HomeMy WebLinkAboutAG Minutes 2019-03-29 Town of Ithaca Agriculture Committee Meeting
Tuesday, March 26, 2019, 6:00 p.m.
Final Minutes
Members Present: Claire Forest, Debbie Teeter, Michael Casper, Christianne McMillan, Lisa
Ferguson
Town Representatives: Bill Goodman(Town Supervisor), Mike Smith(Senior Planner), Martin
Kelly (Code Enforcement)
Guests: Courtney LaMere (Wildlife Biologist,NYSDEC), Janice Degni(Field Crop Specialist,
CCE Cortland County), Robert Shields (Indian Creek Farm), Lisa Ripperton (3 Story Farm),
Mery McMillan(Steep Hollow Farm), Ariel Casper and Stacy Dimas (Casper's Farm)
1. Courtney LaMere, Wildlife Biologist, Big Game Program,NYS DEC
Discussion of Deer Damage Permits for farmers. Courtney covers Region 7, nine
counties from Oswego to Broome. The Town has applied for permission to conduct
community/residential control at baited sites. In the Tompkins County Deer Management
Focus Area in January,hunters can take 2 antlerless/day. Few permits seem to be
requested, so there's a need for outreach. Only 1 application submitted from a farmer in
the Town of Ithaca in last five years. Bait stations are designed to draw deer at a
predictable time and location, in a safe place,by providing a source of food. Bait cannot
be on ground during regular hunting season.
Permits for pest control, `nuisance' ag permit, allow after dark hunting,rifles OK, outside
hunting season OK, as soon as farmers see damage, call biologist, who will come out and
issue permits. Orchards tend to see damage in Jan/Feb, farms in June/July. Numbers of
deer taken must be reported. Tags are issued for hunters, and a log sheet maintained, not
individual permits for each deer taken. The venison donation coalition will accept
carcasses.
Lisa Ferguson would like permits to reduce deer numbers because meningeal worm
transmitted by deer is such a problem for her goats and all small ruminants. Deer
reduction would have to be preemptive. She would like a bait station. It's impossible to
use enough molluscicides to kill all the small snails that proliferate in damp conditions
and carry the tenuous brain worm from deer feces to other grazing animals. High doses of
worming meds can be given to goats if disease is detected but by then it may be too late
to save animal, and you can't medicate preventively or parasite resistance is a factor.
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Ms. LaMere says guidance documents from vets and state pathologists at Cornell do not
indicate that reducing deer numbers via permits will solve this problem. Discussion
about enlisting assistance from the County Ag and Farmland Protection Board and State
legislators. Deer damage from Town's point of view is different than deer damage from
farmer's point of view.
2. Janice Degni, Team Leader, Field Crop Specialist, CCE Cortland County
Discussion of industrial hemp and potential opportunities for Town farmers. State
issuing licenses to grow industrial hemp with priority for those who can participate in
research that advances growing recommendations for NYS. First permit issued in 2016,
and a hemp summit was held in 2017. Empire State Development needs to grant$ for
processing facilities. Cornell people interested in breeding and cultivar choices include
Larry Smart, Jamie Crawford, Rebecca Wilk, George Sytack, Julie Hanson, Joss Rose,
and many more.
The 2018 Farm Bill passed, which legalized hemp as long as active THC is less than
0.3%, measured 20 days before harvest. This will be regulated by DEA and Ag and
Markets. Plants over the limit would have to be destroyed. Seed cannot be saved year to
year. Signage to public should advise public that industrial hemp does not contain THC.
Local law enforcement must be notified of plantings.
Potential hemp market includes fiber for hemperete, clothing(14%),personal care (24%),
CBD (19%), food(19%), industrial applications like insulation (18%), supplements (4%).
Price paid ranges from 8 cents a pound for fiber to $50/pound for biomass for CBD
production. There is no processing for fiber in US.
Seed sold can be dioecious (male/pollen and female seed), monoecious, or feminized
seed, which costs more, as much as $1/seed, and can sometimes go rogue. Growers must
have research plan and security measures in place. Ag and Markets reviews the permits.
Michael Casper says he spent over $4,000 in testing levels of THC in the CBD hemp he
grew, at$40/test from a place in Maine. Long term goal is to find cultivars best for NYS.
Cultivars good for northwest US may not be best here. Used as a grain in foods it has
high protein, Omega 3 and Omega 6. CBD hemp is short, stocky, and branching. Fiber
hemp can be planted more thickly and is taller. Fiber must go through retting process to
break down lignin. Hemp can be affected by grey and white mold. CBD hemp needs to
be dried before processing. Former tobacco growers in Kentucky and Carolinas may be
taking up hemp production. Harvest in Sept/Oct. Casper had to hire 30 Amish in one day
to help with harvest.
Farmers must have money to invest or find investors and purchasers are not identified or
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guaranteed. It can cost$188,000 to put in 6,000 plants. Return could be $230,000. In
China, labor is cheap. This is a labor-intensive crop,raising seedlings,planting seedlings
by hand, irrigating, fertilizing, cutting, drying, stripping vegetative matter, storing.
Finding adequate space for drying is a challenge. Southern Tier Hemp will be looking to
produce CBD oil in Binghamton. When the 2018 Farm Bill is fully implemented it will
be better. Insurance is an issue.
3. Person to be heard: none
4. Members announcements and concerns: none
5. Chair and Coordinator reports: Debbie mentioned that she has now retired from CCE.
6. Ithaca Town Board report: Bill said that 2 farms at Ecovillage are up for sale; West
Haven Farm and Kestrel Perch.
7. Approval of Minutes: The January 29, 2019 minutes were moved by Claire Forest,
seconded by Michael Casper, all approved.
8. Regularports: Debbie will be continuing with Farm Bureau. The price of milk is low
yet people are nutritionally challenged. Pilot programs in Caroline and Enfield will
provide milk 8x a month to coolers.
There will be no Agstravaganza this year; lack of leadership in place to plan and execute
the event. Event was better at the Commons than at the mall and the downtown
leadership is happy to have the event.
EQUIP, new farmer grants, contact Jan Negley (Soil and Water) or Pat Berry(USDA).
NRCS administers and does technical support.
9. Other Business: none
10. Adjourn: 8:03 pm
Minutes drafted by Christianne McMillan.
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