry towards healthier milk. Although rBGH is banned in most industrialized nations, including Europe and Canada, due to its links to breast and colon cancer, the controversial drug remains legal in the U.S. This week, Monsanto filed a formal complaint with the FDA and Federal Trade Commission, demanding that labeling of rBGH-free diary products be made illegal. Learn more and get involved with OCA's "Millions Against Monsanto" campaign by signing on to our petition. Read More

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