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National Agriculture Day Letter to Legislators

The Voice of Agriculture a request for action

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NH Senate Ag Bill

Fellow Grangers,

        There are two bills in the Senate for January, one to eliminate the Deptment of Agriculture and another to consolidate it with other departments, like Parks and Recreation. We are ahead of the curve on this, so start thinking about it.

         The State Grange policy is that we strongly oppose any attempt to eliminate or consolidate the Department of Agriculture, Markets and Food. This was tried two years ago to save money, and it was found that there is no savings.

             Our State Grange Lobbyist, Joe Dion of Walpole, is on this and will be effective. When the bill goes for a hearing, in January, I want to turn out 20 Grangers or more to speak. 2 minutes each at the mic with a clear message of opposition and why.

           Questions? You call email me, call or talk to me at State Session in October.

Bob
Rep. Bob Haefner
NH House of Representatives
Hillsborough District #27
Hudson, Litchfield, and Pelham
Chair - Environment and Agriculture

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The Voice of Agriculture

12 February, 2012

New Hampshire Subordinate Granges,

            At the Area Meeting in Dalton, Lois Enman and I had a conversation about the number of State Representatives and State Senators that think there is no agriculture left in NH. It is amazing how many legislators that even live in the country and do not see any farms. It is also true that they think of farming as little independent farms and do not think of it as an industry. Out of that conversation, I committed to write to all of our 65 subordinate Granges and ask you all to write to your legislators about the importance of agriculture to New Hampshire.

            There are 4166 farms in NH. That works out on average to 18 in each and every town in the state. There are several thousand people employed in agriculture and each of those farms is a small business. More importantly, if you take the output in farm products from those 4166 farms, add to it the income to the farms for agri-tourism, add the conferences held on farms and weddings and then consider the infrastructure that is there to support only those farms, you have an industry.  Infrastructure is important to the industry and adds thousands of more jobs and businesses. We are talking about truckers, tractor dealers, farm equipment dealers and the folks that repair that equipment, feed and grain stores, fertilizer distributors and the pesticide salesman. What about the large animal vet, and the UNH Educators, and the list of businesses continue? I believe that The Industry we call agriculture is the third largest in NH behind tourism and health care.  Hillsborough County is ranked number 37 of the 3000 + counties in the country for direct sales of agricultural product direct to consumers. Rockingham is ranked number 38.

            What am I asking you to do? Send a letter to every legislator that represents the town your Grange is in. If your Grange has members from more than one town, send it to all of your Reps and your State Senators as well. You can find the names and addresses at the NH House of Representatives website.  I suggest that your Grange write one letter and send the same typed letter to all of your legislators via US Mail. It will be better to write your own, than a form letter. It is also better snail mail than email. It will get read and it will be coming from their constituents. (Individual Grange Members could also send a letter to their Representatives, as well as Granges collectively)

            You may want to start out noting that the Grange was originally an agricultural organization and that our roots in agriculture still run deep and we still care about NH agriculture and the growing buy local movement. We also may want to note that the State Grange is active in promoting positions on legislation. You should than ask them to support agriculture in the legislature and do nothing that will harm it. They should think of agriculture as an industry and not a few small farms. Suggest that they should visit with farms in their district and visit farmers markets.

Fraternally,

Bob Haefner,

NH State Grange Legislative and Agriculture Director

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National Agriculture Day

25 February 2012

Fellow Legislators,

             On March 8^th it will once again be National Agriculture Day, and my opportunity to remind my colleagues in the House and Senate of the importance of agriculture to New Hampshire. We in the legislature sometimes do things that we think are good for our constituents without fully understanding the consequences to other sections of our state or our economy, such as agriculture.

            Many of us in the legislature are from the more urban areas of the state and see less of the agricultural sector than do others. For almost all of us we have long lost our ties to the land. The average New Hampshire citizen is 5 generations removed from the farm. No wonder we do not see the importance to our economy of agriculture. As long as our nearby Market Basket has everything we want to eat, we do not think about where our food comes from.

            Agriculture is not a few old farmers wearing suspenders and chewing on a corn cob pipe. It is an Industry larger than most of us realize. Farmers do a lousy job of promoting themselves. Did you know there are 4166 farms in NH?  That is a lot of farms, an average of 18 per community. If Hudson has two, how many than are in Walpole? Between 2002 and 2007 we grew the number of farms in the state and the number of acres under cultivation.  Our farms are smaller than they used to be and many are up side roads and behind the trees, so we do not see them.  Did you know that of the more than 3000 counties in the US, Hillsborough County Ranks Number 37 in direct sales of Farm Products to Consumers? Rockingham ranks Number 38 in the country.  Hillsborough County, in spite of having New Hampshire’s two largest cities, has 600 of those 4166 farms.

            When you look at agriculture as an industry it is an eye opener.  If you take the total output of farm products, add to it the jams, jellies and other food products, add the agri-tourism piece like bed and breakfast on the farm, farm stays, weddings on farms, conference centers on farms, farm catering, wine and cheese trails, etc., and then look at the infrastructure that exists to support the farms, it turns out to be the third largest industry in the state behind tourism and healthcare. Our infrastructure consists of the John Deere dealer, the folks that sell the farm equipment, the folks that repair the equipment, the large animal Vet, the fertilizer dealer, the pesticide salesman, the fuel dealer and the truckers that move products to and from the farm. It is not 4166 farms but 4166 small businesses that pay their business and real estate taxes and hire thousands of people.

            This industry needs the support it gets from organizations like the Farm Bureau, Small and Beginner Farmers, New England Farmers Union, Northeast Organic Farmers Association, but most importantly the Department of Agriculture, Markets and Food and the UNH Cooperative Extension. The College of Life Science and Agriculture (COLSA) provides the education for the future of our industry.  Recent severe cuts at COLSA, UNH Cooperative Extension and the UNH Veterinary Diagnostic Lab are putting the industry at risk. I cannot over emphasis the benefit this industry gets from those three UNH organizations.

            I will be asking for your help over the coming months to ensure that we do not close the only Veterinary Diagnostic Lab in the state, that we support our major effort to implement State Meat Inspection, and that we keep Cooperative Extension working for our farmers. Be careful of the unintended consequences of legislation that may affect our food supply and our food safety.

             Our constituents are more and more demanding local, fresh, wholesome food. This is good for all of us and the growing agriculture sector in New Hampshire. I would ask that you visit farms in your area and ask what we can do for them.  Buy local, shop at nearby ’farmers markets and support the infrastructure that helps them make a living. “If you ate today, thank a farmer.”

Bob Haefner

Chair of the Committee on Environment and Agriculture

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Other Information

Link to New Hampshire Department of Agriculture Web Site

Link to New Hampshire Farm Bureau Web Site

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