New York Farm Viability Institute Website Press Releases 

March 9, 2007

Re: New York Farm Viability Institute launches New York Center for Dairy Excellence
Contact Person: Rebecca Schuelke, public relations specialist
(315) 453-3823 extension 103
rschuelke@nyfarmviability.org

Newly-launched New York Center for Dairy Excellence
promotes collaboration

The New York Center for Dairy Excellence will work to increase dairy farm profitability and build a stronger dairy industry.
The Center was recently formed under the New York Farm Viability Institute to provide coordination and leadership for collaborative, focused efforts that prioritize opportunities and obstacles to profitability on New York dairy farms and in the Northeast dairy industry.

``The New York Center for Dairy Excellence is in a unique position to bring together different people to work collectively. It’s an approach that will multiply and optimize New York’s dairy industry resources and expedite arriving at answers,’’ said Thomas N. Sleight, executive director of the New York Farm Viability Institute.
The Center will work to enhance and better utilize existing resources and will focus efforts on elements within the control of individual producers, Sleight said.

A New York Dairy Industry Task Force will be established to work closely with the Center and the Farm Viability Institute’s existing Dairy Committee. Representation will reflect the diversity of the dairy industry, including farms of different sizes, geography and production practices, as well as agri-business, New York Department of Agriculture and Markets, Cornell University and Cooperative Extension, State University of New York schools, farm groups and agencies and others.

New York State Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker said, “The Center for Dairy Excellence will be a critical component to advancing our dairy industry, as well as the mission of the Northeast Dairy Leadership Team in ensuring a vibrant and profitable dairy industry for the entire Northeast. We are pleased to have been able to provide the seed money to get this exciting new initiative off the ground, and anticipate many great solutions and successes.”
Gary Heckman will serve in an advisory role to help in the establishment of the New York Center for Dairy Excellence. Heckman, who is the executive director of the Center for Dairy Excellence in Pennsylvania, will provide assist to the New York center through July.

``Gary has the experience and wisdom to guide the Farm Viability Institute on the right path,’’ said John Lincoln, chair of the New York Farm Viability Institute board of directors. ``The New York Center for Dairy Excellence is an exciting, new approach to make real and positive changes in the northeast dairy industry.’’
The New York Center for Dairy Excellence will collaborate with the Center for Dairy Excellence in Pennsylvania and Vermont’s dairy leadership to seek solutions and coordinate efforts to reduce obstacles to success in the Northeast dairy industry. The dairy centers will work with the Northeast Dairy Leadership Team, forged from an agreement to work collaboratively and regionally that was initiated in June by the departments of agriculture from each of the three states.

In addition to the Center for Dairy Excellence, the Institute has funded two dozen projects throughout the state that are addressing a variety of barriers to success in dairy farming, including business and transition planning, farm uses for waste milk, organic dairy management training, distribution systems for value-added products, bilingual employee management, farm startup, manure management and more. Later this year, New York Farm Viability Institute will pilot a two-year dairy farm team project on 10 farms in two New York counties.

New York Farm Viability Institute is an independent nonprofit and farmer-driven organization that directs and funds practical, on-farm research that results in increased profits, reduced expenses, job growth and farm stability.
 

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