Click here to download the July 2008 Work Team Bulletin.
A new state-wide work team aiming to help livestock farmers and small processors better deal with livestock processing issues. Download the color brochure here.
Let us know how we can help by answering these questions…
PRINT questions here.
Send replies to: SFWT on Livestock Processing, Rm 114 Morrison Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 or tls7@cornell.edu
Work Team Contact
Dr. tatiana Luisa Stanton, Cornell Cooperative Extension/ Animal Science Department, 607-254-6024, tls7@cornell.edu tls7@cornell.edu
The Opportunity
Consumer demand for locally produced, organic, “natural” and/or grass-fed meat, poultry and dairy products is expanding rapidly, and New York’s soil resources, topography, climate, rainfall, and consumer demographics make it exceedingly well-suited for these enterprises. Demand for these small farm products currently exceeds supply and is likely to continue growing for many years. Considering the size of consumer markets available, this represents a significant economic opportunity for New York’s farm families and rural communities.
Processing infrastructure and regulations appear to be key factors limiting the growth of value-added processing among small farms in New York. Timely access to slaughter facilities with the required USDA and/or NYS licensing is a major obstacle. Farmer groups and rural economic development programs in several regions of the state have been trying to address this issue over the past several years with limited success. Access to appropriately scaled processing equipment is also a barrier in many cases.
The opportunity exists to create a significant, positive, statewide economic impact by improving infrastructure, regulations, and technologies for the processing and marketing of animal products. The NY Small Farms Work Team on Livestock Processing Issues was organized in the summer and fall of 2007 to address this opportunity.
Work Team Goals
The goals of the Livestock Processing Issues work team are to:
1) improve communication and understanding among livestock farmers, small scale processors, and regulatory agencies;
2) publicize livestock processing resources and put together resource lists as needed;
3) identify current challenges in livestock processing and possible solutions or opportunities
A very important outcome for 2008 will be for the work team (with input from their resource base of small scale farmers/processors) to come to a consensus on the major regulatory barriers facing small scale livestock and dairy farmers and to follow this up with an agreed upon course of action. The team hopes that the development of a single state-wide plan will create efficiency and increased visibility in addressing the challenges. This plan of action will help legislators and rule makers to address regulatory concerns of small farms, perhaps reduce some the regulatory and infrastructure barriers faced by small farms in livestock processing, and improve the profitability of small NY farmers and processors.
Work Team Members
Activities to date, April, 2008
In October and November 2007, the 14 member core team was recruited and a list-serve on livestock processing issues established. The Work Team was publicized by sending out announcements and inviting input from USDA, NYSDAM, NY Farm Bureau and other relevant agencies and individuals.
Email Listserv. LivestockProcessing-L was launched in the fall of 2007, to facilitate communication among interested livestock farmers, small scale processors, extension staff, and agency representatives in New York and bordering states. It serves as a forum for 1) sharing processing resources, 2) discussing barriers to effective processing and potential solutions, and 3) publicizing regional efforts to improve or expand slaughter and processing facilities. As of April 1 the list serve is up to 257 members and has prompted a very active discussion, with several messages posted per day.
To join the email list serve: Send request, with name and email address, to the list moderators, tatiana Stanton at tls7@cornell.edu or Martha Goodsell at deerfarm6@frontiernet.net.
Key questions. After setting up the listserv, the Work Team developed a set of four key questions and has been seeking input from farmers, processors, and relevant agencies through the listserv and through outreach at events. With this input, their goal is to come to a consensus on some of the major regulatory barriers facing small scale livestock farmers and create a plan of action to improve processing infrastructures and regulations for NYS livestock farmers. The questions are:
Work Team Brochure and posters. The team developed and printed an outreach brochure and two posters explaining the Team’s purpose, goals, how to participate in the list serve discussion, and soliciting feedback on its three key questions. The brochure is available for download here.
Outreach at Events. The team has displayed its outreach materials and directly engaged farmers and others in the following events to date:
Resource Guide to Direct Marketing Livestock and Poultry. The team is working to revise and expand the new Resource Guide to Direct Marketing Livestock and Poultry. It is also publicizing the availability of the pilot version by publicizing its web link www.nyfarms.info/FAIDPaper.pdf periodically on LivestockProcessing-L and also by providing free CD and hard copy versions of it at their display table at conferences. We have also created a master list of slaughter houses and processing facilities which with cooperation from NYSDAM we are hoping to get on line.
Testimony to the New York State Council on Food Policy. On May 5th, the team presented the most pressing issues they had compiled from farmer surveys to the NYS Council on Food Policy in Rochester. The recommendations were extremely well received and forwarded on to New York Farm Bureau, and the offices of Senator Katherine Young and Assemblyman William Magee. They were also circulated on the list serve and disseminated among many in other states working on similar issues. The full testimony is available here.
Meeting with Clarence Davis. The team met with Clarence Davis, from NYSDAM Food Safety and Inspection who was filling in for John Arnold and had a very conducive meeting. Davis shared his concerns with field interpretations and the benefits a state inspected slaughter program could provide the industry. The interview with Davis is available here.
Upcoming activities
Upcoming Work Team Meeting is scheduled for late April, 2008. Most work team members will meet at the Albany County CCE office with video connection to Orange County CCE and Franklin County CCE. Joanna Green (Cornell Small Farms Program) will facilitate.
