News Release 

Date: Feb. 15, 2008

Contact: Rebecca Schuelke, communication specialist
Telephone: (315) 453-3823 extension 103
Cell phone: (315) 427-2714
Email: rschuelke@nyfvi.org


New York Dairy Industry Task Force elects executive committee


The New York Dairy Industry Task Force recently elected its first executive committee -- and charged the group with setting guidelines for implementing projects and initiatives of the New York Center for Dairy Excellence.

The New York Dairy Industry Task Force, the advisory group for the New York Center for Dairy Excellence, held the executive committee election in mid-January.

More than 80 members of the New York Dairy Industry Task Force identify and prioritize project work for the Center. The task force also has working groups that meet throughout the year in the areas of Business and Production Management, Economic Development, Environmental Stewardship, Human Resource Development, and Outreach and Communication.

The Task Force includes farmers, researchers, educators, agri-business representatives, government officials and others in the dairy community.

The executive committee consists of 10 people elected by the Task Force and a member appointed by the New York Farm Viability Institute. The nonprofit Farm Viability Institute launched the New York Center for Dairy Excellence in 2007; its board members are active producers nominated from groups that represent a diversity of New York agriculture.

``The Task Force designed the executive committee to include a mix of producers and agriculture service representatives. The consensus among the Task Force was to have a producer-majority in the executive committee,’’ said Mark Kenville, director of the New York Center for Dairy Excellence.

The executive committee met in January and appointed Connie Patterson, of Patterson Farms in Auburn, its chairperson. The executive committee:

NYFVI Representative:

Dave Wood: Wood is the secretary/treasurer of the New York Farm Viability Institute board of directors and chair of the Institute’s Dairy Committee. He operates Eildon Tweed Farm in West Charlton. The Dairy of Distinction has a milking herd of 370 cows and 600 acres of crops in production.

Dairy Farm Representatives:

Kerry Adams: Adams and husband Hal have operated their dairy farm in Shortsville since 1981. They currently have 160 Registered Holsteins and grow alfalfa, corn and soybeans on 450 acres. She is a graduate of Cornell University and has been a 4-H leader, County Junior Holstein Club Leader, president of the local school board, and member of the local library board. Adams is a member of Farm Bureau, Northeast Dairy Producers Association, and the NYS Holstein Association. She serves on the advisory committee for Pro-Dairy, the Dairy Committee for the NY Farm Viability Institute, and the NY Dairy Industry Task Force Business & Production Management Committee.

John Marshman: Marshman is a partner with his brother in Marshman Farms, a 400-cow dairy in Oxford. John is a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in animal science. He is a member of the Cornell University Department of Animal Science Advisory Board, as well the advisory board for Pro-Dairy and the Dairy Farm Business Summary. He is a past president of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chenango County, and chair of the finance committee for the New York Holstein Association. He is active in the Northeast Dairy Producers Association. John is on the NY Farm Viability Institute Dairy Committee and serves on the NY Dairy Industry Task Force Environmental Stewardship Committee.

Stephen Palladino: Palladino is a partner in Hardie Farms of Lansing, alongside Skip Hardie and John Fleming. Palladino has been involved at the dairy as employee/owner for 23 years. The operation includes 920 cows, and 1450 acres of alfalfa, grass and corn silage. He graduated from SUNY Morrisville and Cornell University. He serves on the board of the New York Animal Agriculture Coalition. He was a board director for Northeast Dairy Producers Association for two terms, and is a member of Class VII of LEAD NY. Palladino serves on the NY Dairy Industry Task Force Environmental Stewardship Committee.

Connie Patterson: Patterson is an operator of Patterson Farms in Auburn, along with her son Jon, his wife, Julie, and dairy manager, Bob Church. In operation since 1830, the seventh-generation family farm currently includes 2,100-acres and a 1,000-cow herd. Patterson retired after 26 years of teaching business in a local high school to farm fulltime. She serves on the New York Farm Viability Institute Dairy Committee and the Northeast Dairy Leadership Team. Connie co-chairs the Environmental Stewardship Committee of the NY Dairy Industry Task Force.

Rob Noble: Noble owns and operates Noblehurst Farm in Linwood, an 18-person partnership with members of the Noble family comprising half of the owners. Noblehurst Farm consists of 2,300 acres and a 1,500-cow herd. Noble is a graduate of Cornell University. He went into farming fulltime in 1979. He is a past Farm Bureau County president and is president of the Western New York Crop Management Association. He serves on the NY Farm Viability Institute Dairy Committee and is on the NY Dairy Industry Task Force Business & Production Management Committee.

Agriculture Service Representatives:

Julie Berry: Berry is the agricultural outreach coordinator for the New York Animal Agriculture Coalition, where she seeks to improve the business climate for animal agriculture through public relations. Previously, she worked as a dairy educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension where she received the Commissioner of Agriculture's Agriservice Award in recognition of her work developing regional Hispanic workforce programs. Berry serves on the alumni board of directors for Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She co-chairs the NY Dairy Industry Task Force’s Outreach & Communications Committee.

Jan Bitter: Bitter is a vice president/branch manager for First Pioneer Farm Credit in Homer, a position she has held since 1995. She oversees lending and financial services operations for an eight-county region in Central New York, representing $140 million in loan volume and $960,000 in financial services revenue. Bitter is responsible for a staff of 18 full- and part-time employees, as well as developing operating and capital budgets for the branch. She graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Agricultural Economics and received her M.B.A. from Syracuse University. Bitter is a board member and treasurer of the New York Agricultural Land Trust and serves on the Cornell Dairy Farm Business Summary Advisory Board. She is a member of the Dairy Promotion Committee of Onondaga County and serves as its treasurer. Bitter is on the NY Dairy Industry Task Force Business & Production Management Committee.

Dorthea Fitzsimmons: Fitzsimmons has been the animal science at Alfred State College since December 2002. She served on the task force that received $4.9 million from the state legislature for construction of new facilities for the Center for Organic and Sustainable Agriculture at the college. Prior to her position at Alfred State, Fitzsimmons spent 14 years as a practicing dairy veterinarian and technical service manager. She has a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University in animal science, a master’s degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison in dairy science, and a DVM degree from Cornell. Dorothea, her husband Randy, and their two sons, run a dairy with 75 head of registered Holsteins and Ayrshires in Leicester. She is a graduate of LEAD NY Class IV and has been involved in the creation of the Wyoming County Dairy Institute worker-training program. She serves on the NY Dairy Industry Task Force Human Resources Committee.

Tom Overton: Overton is associate professor in the Department of Animal Science at Cornell University. He serves as associate director of the PRO-DAIRY program at Cornell and works with statewide and regional teams to enhance the dairy industry in New York State. He has a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Illinois. Overton won the Cargill Animal Nutrition Young Scientist Award by the American Dairy Science Association in 2006 and the ADSA Foundation Scholar Award in 2007. He serves as co-chair of the NY Dairy Industry Task Force’s Business & Production Management Committee.

Jamie Zimmerman: Zimmerman is the general manager of Dairy One Cooperative. He oversees the information and laboratory services business, based in Ithaca, with gross sales of $18 million and employing 280 field employees throughout the Northeast, and 100 employees in laboratories in New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. He also is president of Eastern Lab Services, responsible for all milk producer payment-analysis at the facility in South Waverly, PA. Additionally, he is chief operating officer of Empire Livestock, which operates 10 livestock auction markets in New York State. Previously, Zimmerman was director of field services and farm management services at Dairylea Cooperative. Earlier, he was a partner and manager of Zimmerman Farms in Canandaigua, a 200-cow dairy operation. Zimmerman holds a B.S. in agricultural economics from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from Syracuse University. Jamie is a member of LEAD NY Class II and served on its board of directors. He is on the National DHIA board of directors and is co-chair of the NY Dairy Industry Task Force’s Business & Production Management Committee.




New York Farm Viability Institute is an independent, farmer-led nonprofit organization that directs and funds farm-level research to increase profits, reduce costs and other barriers, create jobs and encourage practical innovation on the farm. The Institute receives funds from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. Visit www.nyfvi.org.