HomeMy WebLinkAboutAAC 2024-12-11Agriculture Advisory Committee
December11, 2024
In-PersonPresent:Evan Carpenter (chair), Doug Antczak, Austin Beck, Steve Foote, Brian Magee, Kim LaMotteLiaisons:Jason Leifer (Town Board)Craig Schutt (Conservation Board)Staff:Allison
Kjellander-Cantu (Deputy Town Clerk)
The meeting was called to order at 7:47 p.m.
Review and Approval of Minutes from July 10, 2024 On a motion made by E. Carpenter, seconded byD. Antczak, the minutes of July 10, 2024, were unanimously approved as written
Nominationand Appointmentof Chair andMember Committee members requested that the town board pass this resolution,keeping E. Carpenter as Chairand S. Foote as Member for next year. No
one wasnominated, so members agreed to keep the chair and member as is. On a motion made by K. LaMotte, seconded by A. Beck, to keep E. Carpenter (Chair) and S. Foote (Member), was unanimously
approved to keep them as is
DISCUSSION/ACTION ITEMS
D. Antczak asked if anyone had heard of an update on the manure farm. J Leiferrespondedthat the town board has not received an update about the manure composting farm site on Dryden
Road. K. LaMotte wondered if Nan Stolzenburg from Community Planning and Environmental Associateswas still working on the zoning definitions regarding agriculture. An emailwas sent several
months agofor an update, but there has not been a response. J. Leifer informed that yesNan Stolzenburg is still working on the zoning definitions, and the board has not seen anything
yet. Conversation among the board about what defines “farm/s”. They all agree that having a handful of animals does not define them as having a farm. A. Beck mentioned that if you look
at the production cost of milk andthe cost of milk over the last 50 years, a major factor isthecost of productionincreases whiletheprice of milk continues to stay the same.It's all diluted
by cows so the more milk you make the more you can dilute the cost of production over the cows. Farmers rent out their land to other farms to keep their land zoned for agriculture.
He has seen dairy farms close or sell out like other service industries. D. Antczak asked whatwould happen if immigration changed in the US, and how this affectsfarm labor.“Farming is
a lifestyle, not a job,” Beck said. Beck is having a hard time finding laborers and is concerned about what will happen in the future if the US borders close.He mentioned within a few
years he will be looking at theH2A Program,USCIS.GOV (Temporary agricultural workers, allow US employers to hire foreign workers for temp or seasonal agrarian jobs when they can’t find
enough domestic workers).He is among the younger farmers in Dryden and has seen a lack of young generational farmers. Members agreed that the future of farming is concerning as there
are not as many smaller farms and that several farms have one or two family-owned farms. Dryden now has threedairy farms: Becks, Dedrick’s, and Shermans.Not too long ago there were six
dairy farms. There is the same number of cows in Dryden but fewer farms. The major shift in this component is the 105 pounds corrected. Consumers will pay more for value and components.
Better feed is needed to improve higher special A2 protein milk production. E. Carpenter said that his dairy herd was producing jerseys 120 pounds of milk a day with the components 10:22
on recordingProduction and components feeding animals different85-90% of states would have statistics for income There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:25 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Allison Kjellander-Cantu
Deputy Town Clerk