Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County is passing along a message and opportunity from the chair of the New York State Senate Agriculture Committee. We hope you will consider responding in an effort to strengthen the Agriculture Industry of our state.
A message to the Ag Community:
Michelle Hinchey, the Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee, would like to invite farmers, ag stakeholders, and others who work or are involved in the Ag field to partner to create our roadmap to strengthen the agricultural sector across New York State. To assist with those plans, they will be hosting a virtual Listening Tour. This gives them the opportunity to hear directly from those in the field on the various issues facing New York Agriculture as well as ideas and solutions for how they can begin to solve them. Their hope is to bring together a diverse group of representatives from all facets of the agriculture industry to share thoughts and ideas with members of the Senate Agriculture Committee.
Interested individuals or organizations should fill out this form by Monday 2/8 as they will look to hosting the listening tour virtually during the weeks of 2/15 & 2/22. Please include a brief description of the issue areas you would like to cover as a part of the form. You may also submit a full letter or written testimony if you are unable to attend virtually at the scheduled time and we will be sure to circulate your comments to all committee members during the Listening Tour. Their office will reach back out to schedule exact dates and times beginning on Thursday 2/11. Individuals should expect to be able to speak for between 3-5 minutes.
Speakers will be accommodated on a first-registered, first-served basis. Depending on interest, more sessions may be scheduled for later in the year. So, if you are unable to be a part of these first sessions, they will work to have more in the future.
Their committee is looking forward to hearing from the community about the issues most pressing to the agriculture industry and to working together to strengthen the New York State markets!
If you have any questions, please reach out to Alyvia Lewter, at alewter@nysenate.gov.
