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Meeting Minutes

April 22, 2020 | 6:00 PM | Webex

Board Members in Attendance: Brett Kreher, Bryant Zilke, Diane Held, Rachel Chrostowski, Dan Castle, Earl Gingerich, Dan Henry, Scott Bylewski

Staff in Attendance: Sarah Gatti

  1. New Business

    1. Overview of Erie County Business Task Force: Dan Castle provided an overview of the Erie County Business Task Force to the Board, explaining it was comprised of 50-55 people across all sectors of the County business sector. Mr. Castle expected the Task Force to eventually set up subcommittees and anticipates an agricultural subcommittee will be created. More information will be forthcoming.
    2. Discussion: COVID-19 Impacts on the Agricultural Sector Dan Castle asked members of the Board to outline impacts they have seen on the agricultural community. Those issues are summarized as follows:
      1. Key issues are people, pricing, and supply/demand chain disruption
      2. Safety of employees is important but social distancing is not always possible for every aspect of agricultural operations. The mental health of farm workers, and farmers alike, is of concern during these times and especially when working in close quarters.
      3. Delays in the arrival of Temporary Agricultural Workers, also known as H2A labor, will have negative impacts on the ability of local farmers to plant and harvest fields to the extent traditionally required.
      4. Late April and May are key times from spring planting, and it’s likely that H2A labor will not be available. Returning workers from Mexico are being processed, but workers from South Africa and other countries are not getting processed. Even if H2A workers get here in 4 weeks, they still have to be quarantined 2 additional weeks. Will be a ‘Difficult Spring” 
      5. Farmers cannot find local labor to backfill lack of H2As since people eligible for unemployment benefits will make more on unemployment (with $600/week COVID stimulus) than they can working on a farm.
      6. Price Volatility is an issue. Price of eggs were at historical lows in March up to near highs in early April, but then back to the cost of production now. Price of Milk before COVID19 was $20/100lbs and is now approx. $13/100lbs. It costs $18 to produce 100lbs of milk, so clearly not sustainable for farmers.
      7. Demand and supply chain disruption, including:
        1. Demand from the food service industry (incl schools, restaurants, etc.) has declined sharply, causing an oversaturation in the market which then contributes to price volatility.
        2. Certain commodities, like eggs, do have high demand from grocery stores but cannot be packaged appropriately for sale (i.e., there is a shortage of egg cartons).
        3. COVID-related closing of meat packing plant in PA has impacted ability of getting meat to market
      8. Many big box or chain stores remain open (i.e., Home Depot and Lowes). These stores typically have garden centers and are able to sell nursery and garden supplies while locallyowned nurseries have been deemed non-essential and are closed.
      9. Greenhouses and Garden Centers need a good month of May to have a profitable year. These businesses have been hit hard by loss of flowers sales during Easter, and will be hit harder if they cannot sell plants to landscapers/public in the May.
      10. For Produce growers, they rely on institution food service to take fruit/vegetables that grocery stores will not take. “Food Service takes crooked cucumbers, but stores will not”. Farmers heavily rely on those sales.
      11. The shuttering of non-essential businesses has had unintended consequences on the agricultural sector. An example being that sawmills have been deemed non-essential and can no longer sell sawdust to farmers, which has led to a shortage of animal bedding.
      12. Negative economic impact to agribusinesses and agritourism, including:
        1. Cancellation of Maple Weekend activities
        2. Closing of tasting rooms at wineries and cideries
        3. Closed farm markets
        4. Uncertainty regarding U-Pick operations
          1. How will social distancing be enforced? 
          2. Will these be deemed essential?
          3. Will there be enough workers to supervise?
          4. U-Pick season begins in June w strawberries, so need guidelines by then
        5. Uncertainty regarding Community Supported Agriculture (CSAs)
          1. How will pick-up procedures be impacted by social distancing?
          2. Will capacity be impacted?
          3. Will more hours to staff pick-up be required?
      13. Farmland is especially vulnerable to conversion during the COVID-19 pandemic as farmers may decide to retire/sell land due to economic distress. Farmland in 2nd ring suburbs is at most risk
      14. Re: Beef market, when restaurants close, the markets dry up. Very limited options for meatpacking in NYS as most meatpackers have closed (blame state regulations) and large packing operation in PA has closed due to COVID. Some regional meat packing operations cannot process new orders until February. They noted a need for meat packing operations in WNY.
      15. Debt load on farmers, businesses and individuals is leading to most closures. Farmers/businesses with less debt will survive. Pandemic emphasizes financial problems the person/business/farm had going in. Commended County Executive Poloncarz/Erie County for fiscal policies and surplus.
      16. Mixed messages coming from Albany about which businesses can/cannot reopen will cause problems.
      17. Perceived lack of appreciation from the public-at-large is particularly noticeable during the pandemic. Essential workers are often thanked and recognized but such accolades for farmers have been absent. Public appreciation would be meaningful to farmers and farmworkers as they represent an important group of essential workers. 
    3. Presentation: Erie Grown COVID-19 Response and Map Sarah Gatti demonstrated the redesigned Erie Grown website. Feedback from the Board as positive.

  2. Other Business

    There was no other business to discuss.

  3. Adjournment

    The meeting was adjourned at 7:13 PM.

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