Car Pool
Contact Tammy Graves for car pooling/ride sharing from Herkimer, N.Y. and Syracuse N.Y. - NYS Thruway.
315-858-0163, gravesarborgraphics@yahoo.com
Call for Attendance to Sen. Gillibrand Dairy Hearing
______________________________________
Legislative Responses to the Dairy Crisis:
Reforming the Pricing Structure in Batavia
Who: Dairy Farmers
When: Thursday, Aug. 27 - 2 p.m.
Where: Batavia, NY - Genesee County Community College (in the forum of main building on campus)
Why Attend: Sen. Gillibrand is Chair of the Subcommittee that deals with the federal milk marketing orders. The committee name is Domestic Foreign Marketing, Inspection, and Plant and Animal Health.
*Hearing Goals: Identifying the major problems of the current dairy pricing system and determining effective solutions moving forward. Below is a list of witnesses for Panel I and Panel II.
*Bring or submit written comments to the hearing, where they will be collected at the end, email comments dairyhearing@gillibrand.senate.gov or mail comments to Rochester Office at Kenneth B. Keating Federal Office Building, 100 State Street, Room 4195, Rochester, NY 14614.
_______________________________________________
RSVP to Sen. Gillibrand's Rochester office: (585) 263-6250 or email to dairyhearing@gillibrand.senate.gov
______________________________________
Car Pool
Contact Tammy Graves for car pooling/ride sharing from Herkimer, N.Y. and Syracuse N.Y. - NYS Thruway.
315-858-0163, gravesarborgraphics@yahoo.com
Directions:
Take I-90 NYS Thruway. Turn right on Route 98. Turn right on West Saile Road. Turn right again on Bank Street. Turn left on Assemblyman Hawley Drive. College on left. Park anywhere. Proceed to main building behind the clock.
Genesee County Community College
One College Rd. Batavia, NY 14020 Phone: (585) 343-0055 | (866) CALL-GCC
Announcement letter below:
Dear Fellow New Yorkers,
As the first U.S. Senator from New York in nearly 40 years to sit on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, one of my top priorities is to ensure our farmers get a fair price for their milk. Recently, I was appointed Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Domestic and Foreign Marketing, Inspection, and Plant & Animal Health, which deals with the federal milk marketing orders. As one of my first acts as Chairwoman, I will be holding a hearing entitled Legislative Responses to the Dairy Crisis: Reforming the Pricing Structure in Batavia, NY on August 27th, 2009, and would like to formally invite you to attend.
This hearing will have the specific goals of identifying the major problems of the current dairy pricing system and determining effective solutions moving forward. Two panels of witnesses, who are experts from across the state and include producers, processors and economists, will present testimony to the committee followed by question and answer periods. Below is a list of each panels witnesses.
Panel I Producers and Processors
Barb Hanselman Barb served on the local Farm Service Agency (FSA) committee and is a candidate for the state FSA committee. She owns a dairy farm in Delaware County and is actively involved in the farming community.
Robert Church Robert is the herd manager of Patterson Farms, a 980 cow farm just west of Auburn, NY. The farm was the first in Cayuga County to complete a voluntary certification through the New York State Cattle Health Assurance Program.
Robin Keller Robin and her husband Kip milk 100 cows in Byron, NY. She is the director for the New York Jersey Cattle Club and the President of the Genesee County Farm Bureau. She volunteers with the local 4H and Holstien clubs as well.
Bruce Krupke Bruce is the Executive Vice President of the Northeast Dairy Foods Association, which is a full service trade association that includes processors, distributors, cheese and ice cream manufacturers, and producers.
Ron McCormick Ron is a former representative on the National Dairy Board, which develops and administers a coordinated program of dairy promotion, research and nutrition education. They are funded by a 15 cent per hundredweight fee levied on all milk marketed commercially by producers.
Panel II Economists and Experts
Dean Norton Dean is a dairy farmer and agricultural consultant from Batavia, and was elected President of New York Farm Bureau in 2008.
Andrew Novakovic Andrew is a professor at Cornell University who specializes in the economics of dairy markets. He is the director of the Cornell Program on Dairy Markets and Policy.
Bob Wellington Bob has represented Agri-Mark at all Federal Order hearings since joining the cooperative in 1989. He serves as a member of the National Milk Producers Federation Federal Order and Price Support Committees and is a director and treasurer of the Council of Northeast Farmer Cooperatives.
Kim Pickard-Dudley Upstate Niagara Co-op is a full service dairy co-operative located in Western New York and owned by dairy farmers. They operate milk processing plants in Buffalo and Rochester and have a distribution center in Syracuse.
The hearing will be held at Genesee Community College at 2 PM in the forum of the main building on campus. The following are directions to Genesee Community College: Take Exit 48 off the New York State Thruway. Turn right on Route 98. Turn right on West Saile Road. Turn right again on Bank Street. Turn left on Assemblyman Hawley Drive. The college will be on your left. Park anywhere and proceed to the main building behind the clock.
Since this is a formal Senate Committee hearing, only the panelists will have an opportunity to present their testimony and participate in the question and answer period. However, if you have written comments you would like to submit, feel free to bring them to the hearing, where they will be collected at the end, email to dairyhearing@gillibrand.senate.gov or mail to our Rochester Office at Kenneth B. Keating Federal Office Building, 100 State Street, Room 4195, Rochester, NY 14614. If received within five days of the hearing, these comments will be submitted for the official record.
If you would like to attend the hearing, please RSVP to our Rochester regional office by calling (585) 263-6250 or sending an email to dairyhearing@gillibrand.senate.gov.
I hope that you are able to attend this very important hearing. If you have any questions, feel free to contact my staffer Jon Cardinal at (202) 224-4451.
Sincerely,
Kirsten E. Gillibrand