The CCFB held its 68th annual convention at Fred's Inn
Senator Peter Oberacker, Chenango County Farm Bureau (CCFB) President Bradd Vickers, and Assemblyman Joe Angelino were present at the 68th annual CCFB Convention held on October 25th at Fred's Inn in Norwich. (Photo by Kelli Miller)
NORWICH – The Chenango County Farm Bureau (CCFB) held its 68th annual convention at Fred's Inn on October 25. The Bureau elected board members, passed and reaffirmed policies, and speaker Craig Jochum spoke on green energy, i.e. solar panels.
At the front tables were CCFB President Bradd Vickers, Senator Peter Oberacker, Assemblyman Joe Angelino, former Mayor of Norwich Joe Maiurano, New York Farm Bureau President David Fisher, member and owner of Greene Pasture Ranch Victoria Pezzino, and member, director, and guest speaker Craig Jochum.
About 70 attendees filled three lengthy tables in the front dining room. The evening began with the Pledge of Allegiance, a prayer, and a vast array of dinner and dessert choices.
Vickers shared that the local bureau was awarded its 17th American Farm Bureau County Activity of Excellence Award.
"When we won our first national awards we thought, ‘Wow, that's pretty cool' and now we've won 17," said Vickers.
Vickers announced the organization is one that grows from the bottom up, not top down and said, “Tonight, your ideas will make a difference.”
He then asked members and non-members, professionals, and farmers; past and present, to stand and give a short introduction.
CCFB member and bookkeeper Rainy Vickers explained every CCFB expense is paid by that card and the transfer of funds was to pay off the credit card. All receipts are online and in a binder for review.
Voting came next with nominations for the CCFB President: Terry Ives and Bradd Vickers. Ballots were handed out to members in good standing and the list of members were noted.
The Gun Clubs and Chobani were not allowed to vote according to CCFB rules. The guidelines were read out loud and their votes removed from the count.
Terry Ives won with 11 votes to 9 votes for Bradd Vickers. Terry Ives will be the next president for the CCFB.
Directors nominated and re-elected were Karen Kutik, Grace Provance, and Craig Jochum.
Tyler Hoffman was re-elected for the Young Farmer Rancher Chair.
Coach and Chair Rainey Vickers withdrew her name for nomination. The chair will remain open.
CCFB Director Craig Jochum was invited to the podium to explain the “wild west” of the solar panel business. He shared what happens at the end of the life of solar panels, which is about 20 to 25 years in the future.
He said numbers for recycling panels haven’t been updated in about five years and the last project that was looked at was $100,000 per 75 panels, which is equivalent to $3.5 million dollars just to recycle a farm of solar panels. Jochum said the material used in the panels is not allowed in the dump or land fill.
Jochum said, “Every farmer is allowed to do what they want with their land but we don’t want to see any of our farmers get hurt.”
Angelino asked where the power generated by solar goes and Jochum said “into the grid” and Angelino asked “and then where” and Jochum answered, “wherever it goes.”
“Where do the subsidies come from?” Angelino asked.
Jochum answered with a question to the attendees, “Has anyone looked at their electric bills lately?”
Jeers came from the group as he replied, “It used to be about 4.5 cents per kilowatt and now running 6 to 7 cents all the time.
“I believe it’s a transfer of wealth from all of us people financing solar,” Jochum said.
Next to the podium was Sheila Marshman who asked for support from CCFB members on the FAFSA Act passed in 2023. She said it changes the financial aid form and said the form now asks for the value of the farm and going forward all farmers will have to report the value, which will impact the amount of financial aid they will receive.
She requested support to oppose or repeal the FAFSA act that was passed by Congress and is at Federal level.
Colleen Seggara, brought the last resolution to the podium which was to prohibit the slaughter of horses and to consider supporting the repeal of the multi-layered resolution. There was a collaborative review and lengthy discussion disclosing all aspects for clarity.
The Convention ended late into the night with raffles and Chobani giveaways.
At the front tables were CCFB President Bradd Vickers, Senator Peter Oberacker, Assemblyman Joe Angelino, former Mayor of Norwich Joe Maiurano, New York Farm Bureau President David Fisher, member and owner of Greene Pasture Ranch Victoria Pezzino, and member, director, and guest speaker Craig Jochum.
About 70 attendees filled three lengthy tables in the front dining room. The evening began with the Pledge of Allegiance, a prayer, and a vast array of dinner and dessert choices.
Vickers shared that the local bureau was awarded its 17th American Farm Bureau County Activity of Excellence Award.
"When we won our first national awards we thought, ‘Wow, that's pretty cool' and now we've won 17," said Vickers.
Vickers announced the organization is one that grows from the bottom up, not top down and said, “Tonight, your ideas will make a difference.”
He then asked members and non-members, professionals, and farmers; past and present, to stand and give a short introduction.
CCFB member and bookkeeper Rainy Vickers explained every CCFB expense is paid by that card and the transfer of funds was to pay off the credit card. All receipts are online and in a binder for review.
Voting came next with nominations for the CCFB President: Terry Ives and Bradd Vickers. Ballots were handed out to members in good standing and the list of members were noted.
The Gun Clubs and Chobani were not allowed to vote according to CCFB rules. The guidelines were read out loud and their votes removed from the count.
Terry Ives won with 11 votes to 9 votes for Bradd Vickers. Terry Ives will be the next president for the CCFB.
Directors nominated and re-elected were Karen Kutik, Grace Provance, and Craig Jochum.
Tyler Hoffman was re-elected for the Young Farmer Rancher Chair.
Coach and Chair Rainey Vickers withdrew her name for nomination. The chair will remain open.
CCFB Director Craig Jochum was invited to the podium to explain the “wild west” of the solar panel business. He shared what happens at the end of the life of solar panels, which is about 20 to 25 years in the future.
He said numbers for recycling panels haven’t been updated in about five years and the last project that was looked at was $100,000 per 75 panels, which is equivalent to $3.5 million dollars just to recycle a farm of solar panels. Jochum said the material used in the panels is not allowed in the dump or land fill.
Jochum said, “Every farmer is allowed to do what they want with their land but we don’t want to see any of our farmers get hurt.”
Angelino asked where the power generated by solar goes and Jochum said “into the grid” and Angelino asked “and then where” and Jochum answered, “wherever it goes.”
“Where do the subsidies come from?” Angelino asked.
Jochum answered with a question to the attendees, “Has anyone looked at their electric bills lately?”
Jeers came from the group as he replied, “It used to be about 4.5 cents per kilowatt and now running 6 to 7 cents all the time.
“I believe it’s a transfer of wealth from all of us people financing solar,” Jochum said.
Next to the podium was Sheila Marshman who asked for support from CCFB members on the FAFSA Act passed in 2023. She said it changes the financial aid form and said the form now asks for the value of the farm and going forward all farmers will have to report the value, which will impact the amount of financial aid they will receive.
She requested support to oppose or repeal the FAFSA act that was passed by Congress and is at Federal level.
Colleen Seggara, brought the last resolution to the podium which was to prohibit the slaughter of horses and to consider supporting the repeal of the multi-layered resolution. There was a collaborative review and lengthy discussion disclosing all aspects for clarity.
The Convention ended late into the night with raffles and Chobani giveaways.
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