A34-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 8, 2003
Coalition Calls For Fair
Livestock/Poultry Markets
WASHINGTON, D.C A
broad based coalition of cattle,
hog, poultry, consumer, rural,
and other groups are asking Con
gress to take seven specific steps
to address market concentration,
restore livestock market competi
tion, and impart fairness in agri
cultural production and market
ing contracts. A letter signed by
127 organizations was recently
delivered to members of Con
gress. The letter describes the dis
mal condition of today’s markets
and presents a blueprint for
strengthening the vitally impor
tant livestock and poultry pro
duction sectors.
As a blueprint for remedying
the anticompetitive forces preva
lent in today’s livestock and
poultry markets, the groups are
asking Congress to enact the fol
lowing legislation that was intro
duced but not passed during the
last congressional session:
• Ban on ownership of live
stock by the biggest packers;
• Producer Protection Act to
establish minimum contract stan
dards;
• Transparency/minirmim
open market bill to prevent open,
competitive markets from com
pletely disappearing;
• Captive Supply Reform Act
to make livestock marketing con
tracts open and competitive;
• Clarify the meaning of undue
New Farmers Break Ground: New York Project Nurtures Immigrant Farmers
Adam Matthews
Cornell Small Farms Program
The U.S. has long been the
land of opportunity, as well as
the land of the farmer. The tradi
tion continues today in New
York with new immigrant farm
ers from six different countries in
Central and South America. Al
though these new immigrants
come from countries and cultures
with vast agricultural experience,
they face new challenges - when
they relocate. In the U.S., immi
grant farmers must overcome the
same obstacles as all other farm
ers while adjusting to a new
country and culture.
Now in its third year, Cornell
Cooperative Extension of New
York City’s New Farmer Devel
opment Project has been helping
new farmers overcome the chal
lenges of getting started in farm
ing. This collaborative program
between CUCE-NYC, Green
market-CUNY and the NYS De
partment of Agricul
ture and Markets was
developed to encour
age a new generation
of skilled farmers to
farm the land in
downstate New York.
The program works to
increase each produc
er’s ability to supply
New York City and
the region’s farmers’
market system by fa
cilitating the entry of
ethnically diverse indi
viduals into sustain
able agriculture.
The New Farmer
Development Project
recruits individuals in
terested in becoming
independent farmers
and/or working in
farm-related jobs, with
an emphasis on man
agement, , not farm
labor. The program
only accepts individu
als who have previous
farming experience
and who are interested
in direct (market-ori
ented) production, but
preferences to clarify that prefer
ential pricing is justified only for
real differences in product value
or actual and quantifiable differ
ences in acquisition and transac
tion costs;
• Close the poultry loopholes
in the Packers & Stockyards Act
to give USDA the authority to
bring administrative actions
against poultry dealers; and
• Bargaining rights for con
tract producers to close loopholes
in the Agricultural Fair Practices
Act of 1967 and to require pro
cessors to bargain in good faith
with producer organizations.
The coalition is encouraged by
the introduction of the prohibi
tion against packer ownership of
livestock and the livestock and
poultry arbitration bills in the
Senate on the first day of the
108th Congress. The groups hope
and expect that legislation ad
dressing all of the issues refer
enced in their letter will soon be
re-introduced in the new Con
gress, and urge their prompt and
full consideration by the House
and Senate agriculture commit
tees and other committees of ju
risdiction.
“Our country’s farmers and
ranchers are asking for nothing
more than a fair market and a
competitive share of the $9OO bil
lion that consumers insert into
the food and agriculture economy
who lack the necessary business
expertise to run a successful
farm.
The project consists of a pre
season series of training sessions,
called “La Nueva Siembra”, con
ducted at cooperative extension
offices in Manhattan. During the
growing season, participants uti
lize demonstration plots in Staten
Island, Far Rockaway, and Asto
ria, Queens. The Astoria site,
known as the Phoenix Triangle,
is operated in cooperation with
Goodwill Industries. A new site
will be added this year in Long
Island City, Queens, under the
sponsorship of Silver Cup Studi
os. At each site, participants are
trained in raising produce and
are assisted with marketing
through the NYC Greenmarkets
farmers’ markets.
Last year, 25 residents from
New York City and surrounding
counties participated in the proj
ect workshops and hands-on in
struction. Fifteen fully-attended
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Hoober Honors Customers At Banquet
HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) The farm equipment company Hoober, Inc. hosted
a customer appreciation banquet this week at the new Pennsylvania Farm Show
Complex. About 750 customers from Hoober’s Intercourse and McAlisterville
stores attended. Pictured above, from left, are Charlie and Sally Hoober, owners;
Tom Yohe, director and Farm Show exhibition coordinator; John Phipps, award
winning columnist with Farm Journal and Top Producer magazines, keynote speak
er for the evening; Sandy Hershey of the McAlisterville store; Daryl Peifer, sales
manager; and Brad Hershey, store manager at McAlisterville.
annually,” the letter concluded.
Kathy Lawrence of the Nation
al Campaign for Sustainable Ag
riculture, a member of the coali
tion, said, “The diversity of the
organizations signed on to this
sessions covered all aspects of
production important to new
farmers, including what to expect
the first year, marketing strate
gies, transport options, selecting
farmers’ markets, and niche and
ethnic markets. Some partici
pants also completed a certificate
“Short Course” in Hydroponics.
In its second growing season,
the New Farmer Development
Project conducted another series
of IS pre-season training sessions
for 25 new farmers. Land was
prepared in Long Island City for
use by participants interested in
demonstration plots. These new
sites allowed participants to
avoid long-distance weekly com
mutes to work out-of-town plots.
The success of the program is
already beginning to be seen. One
participant leased land in Up
state New York, and is
marketing eggs and pro-
duce at farmers’ markets
in Tribeca and elsewhere
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letter reflects how important is
sues related to competition and
concentration are to farm and
ranch families, their commu
nities, the economy, the environ
ment, and consumers. The unity
in New York City. Others have
taken positions, working with
local farmers as managers, or
with farmers at the market to as
sist with sales.
“Everyone benefits from this
program,” said Norma Brenes,
extension educator with Cornell
Cooperative Extension of New
York City. “The farmers get the
information and resources they
need to become successful,
Greenmarket is able to expand
and enrich their present farmers’
market operations, and consum
ers have a dependable source of
locally grown and ‘exotic’ fruits
and vegetables.”
The promise of developing new
farmers can be seen in the work
of similar programs in Massachu
setts and Minnesota.
As the number of new immi
grant farmers continues to grow,
programs like the New Farmer
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and solidarity among the groups
in the coalition is outstanding.”
For a complete copy of the co
alition’s letter to Congress, go to
http://www.sustain
ableagriculture.net/signOn.php.
Development Project will help
ensure the success of a new
generation of Americans.
“I think we’re beginning to see
the renaissance of the American
small farm,” said Joanna Green,
senior extension associate with
Cornell University’s Small Farms
Program. “New immigrant farm
ers are going to be an increasing
ly important part of that renais
sance.”
For more information about
the New Farmer Development
Project, contact Norma Brenes at
NYC-CCE, (212) 340-2950, or
HYPERLINK
“mailto:nbl l@cornell.edu”
nbll@comell.edu.
For information on a variety of
small farm topics, visit Cornell’s
Small Farms Web Site at HY
PERLINK “http://
www.smallfarms.cornell.edu”
www.smallfarms.comell.edu.
- For Men Oniy!