Kevin Bittner re-elected president of Niagara County Farm Bureau
Organization weighs in on many local, state and federal issues
Provided photo: Pictured from left include President Kevin Bittner, Vice President Mark Russell and Treasurer Max Russell.
Press Release, Niagara County Farm Bureau
LOCKPORT – Niagara County Farm Bureau held its annual meeting on Thursday evening. The agenda including adopting resolutions concerning local, state and national issues.
Locally, this included supporting funding for Niagara County’s Cornell Cooperative Extension and the Niagara County Soil and Water Conservation District. Also, the group supported establishing a county wide drainage district.
On the state level, the resolutions covered a wide range of topics. They supported including backyard chickens in the definition of urban agriculture, expanding the deer damage (aka nuisance) permits, improving cellular service and improvements to the electrical grid.
Other state issues included NYS finalizing grant contracts and their reimbursement on a timely basis. The NYS Strategic Interagency Task Force Lessening Obstacles to Agriculture Working Group (SILO committee) was also supported.
Federal issues also covered a variety of issues. There are a myriad of GAP (Good Agricultural Practices) certifications. Niagara County Farm Bureau supported retailers who accept SNAP benefits us the USDA Harmonized Plus GAP only.
Mancozeb is a product used in apples, grapes and onions. There is a proposal to restrict how it is used that does not align with current scientific research. Farmers who use these products want the current regulations to stay in place. The third issue dealt with the electrification of farm vehicles and the need to support those with incentive programs available to other motor vehicles.
Updates from Kevin Bittner, John Wagner, Brad Macaulay, and Matthew Sweeney completed the evening. Bittner reviewed the year, including updates on State Annual Convention, PX Days, County Fair Corn Booth and The Ag Literacy Week.
The Corn Booth was the most successful ever and during Ag Literacy weeks many farmers participated by going to schools and reading the selected book. He thanked outgoing board members Cassie Voelpel and Jeannette Miller for their service.
Wagner talked about the upcoming State Annual Convention and Young Farmers and Ranchers Program. A new feature of the State Annual Convention is bring a non-member. Nationalwide Insurance will sponsor a county resident who is not currently a member of Farm Bureau but would like to learn more at that gathering.
Macauley talked about the changes at New York Farm Bureau with the new Executive Direction Deanna Fox. He reviewed some of the legislative policy successes and encouraged everyone to attend the convention and the PX (Policy Execution) lobbying days.
The expansion of the Royalton Hartland Ag Program was Matthew Sweeney’s topic. There is now a youth FFA, called the Green Team, in the elementary school. He described many community interactions with the students and announced they have two teams going to compete at the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis. One of the most exciting new features of the program is the college credit course now offered. Working with Cobleskill, students earn 9 college credits when successfully completing the course.
The evening ended with the Board Elections. In addition to Bittner’s re-election, Mark Russell will continue as Vice President. New directors are Josh Bieber and Nick Sparks. Trevor Ganshaw, Kelly Raby and Max Russell were all re-elected to their positions.
Farm Bureau membership is open to those who farm, those who are involved in agribusiness and anyone who eats. For more information about membership or how you can volunteer, call (716) 735-7791 or email niagcofb@yahoo.com.
