First yogurt summit held in New York
New York State governor Andrew Cuomo says that the US state will loosen restrictions on dairy farmers to boost milk production to meet the state’s yogurt manufacturing needs, speaking at the state’s first Yogurt Summit. Cuomo says the state plans to allow farmers to have up to 300 cows without needing a Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations permit. The costly permit had been required for any farm with more than 200 cows, and farmers complained that the regulation was limiting them from expanding to meet the yogurt factories’ needs, a report on the WGRZ website says.
Yogurt producers such as Fage and Chobani have rapidly increased production in rural counties in the state. PepsiCo has launched a joint venture with Germany’s Müller to open a manufacturing facility in Batavia, new York. “This is one of the best private sector market opportunities upstate New York has had in 30, 40 years,” Cuomo commented in his closing remarks. “I don’t know when we get another one. I really, really don’t. And that entrepreneurial spirit is when you see an opportunity, grab it and make it happen.”
New York State has 49 yogurt plants so far, and the yogurt summit with farmers and processors, was planned by Cuomo, who has sought to build the industry as a way to combat decades of manufacturing decline in parts of the state.
