APB meeting summary 09152021 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

z a high value on local or quality.They might casually assume it is local but it's not and they really don't know where it comes from. How will this work if milk comes from across the country, in regions where water is becoming scarce?There is some demand for the Aubervice (sp) service,that delivers milk to your door. So are there consumers out there who will value local milk and will be willing to pay a premium? For example, Maple View sold a lot of milk locally, so there must have been enough demand although maybe not extremely profitable. Dairying is lifestyle that limits the farmer's freedom to have a vacation or take time out, so there could be a generational factor here too, in that fewer people are willing to commit to that type of schedule. Maybe there is a model for two families running a farm? McKnight thinks we need to do a preliminary feasibility study to get some idea of what the market might be—is there money for that?Also,there should be some educational campaign to help consumers understand the issues here,that explains the benefits of local milk in the context of the larger issues of today.As an aside, Ortosky noted that he now works within the Extension Service and now has more access to the resources of NCSU,which might help. Our existing economic develop grant program directs those funds to producers.There should be other sources. Our challenge is to articulate our idea and our project,then that can be used to get funding for a specific project with tangible outcomes. For a market analysis, the real question still seems to be about the demand—is there demand for local milk, or is the demand more for the value added pieces, like cheese?We need to really understand what consumers want in order to help shape the direction for future dairying activity.This could be a task for the subcommittee, to develop a purpose and scope statement, perhaps partnering with nearby counties, like Durham. If there is a market anywhere in NC, it will be in Orange and Durham counties. If specialty/local dairy won't work here, it won't work anywhere in the state. We need an in-depth demand analysis for this area. Who are these consumers and what will they buy/how much will they pay? NCSU and Extension seem to be the best bet for assistance in this effort. We all recall when dairying was much more present here, so one question is: what happened? Why have they all disappeared? Redding noted that all this sounds compelling enough to merit having the subcommittee continue to pursue this topic. McKnight will continue to discuss and bring updated thinking back to the subcommittee. b) Ag Trust Fund Proposal: Staff reviewed past discussion about the proposed approach and how it evolved within the Food Council, including the candid feedback that was received from the County Manager.That concept was going to go through the equity evaluation process but we haven't heard the outcome of that.The general guidance we received then was that we needed to repackage this concept as a dedicated, stand-alone funding on a recurring basis,to get it proposed as a departmental line item and then keep doing advocacy with the BOCC to promote the idea. Staff thinks this winter is a good time to discuss this topic with department leadership to get advice and guidance on how to pursue the idea.This can be framed as a very ag-specific program that partners with the Lands Legacy program but does not compete with it. 6. Informational Items/Future Agenda Items: a. Ordinance Revision: Staff participated in the state information session earlier today, going through the ordinance line by line to learn how the changes to the state legislation need to be implemented in local ordinances. Most changes were just clarifications and technical updates and nothing major. Staff will make the proposed changes then present a marked-up version of our ordinance to the APB at the next meeting. Staff can share this with any members who are interested.