Facebook brings a flood of relief to frazzled farmers - New York Farm ...

Page 20 Grassroots November 2011
NYFB helps untangle red tape
Continued from Page 1
at the time I did not think we would see
so many farm distilleries open their
doors”.
With the assistance of two committed
and enthusiastic legislative sponsors
— Sen. Bill Larkin and Assemblyman
Bill Magee — and a big lobbying
push, the legislation was signed into
law and became effective in 2008.
“I am thrilled that this legislation
has led to a resurgence in the craft distilling
business in the Hudson Valley
and throughout New York State,” said
Sen. Bill Larkin (R-Cornwall-on-Hudson).
“It illustrates what can be accomplished
when small businesses and the
Legislature work together to solve problems
and allow an industry to flourish.”
A thousand distilleries
As Stephen Osborn, a winery member
in Marlborough, the Hudson Valley
said, “In the 1800s, there were over
a thousand distilleries in the Hudson
Valley, while after prohibition and after
cracking down on bootlegging, in the
1930’s there were none.”
For Stephen and his wife, Kim Wagner,
establishing the farm distillery license
was as critical as the actual text
of the legislation. Stephen and Kim
wanted to have not only their winery
business, but also wanted to establish a
farm distillery to give customers another
reason to visit Stoutridge Vineyard.
“Making sure that the legislation
allowed us to have two separate manufacturing
facilities, but share a tasting
room, counter, and sales staff was key,”
said Stephen.
“Previously, if we had been able to
afford the licensing fee to establish the
distillery, we would have been required
to maintain completely separate facilities,
and as both of our businesses are
small we simply couldn’t afford to do
that. NYFB helped us make the connections
with our legislators and their
Continued from Page 1
of Facebook, realize that this posting
was not even copied from the Shafer’s
own Nanticoke Gardens Facebook
page. It was clipped from a Facebook
page called “Flood Relief Volunteers,”
who got it from someone else, who got it
from…and so it goes.
A completely separate Facebook
page called “flood clean-up” also posted
calls for volunteers. Judi Whittaker was
listed as one of 31 people who had confirmed
that they would be there, with
another 19 listed as “maybe.”
In the list of those committed to
showing up and helping with clean-up,
one learns how many other people these
volunteers have officially “friended:”
140 for one of them, 197 for another, 258,
167, and even 780, and that’s not even
the whole list.
That means—potentially—more
Thomas Earl McKenzie and Brian McKenzie own and operate Finger Lakes Distilling
- the region’s largest craft distillery. The distillery, located on the eastern side of
Seneca Lake, uses locally grown fruit and grains to produce high quality, handmade
spirits.
staff that we needed to explain why this
was an important distinction to have
in the farm distillery license. We are
looking forward to establishing the distillery
component of our operations in
2012.” he added.
An eye-opening experience
While NYFB’s focus was on assisting
our farmers to establish their own farm
distillery, should they chose to diversify
in that direction, entrepreneurs like
Brian McKenzie were a tremendous
part of securing passage of the legislation.
“I’ve gone from an idea and some
plans on paper, to sourcing locally grown
products from about 20 farms a season,
employing 18 full and part-time employees,
and now have entered the distribution
chain, selling primarily in New
York but also breaking into new markets
in Chicago,” said Brian.
“Taking the time to spend a day in Albany
and trying to convince legislators
to allow me to open a new business, to invest
in New York and in the agricultural
community was an eye-opening experience
for me.”
“The reality is that I sell half of
what I produce out of my door, and
without the ability to do those direct
sales, which were prohibited before
NYFB helped change the law, I simply
wouldn’t be here today.”
Facebook brings a flood of relief
than a thousand friends were notified of
Nanticoke Gardens’ cleanup day with
one click of the mouse by “friends” of
Nanticoke Gardens. Another 378 people
who had not committed either way—to
attend or not attend—might also have at
least passed along the call for help.
Fifteen miles to the west, in Apalachin,
N.Y., vegetable farmer Lisa Bloodnick
holds a fall harvest party every
October for her CSA (community supported
agriculture) supporters and
other loyal customers. This year, she
turned it into a fundraiser for floodstricken
farmers.
In her Facebook posting, she wrote,
“Sunday, October 16, 1-6 pm, Bloodnick
Family Farm will be hosting a Farm
Party at 979 Pennsylvania Ave., Apalachin.
625-4141. Help us celebrate the
strength and resilience of our community
while helping us raise donations
for some of our local farms that were
damaged in the wild weather this season.
Music, fun and friends. Potluck—
please bring a dish to pass. Everybody
invited and welcome. Please spread the
word.”
October 9 saw a “Rock the Flood”
fund-raising concert at Country Pines
Restaurant in Endicott. More than 3,000
people had “likes” its Facebook page. At
the time of writing, a similar rock concert
is slated for the Village of Schoharie
in mid-October.
Smartphones made the social networking
process even faster, even more
“real-time,” noted Jim Saddlemire, vice
president of Schoharie County Farm
Bureau. On-the-spot pictures were sent
directly among farmers, friends, family,
neighbors, and first-responders. “Oh,
yeah, there was a lot of that.”
Regs change for minors on farms
By Nicole Willis
nwillis@nyfb.org
The U.S. Department of Labor has
proposed federal child labor standards
that will affect the employment of
youth on all farms throughout the U.S.
The proposed regulations would alter
what type of work will be considered
hazardous to the welfare of children.
The proposed regulations plan to remove
two certification programs that allow
youth to operate tractors and farm
equipment, expand prohibitions against
working with animals, limiting work involving
construction, communications,
roofing, wrecking, demolition, operation
of hoists, and being above elevations
greater than 6 feet. It would also prohibit
tasks that fall within the job of “pesticide
handler,” and would also prohibit
the use of electronic devices while operating
power-driven machinery. While
changes such as electronic devices are
common sense and we support the safety
of youth working in agriculture, these
regulations will drastically change how
farms are able to employ youth whether
related to the family farm-owner or if
from the local community.
By decreasing the opportunity and
the ability of the next generation to
work on our family farms, the potential
“recruitment pool” for new farmers
will be drastically limited. Many
of our current farmers started out not
necessarily by growing up on their own
farm, but by working on a neighboring
farm and developing a love for farming
which translated into a farm business
venture as a career. These regulations
will not only limit the ability of partners’
children, nieces and nephews, to
work on our family farm operations,
they may also discourage future agricultural
business entrepreneurs and
farmers by limiting their exposure to
our farm families early on in life.
AFBF and NYFB have submitted a
request for an extension of time for the
comment period, which is due on November
1. Both organizations are also
submitting official comments, but in
the meantime, members may e-lobby on
this issue at www.nyfb.org.
As changes are implemented NYFB
will update on what can be expected
from these regulations and how these
will impact your farm.
Baehrel
managed
storm crisis
one farm
at a time
By Alan Knight
aknight@nyfb.org
Even as the flood waters were rising
in the Schoharie Valley on the night of
Aug. 28, mobile technologies provided
a highly decentralized flow of information.
There was no need to depend on a
central authority to direct all responses.
Modern communications technology
empowered people to gather
information, report it anywhere and
everywhere they chose, and act on their
own.
Even so, having the right people
in the right place makes a difference.
From a Farm Bureau perspective, the
prompt appointment of field advisor
Bambi Baehrel as a matchmaker—
matching needs for assistance to offers
of assistance paid dividends. Press releases
sent out by Farm Bureau and
other organizations listed her phone
number and e-mail address.
“After that, people started calling me
out of the blue,” Baehrel recalled. She
would get calls about farmers in need.
She would get calls from farmers a hundred
miles distant, offering free silage
and hay that flooded farmers could feed
their livestock. Then she would enter it
all on a spreadsheet to keep track of it
and call people back to patch deliveries
together.
Leaders of Otsego County Farm Bureau
got one of her e-mails. It mentioned
a need at the Van Aller Farm—a dairy
farm in Middleburgh—for a specific number
of 2-by-4s, planking, etc., to repair the
siding on a barn. Through some combination
of “I know someone who knows
someone,” phone calls, and e-mails, a
solution was contrived by the Otsego volunteers:
Jason Harter had some hemlock
saw-logs. John Stucin ran them through
his sawmill. Harold Palmer trucked them
the 50 miles to Van Aller’s. Stucin also
pledged 500 bales of hay.
Otsego County Farm Bureau is also
collecting donations, said Palmer, who
was elected vice president of Otsego
County Farm Bureau in the middle of
all this.
“One of the problems is that some of
the farmers aren’t ready yet to receive
these donations,” said Baehrel. “The
place needs to be cleaned up or repaired
first, otherwise they end up having to
move the donated feed a couple of times.”
And the calls continue to come in.
NYFB teams up
with Google
New York Farm Bureau is partnering
with Google for New York Get Your
Business Online—an easy, free and fast
way to build a website for your farm or
business. Through this program, you’ll
find everything you need to get started.
Web professionals will be at your side
every step of the way. Google will also
provide the computers or a plug-in for
your own laptop.
If your farm or business is already
online, you’ll find tools and resources to
help you better succeed.
Google will be holding two events in
November to kick of the program: one
on Monday, Nov. 14 in Troy; the other
Buffalo on Friday, Nov. 18. At these
events, you will be able to create and
publish a free website for your farm or
business in less than 60 minutes.
For more information on the program,
visit www.newyorkgetonline.
com.