CoBank and the Northeast Cooperative Council (NECC) held a joint meeting in Albany, NY on February 25-26. CoBank held its Northeast Customer Meeting. The NECC held its annual Cooperative Leaders Forum. The theme for this year's forum was Cooperating in Turbulent Times.
Bob Engel, CoBank's President and CEO, discussed CoBank's financial results for 2008. Net income was a record $533 million. The patronage distribution was $314 million, or 59% of net income. CoBank ended the year with $61 billion in assets and excellent credit quality, with 98.4% of loans in the top two categories for credit quality.
New York Commission of Agriculture Pat Hooker addressed the attendees, as did a variety of interesting and informative speakers. (Click here for a press release describing the agenda.) Over 120 northeast cooperative leaders attended the meeting, including eight directors and managers from Yankee.
UPDATE 3/11/09: Speaker presentations from the NECC meeting are posted here. Guest speaker presentations from the CoBank meeting are posted here.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Statehouse Dairy Reception
Senior Vice President Ken Buzzell attended the annual Dairy Reception hosted by Green Mountain Dairy Farmers Cooperative Federation, Inc. at the Vermont Statehouse on Wednesday, February 25th. The reception is an opportunity for dairy farmers and dairy industry representative to meet with legislators to let them know about issues concerning the dairy industry.
Leon Graves of Dairy Marketing Services spoke on behalf of the Federation stressing the importance of preserving the financial strength of dairy farms and the infrastructure of the dairy industry. Governor Jim Douglas spoke on the importance of dairy to the economy of the state both from direct dollars, the tourist trade and preserving the rural landscape. The most important part of the reception was the one-on-one conversations between legislators, dairy farmers and dairy industry representatives making them aware of the challenges being faced.
Leon Graves of Dairy Marketing Services spoke on behalf of the Federation stressing the importance of preserving the financial strength of dairy farms and the infrastructure of the dairy industry. Governor Jim Douglas spoke on the importance of dairy to the economy of the state both from direct dollars, the tourist trade and preserving the rural landscape. The most important part of the reception was the one-on-one conversations between legislators, dairy farmers and dairy industry representatives making them aware of the challenges being faced.
St. Albans Co-op Annual Meeting
Congratulations to the St. Albans Cooperative Creamery, Inc., which held its 90th annual meeting on Saturday, February 21st. Vermont Secretary of Agriculture Roger Allbee was among the people who addressed the attendees. Co-op leaders, industry experts and staff representatives of Sen. Patrick Leahy, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Peter Welch also spoke.
Several vendors set up booths at this meeting each year, including Yankee's Shantel Thomas. Shantel enjoys talking with farmers about the risk management benefits of crop insurance. If you have questions about crop insurance, please e-mail Shantel or call her in our St. Albans office at 802-524-2938 or 800-545-1097.
UPDATE 3/23/09: The St. Albans Co-op newsletter dated March 25, 2009 has a good discussion of the annual meeting, including pictures. See pp. 6-7.
Several vendors set up booths at this meeting each year, including Yankee's Shantel Thomas. Shantel enjoys talking with farmers about the risk management benefits of crop insurance. If you have questions about crop insurance, please e-mail Shantel or call her in our St. Albans office at 802-524-2938 or 800-545-1097.
UPDATE 3/23/09: The St. Albans Co-op newsletter dated March 25, 2009 has a good discussion of the annual meeting, including pictures. See pp. 6-7.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Vermont Farm Show
The 2009 Vermont Farm Show was held January 27-29 at the Barre Civic Center. Many exhibitors were on hand, including Yankee Farm Credit. Senior Vice President Ken Buzzell and Vice President Jeff Temple, pictured here, were among the many Yankee staff attending the farm show.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Dairy Farmer Appreciation Day
We would like to thank Jay Peak Resort, in Jay, VT for hosting the 2009 Dairy Farmer Appreciation Day on Friday 1/30/08. This was the 21st anniversary of this incredible event which gives busy Vermont dairy farmers a chance to play on the mountain during their slowest time of the year. Each Vermont dairy farm has the opportunity to take advantage of discounted rental equipment, free lessons and up to three complimentary lift passes. An après-ski party is held following the day on the slopes and fun events are held throughout the day. If you missed it this year, mark you calendars for next January! It is a great chance to enjoy what the Vermont winter has to offer. For more information please check out the Jay Peak website.
Are you the pig or the chicken?
Andrew Meyer asked the audience this question during his keynote address at NOFA Vermont's 27th Annual Winter Conference: "Are you the pig or the chicken?" He was asking if people were committed (to the theme of the conference) or if they just had a passing interest, and he was analogizing to what he called the "Ham and Egg Healthy Food System Breakfast." Andrew explained that the pig was committed, while the chicken just had a passing interest. That got a good laugh.
I found myself wondering what the ancient Greeks would have thought about this question. (Surely the ancient Greeks were organic?) The ancient Greeks believed that humans occupied a specific place in the world, above the animals but below the gods. The ancient Greek maxim to "Know Thyself" is advice to remember that we are humans, neither animals nor gods. Come to think of it, only humans ask interesting questions such as: "Are you the pig or the chicken?"
I found myself wondering what the ancient Greeks would have thought about this question. (Surely the ancient Greeks were organic?) The ancient Greeks believed that humans occupied a specific place in the world, above the animals but below the gods. The ancient Greek maxim to "Know Thyself" is advice to remember that we are humans, neither animals nor gods. Come to think of it, only humans ask interesting questions such as: "Are you the pig or the chicken?"
NOFA-VT Winter Conference
NOFA Vermont's 27th Annual Winter Conference was held Feb. 14-15 at Vermont Technical College in Randoph. As usual, it was well attended. The theme of the conference was "Grow it Here! Innovations Toward Local Food Sovereignty."
The keynote speaker on Saturday was Andrew Meyer of Hardwick, who talked about "The Hardwick Agricultural Revolution." Several new agricultural developments have occurred in recent years, or are underway, in Hardwick and surrounding communities. Andrew talked about: The Center for an Agricultural Economy, Highfields Institute, High Mowing Seeds, Pete's Greens, North Hardwick Dairy, Vermont Soy, Jasper Hill Farm, Vermont Food Venture Center (moving from Fairfax to Hardwick in 2009), Bonnieview Farm, Vermont Natural Coatings, Claire's Restaurant and the Buffalo Mountain Food Co-op.
This New York Times article from last October summarizes these developments in Hardwick.
Andrew talked about the importance of local food sovereignty, and also the importance of exporting food to urban areas to bring money back to the rural economy.
See this post for additional comments.
The keynote speaker on Saturday was Andrew Meyer of Hardwick, who talked about "The Hardwick Agricultural Revolution." Several new agricultural developments have occurred in recent years, or are underway, in Hardwick and surrounding communities. Andrew talked about: The Center for an Agricultural Economy, Highfields Institute, High Mowing Seeds, Pete's Greens, North Hardwick Dairy, Vermont Soy, Jasper Hill Farm, Vermont Food Venture Center (moving from Fairfax to Hardwick in 2009), Bonnieview Farm, Vermont Natural Coatings, Claire's Restaurant and the Buffalo Mountain Food Co-op.
This New York Times article from last October summarizes these developments in Hardwick.
Andrew talked about the importance of local food sovereignty, and also the importance of exporting food to urban areas to bring money back to the rural economy.
See this post for additional comments.
NEDLT Meeting
The Northeast Dairy Leadership Team met in Binghamton, NY on February 2-3.
Most of the discussion centered on balancing issues. The northeast U.S. has a higher Class I utilization than other parts of the country, which is usually viewed as a strength for the region's farmers. The Federal Milk Marketing Order System ensures that Class I (i.e., fluid) buyers of milk get what they want when they want it. This leaves buyers of the other classes of milk (i.e., for manufacturing) subject to significant swings in the volume of milk available to them. Click here for links to the presentations. For a summary of the balancing issues from the perspective of a buyer of non-Class I milk, see slide 21 in the presentation by Joe Simmons of Kraft Foods.
Also presenting at the meeting was Gary Snider, a farm business consultant for Farm Credit of Western New York. Gary talked about how farmers can survive increasingly volatile markets, drawing on his experience working with about 30 large dairy farms in western New York.
Most of the discussion centered on balancing issues. The northeast U.S. has a higher Class I utilization than other parts of the country, which is usually viewed as a strength for the region's farmers. The Federal Milk Marketing Order System ensures that Class I (i.e., fluid) buyers of milk get what they want when they want it. This leaves buyers of the other classes of milk (i.e., for manufacturing) subject to significant swings in the volume of milk available to them. Click here for links to the presentations. For a summary of the balancing issues from the perspective of a buyer of non-Class I milk, see slide 21 in the presentation by Joe Simmons of Kraft Foods.
Also presenting at the meeting was Gary Snider, a farm business consultant for Farm Credit of Western New York. Gary talked about how farmers can survive increasingly volatile markets, drawing on his experience working with about 30 large dairy farms in western New York.
Farm Credit Fellows - NYC Trip
The annual Farm Credit Fellows trip to New York City took place on Jan. 25-27. A total of 21 students from UVM, Cornell University and the University of Maine participated:
Kelly Langmaid, a loan officer from Yankee's Newport office, also went on the trip. Kelly is responsible for coordinating aspects of the Fellows Program (see this post). She reported that: "Wall Street is a different place now compared to what it was just 4 years ago when I attended the trip as a student!"
The group toured the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, New York Mercantile Exchange and Museum of American Finance. They visited with executives from Rabobank and the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation. The Funding Corporation is the entity within the Farm Credit System that sells System debt through a group of dealers on Wall Street. The group also visited Ground Zero and Times Square.
Several Fellows on the NYC trip spent a week in Yankee branch offices last year: Andrew Birch, Coral Kent-Dennis, Asa Manning, Andrew Wood and Daniel Lyons.
Leading the UVM students were Professors Charles Ferreira and Marian Fritz.
Kelly Langmaid, a loan officer from Yankee's Newport office, also went on the trip. Kelly is responsible for coordinating aspects of the Fellows Program (see this post). She reported that: "Wall Street is a different place now compared to what it was just 4 years ago when I attended the trip as a student!"The group toured the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, New York Mercantile Exchange and Museum of American Finance. They visited with executives from Rabobank and the Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation. The Funding Corporation is the entity within the Farm Credit System that sells System debt through a group of dealers on Wall Street. The group also visited Ground Zero and Times Square.
Several Fellows on the NYC trip spent a week in Yankee branch offices last year: Andrew Birch, Coral Kent-Dennis, Asa Manning, Andrew Wood and Daniel Lyons.
Leading the UVM students were Professors Charles Ferreira and Marian Fritz.
Letter to Members
The following letter is being mailed to members with the next monthly billing statement:
February 11, 2009
Dear Member,
I am pleased to write to you about three improvements in our operations:
Sincerely,
George S. Putnam
President and CEO
February 11, 2009
Dear Member,
I am pleased to write to you about three improvements in our operations:
- Patronage dividends this year will total $2,790,000. As usual, they will be paid on or about March 25th. New this year, those payments will be made electronically for customers who have signed up for electronic funds transfer as of December 31, 2008. No more waiting for that check to clear through your bank. This affects almost half of Yankee’s membership. If you have not yet signed up for electronic funds transfer, you may wish to consider this option. It is free, easy and convenient. Please contact your local branch to enroll.
- Starting this year, the voter checklist at Annual Meeting in April will consist of voting members as of the last day of February. In other words, the last day of February is the “date of record” for the purpose of voting at Annual Meeting. If you pay out your loan after the end of February, you will still be able to vote at Annual Meeting this year. New voting members after the end of February will not be able to vote at Annual Meeting this year. This change will allow us to do a better job maintaining the voter checklist.
- The last change relates to nominations for director from the floor. Previously nominations from the floor were allowed only at the first meeting in each region. Starting this year, nominations from the floor will be allowed only at the first meeting, without regard to region. The old method allowed for the possibility that a nomination from the floor might not occur until the last meeting. In that event, members who attended the first three meetings would not have known about the nomination from the floor, and the nominee would not have been able to seek the votes of members from his/her region who attended a meeting outside their region. This year the first meeting takes place in St. Albans on April 6th. Any nominations from the floor would have to be made at that meeting.
Sincerely,
George S. Putnam
President and CEO
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