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The Susquehanna River flooding at Glen Cove Farm, just south of
the Village of Windsor, in June of 2006.
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At my request,
an eastern Broome County farmer was appointed in 2007 to the county's
Flood Mitigation Task Force.
Previously the task force had lacked representation both from eastern
Broome and from agriculture. With the addition of Bill Olin of Nineveh,
the task force now has a strong voice for both our district and
for agriculture.
There are flood
mitigation projects in the works. As these projects progress, we
will keep you informed.
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In a continuation of an initiative I started some time ago, I
formed a public / private partnership with Cornell Cooperative
Extension, the United States Natural Resources Conservation Service,
the Broome County Farm Bureau, the Broome County Soil and Water
Conservation Service, and Broome County Government to create www.farmbroome.com
a farm-friendly Broome-based website which promotes agriculture,
agri-tourism, and related events.
I was particularly
pleased that this fine resource was created without any additional
tax dollars.
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When
our area was threatened by a plan from the Federal Government
to close our Broome County Farm Services Agency Field Office,
I led a strong coalition of farmers, concerned citizens, business
people, and government leaders to thwart this attempt.
Many people told us that the issue was already decided, that it
was out of our hands, but we refused to give up that easily. We
maintained that the officials recommending the closure needed
to be educated about the importance of the field office to our
area.
Our efforts
were ultimately successful in keeping our local office open, thereby
saving jobs within Broome County and assuring the continuance
of accessible services for area agricultural producers. County
representation to this office also remained intact.
Of the seventeen
New York offices targeted for closure, only Broome and one other
county office were saved.
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