Matt Lamb, a third generation farmer to land in Genesee County says the farm is a great place to raise a family – but the business brings challenges: labor, milk prices and markets.
“The Northeast has found itself flushed in milk. A lot of milk here in the Northeast, and when that occurs it’s hard to market everything we’ve got and prices can suffer,” Lamb said.
A good portion of that milk winds up here, at O-At-Ka Milk Products Cooperative in Batavia.
“It’s a big deal. Not only for our farmers, but the local economy as well,” said Bill Schreiber.
It’s an economy that faces a threat, according to Sen. Charles Schumer.
“We face this all the time in America, because we make such good products, other countries come up with bogus rules,” he said.
Schumer says the threat comes from Canada, and a new government proposing trade restrictions he says would devastate the local dairy industry.
“How many people work here now? Over 350,” the senator said.
Twenty percent of the dairy products processed at O-At-Ka winds up in Canada. A number that would likely drop if the trade restrictions go through.
“It’s crucial, here for our farms and our plant workers that we have this income. Crucial to our livelihoods,” said John Gould.
Schumer hopes it doesn’t come to it, but if Canada doesn’t budge, he says there could be repercussions.
“If we were to threaten putting a similar tariff on some of the stuff they sell us, there’d be similar meetings in Canada saying get this undone. So we have leverage here,” Schumer said.
At Lamb Farms, they ship more than 200,000 pounds of milk each day. So it goes without saying that it’s important to have a strong market for that milk.
“It’s really important. Any of the processing facilities we send our milk to, it’s really important that they have a profitable outlet for the products they produce,” Lamb said.
With 2,300 cows milked pretty much around the clock, Lamb says fair trade is key to his family’s livelihood.
“If their business suffers then we suffer in this region. So it’s really important that O-At-Ka has outlets for everything they produce,” Lamb said.
Source: TWCnews
