On January 14, 2010, about 60 agriculture professionals from NH gathered for an update on risk management issues in Concord, NH. Jean Conklin, Loan Officer and Farm Tax Specialist, from the White River office, and Shantel Thomas, Crop Insurance Agent, from the St. Albans office attended the meeting to represent Yankee. Farm Credit East was represented by David Bishop and Carol Zintel of the Bedford office.
Topics covered included:
· recent and proposed legislation impacting NH farmers;
· Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and its implementation on the farm;
· updates from NRCS, FSA and the NH Coalition for Sustaining Agriculture;
· Risk Management Agency (RMA) Opportunities and Programs and with an update by Shantel Thomas of Crop Growers, LLP; and
· dairy industry outlook and a dairy products and marketing panel which included presentations by Shirley Tullar of Berway Farm in Lyme, NH which has recently started bottling grass fed milk and Robin Chesmer of The Farmer’s Cow in Connecticut.
Lorraine S. Merrill, NH Commissioner of Agriculture, Markets and Foods, addressed the group about the Keep Local Farms initiative.
