"Maybe it is time to move on from the regional council model," Assemblywoman Jenne said Monday during an appearance on Capitol Pressroom, a show hosted by Susan Arbetter and produced by WCNY from a studio at the New York State Capitol.
Assemblywoman Jenne said the state's current economic development policies have come under heavy criticism over the past several months.
"Have we done all we can with the current model?" she asked. "Is it time to go back to more traditional economic development models focused on big core sectors like agriculture, energy generation and primary manufacturing?."
The assemblywoman has suggested dairy farmers don't have the same access to state economic development funds as other businesses in the state.
"Maybe it is time to focus on the basics again instead of sexy things like film hubs," Assemblywoman Jenne added.
She has developed a plan for the state to create a three-year program guaranteeing that farmers who reach a certain quality level for their milk receive a floor price of $18 per hundredweight when the price of milk falls below that level with a state cap of $3 per hundredweight.
It would also incentivize reducing the oversupply of milk by using a farm's average milk production numbers over several years to calculate the payments.
Assemblywoman Jenne said she doesn't see her proposal as a subsidy.
"It's an investment in our economy long-term. We give a billion dollars to Buffalo, but we can't give a couple hundred million to the state's largest industry?. In the short term, I think it is It’s important critical for New York, as one of the nation's top dairy producing states, to do something for the dairy industry so it is not crippled," she stressed.
She has engaged in on-going conversations with state and New York Farm Bureau officials about her proposal for the past few years. A Farm Bureau official confirmed those discussions during another segment on the radio program.
Assemblywoman Jenne has acknowledged the challenges facing dairy farmers in the North Country go well beyond the region and the state's boundaries.
She has said her proposal for a floor price for milk per hundredweight is one of a number of steps being discussed in an effort to maintain the viability of dairy farming in the state.
The assemblywoman has also repeatedly pointed out many of the solutions to address the challenges facing farmers must be made at the federal level.
But she reiterated it is her belief the crisis facing dairy farmers today has reached the magnitude that the state -–and even agriculture advocacy groups-– need to look at bold actions.
She said the dairy economy is cyclic, but the current downturn has lasted longer than past cycles, and changes in the global economy are the cause for even more alarm.
"Many of our farmers now qualify for food stamps and Medicaid. Are we going to allow a whole industry to get to the sub-poverty level?" Assemblywoman Jenne asked.
She said current trade wars with Canada, Mexico and other countries around the world are impacting dairy farmers in New York State.
"We're in trade wars. You might think what President Trump is doing is right and might help the country in the long run. Maybe it will. But right now the dairy industry is taking a beating," Assemblywoman Jenne said.
She noted she also has some concerns with the role some of the major partners in the dairy industry are playing during the current milk price crisis that seems to benefit large farmers at the expense of small family farms.
"I think everybody realizes part of the problem today is oversupply. Low prices are unbearable for most farmers, and the system is rigged against them," Assemblywoman Jenne suggested.
The assemblywoman said some of her constituents have told her when they have gone to the bank looking for additional credit or to reorganize their debt they have been told the only way hat would happen was if they built another barn and added more cows.
Assemblywoman Jenne said that model simply puts more milk into a market where prices have been driven well below the cost of production due to an oversupply of product on the market.
"There are fewer players pulling the strings in agriculture these days, and it's almost like the banks are picking winners and losers," she said, noting banks get to sell the assets of farms that fail and finance their purchase at the auction.
She reiterated it is her belief the state needs to act aggressively to assist the dairy industry, and she called for organizations like Farm Bureau to be more active players in that fight.
"It's not acceptable to sit on the sidelines at this point. There is an oversupply issue, but there are forces in the country they listen to that don't support any regulations or programs that helps them become more reactive to what is going on domestically or globally," Assemblywoman Jenne stressed.
Assemblywoman Jenne said failure to address the challenges facing agriculture in the North Country and around the state is impacting the upstate economy.
She noted when a farmer can't pay his bills it impacts the companies that deliver fuel to the farm as well as feed and fertilizer suppliers and reduces employment opportunities.
"We have failed to address the problems facing the agriculture sector in the state. There are all sorts of spinoffs in the rural economy. It's one of the reasons the upstate economy has been struggling. We have failed to address the problems facing the agriculture sector in the state," she said.
IN THE PHOTO:
Susan Arbetter, host of the Capitol Pressroom, interviews Assemblywoman Addie A.E. Jenne about the crisis facing dairy farmers in New York State. The show aired on public radio stations around New York State earlier this week.
