Owens at Adirondack Farms gathering information for the 2012 Farm Bill
Congressman Bill Owens (L) discusses milk marketing with John Rulfs
By John T. Ryan
Peru is a small town, but it received a lot of political attention last week. On Saturday morning, Congressional candidate Matt Doheny was in town to meet with local residents. Friday afternoon Congressman Bill Owens was here to meet with local farmer Jon Rulfs. The House Committee on Agriculture, on which Owens serves, is formulating the 2012 Farm Bill. It will dictate federal farm policy for the next five years. Owens is traveling throughout the 23rd Congressional District to gather information from farmers and milk processors. He wanted to hear Rulfs’ opinions, especially on milk pricing. Their one-hour discussion was complex and could best be understood by someone who had studied farm issues in depth. Small, medium and large farmers, as well as milk processors, sometimes disagree on farm policy and Owens is responsible for representing all their interests.
Adirondack Farms is one of the largest if not the largest farm in Owens’ district. Jon Rulfs and his partner Jake Swers have 3,800 cattle including 1,850 milking cows, 140 other mature cows and 1,800 young cattle. Tractor-trailers haul 180,000 pounds of milk from the farm to the Agri-Mart manufacturing facility in Chateaugay each day. A trailer holding 70,000 pounds of milk leaves the farm every ten hours.
As many local residents know, Adirondack Farms has purchased several smaller farms since it opened in 1996. Today, the farm crops 4,000 acres, about 75% of which is devoted to corn production and 25% to alfalfa. It takes approximately 1.5 to 2 acres of cropland to support each producing cow. Adirondack Farms has 40 full-time employees.
- Jon Rulfs explains how milk is cooled before being loaded onto the tank truck
Posted: February 27th, 2012 under Agricultural News, Congressional News.