John

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Dairy farm business management.
Startup businesses.
Transition planning.

Education: B.S. Agriculture – Cornell, 1960.

Personal Interests : Grandkids; golf; gardening; hunting and fishing; music. Community activities – such as Rotary

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet
Keeps me in touch with current Agriculture issues. Have always enjoyed working with farmers and farm families.

Jim

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Communication issues; conflict, anger management, intergenerational issues; business planning.

Education:
AAS, Farmingdale
BS, Ohio State University
MPS, Cornell University

Personal Interests:
Golf; hiking; gardening; travel.

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet
Gives me the opportunity to stay in touch with the Agricultural Community. I believe in the mission of FarmNet and enjoy working with the consultants and college staff as well as with Cooperative Extension staff.

Mike

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Financial – debt restructuring.
– business plans.
Business transfers.

Education: B.S. – Cornell , ‘78
Various structured “sales” courses.
Dale Carnegie course.

Personal Interests:
Playing the guitar; snow boarding/skiing; tennis; doing things with my children; wood working; camping; fishing

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet
Opportunity to help people.
Mingling/association with other consultants.

Ron

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Social Work/Finance

Education:
MSW: Social Welfare; University of Albany (2004)
BA: Business/Psychology; SUNY Empire State College (2001)
AS: Accounting; Herkimer County Community College (1995)

Personal Interests:
My personal interests are running, hiking, and horseback riding with family.

Why I enjoy working for NY Farmnet:
NY Farm Net provides an invaluable resource to local farm communities throughout New York State that would not exist otherwise. The structure of the professional consultant system allows for the maximum use of scarce resources, while maintaining a high level of efficacy. My role has been limited, but it is an honor to be involved with Farm Net even in a very small capacity.

Joseph

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Principal, Financial Planning
- member, Garrett Planning Network
- member, Financial Planning Association
- Registered Investment Advisor (NY)
- personal and family financial planning

Education:
BBA, MBA, (Accounting), Iona College, New Rochelle, NY
MPA, NYU , Wagner School of Public Administration
Boston University, Professional Certificate in Financial Planning

Personal Interests:
- marine woodworking, restoring old sailboats
- sailing on Cayuga Lake

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet
The satisfaction that comes from providing meaningful help to people in need.

Carl

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Business Transfer. Dairy Farm Finance.

Education:
B.S., Cornell College of Agriculture
Master of Arts in Teaching, Cornell University

Personal Interests:
Travel, US and International, Raising organic dairy heifers; History; Church

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet:
I enjoy helping farm families identify their strengths and opportunities, realistically view their present situations, and put together a plan for achieving goals.

I am morally and emotionally in debt to those who helped me in time of family illness and farm financial distress, and FarmNet/FarmLink work gives me an opportunity to attempt to partially repay that debt.

Carol

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Family counseling; couples counseling; individual counseling including children/teens; stress management; anger management; conflict resolution; crisis intervention; working with domestic violence and sexual abuse victims.

Education:
MSW (Masters in Social Work) from University of Albany.
MASS (Masters Arts in Social Science) from Binghamton University.
BS in Accounting from School of Management, Binghamton University.

Personal Interests:
Irish dancing; camping.

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet:
I grew up on a dairy farm and continued to help my parents with farm work as an adult. Working as a NY Farm Net consultant helps me stay connected to a way of life that I have tremendous mount of respect for.

Bruce

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Farm Business Analysis
Cash Flow Projections
Bookkeeping Improvements
Loan Request and Consolidation
Facilitate Advisory Teams

Education:
M.S. – University of Florida, Agricultural Economics
B.S. -- Cornell University, Agriculture Economics/Animal Science
A.A.S. SUNY at Delhi, Veterinary Science Technology

Personal Interests:
Backpacking; martial arts; personal development; public speaking.

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet
Enjoy working with growers, farmers and producers to show them how to improve their farm business by using financial and production information for better decision making. FarmNet allows me to work with farmers that would not normally be able to hire me.

Marsha

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Communication issues
Children/CPS issues
Family meetings
Family consultation

Education:
MSW
PHD – Social Welfare

Personal Interests:
Teaching, reading, agriculture

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet
I live on a farm and enjoy working with people and NY FarmNet allows me to combine these interests.

Judith

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Certified Social Worker specializing in Family Therapy, Marital Counseling, Mental Health, Individual Counseling and Substance Abuse.

Education:
BS, Empire State College, SUNY
MSW, SUNY at Albany

Personal Interests:
Country living, nature, gardening, reading, learning new things and seeing new places.

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet
My father’s family owned a dairy farm for over 200 years and I have especially enjoyed being able to combine my love of farming and farm life with my love of helping people to learn and grow in their personal relationships. I enjoy the challenge of some of the special issues that farm families have to contend with.

Leon

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
NYS licensed Mental Health Counselor
Marriage counseling
Individual and family counseling

Education:
M.S. Degree in Counseling, Psychological Services, SUNY, Oswego

Personal Interests:
Family activities; reading – non fiction and fiction; sports.

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet
Farm background – love for nature, animals, the land, outdoors. Academics – associated with Cornell University

Judith

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Family relationships/communication; individual emotional/mental health concerns.

Education:
Master's in Social Work, Syracuse University, 1981.

Personal Interests:
Construction with Habitat for Humanity; cooking; skiing.

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet:
I enjoy working to solve problems and being connected to people. Farmers are frequently down-to-earth and easy to respect and enjoy.

Leonard

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Mental health.
Health
Family disputes
Employment opportunities for bankruptcy cases

Education:
Florida State University -- BSW
Syracuse University -- MSW

Personal Interests:
Camping; grandchildren; Cooperative Extension Board Onondaga County, Farm Bureau County Board; horses – showing and breeding; 4-H Leader.

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet
Being brought up on a farm, agriculture is one of my interests. I believe the farm is a great place to bring up a family and that is why my wife and I bought a farm. I still believe this background helps me understand the difficulties agriculture faces.

Dave

Professional Areas of Specialization:
1) Farm Transfer, especially with respect to goal setting and family communication (current member and workshop presenter with the Farm Transfer Network of New England)
2) Organic Farming and Fruit Farming, especially Apples and Lowbush Blueberries (Many years experience with both commodities). Increasing understanding of Dairying, thanks to my NY FarmNet and other recent professional experiences.
3) Respectful and non abusive communication (worked 4 years with court mandated men regarding issues of domestic violence)
4) Emotional Intelligence (32 year practitioner of Reevaluation Counseling, a peer support tool and basis for understanding issues of oppression)
5) Sexual and Gender Identity (11 yrs of current experience working with GLBT Youth and their supporters)
6) Enjoy working on all sorts of assignments.

Education:
BS in Ecological Agriculture from Univ. Mass. 1982, MSW from Univ. Conn School of Social Work, 1991.

Personal Interests:
Age 57, enjoy songwriting, square dancing, outdoor exercise including farming and gardening, family time, nature study.

Why I Enjoy Working for NY FarmNet
1) Opportunity to be with families connected to the land, one another, and their local communities.
2) Colleagues in NYFarmNet and the Agroservice Network with a lot of human compassion and good common sense.
3) Being part of an open minded cutting edge organization within a larger system that actively supports the New York State farm community.

Dewey

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Farm management, dairy and cash crops. Farm system engineering.

Education:
B.S. Ag Engineering – Cornell
MS – Ag Engineering -- Cornell

Personal Interests:
Hunting and related shooting sports. Collecting and restoring antique Caterpillar equipment. Motorcycling.

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet
I enjoy the problem solving opportunities that make a real difference in the lives of farm families.

Huck

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Whatever comes my way.

Education:
MBA – University of Virginia – 1963.

Personal Interests:
Reading, farming.

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet
It is an opportunity to help people and to pass along some of the lessons I have learned (said lessons often painfully acquired).

Richard

Professional Area(s) of Specialization:
Liquidations; farm transfers & estate planning; FSA problems; business plans; debt settlements (credit cards, etc.)

Education:
Bachelors Degree in animal husbandry from the University of Georgia.

Personal Interests:
Family (grandchildren, children and their spouses); bowling and golf; NY FarmNet/Farmlink; volunteer work (Geneseo Air Show, Lilac Festival, Rural Opportunities Inc. and a local Housing Committee).

Why I Enjoy Working for NY FarmNet
I enjoy helping people; I am not selling a product or collecting money; can view the problem through the farmers eyes; I am comfortable working in agricultural finance; part-time employment

Jerry

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Farm Business Management and Financial management
Auction liquidation procedures
Appraisals

Education:
BS & MS, Agricultural Economics, University of Georgia
Cornell University, 30 years Continuing Ed.

Personal Interests:
Travel National and International (especially developing countries)
Motorcycling
Golfing
Hunting
Public Speaking, auctioneering

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet
I’ve just started with FarmNet last month. I worked as a Cornell Cooperative Extension Agricultural Specialist for 30 years before retiring. I took a break from Agriculture and now I have decided to get back into it again. I enjoy working with people through business education and consulting.

Ruth

Professional Area(s) of Specialization:
Parenting, Mental Health, Marital Issues, Substance Abuse, Social Skills, Crisis Intervention, Grief and Loss, Mediation, Developmentally Handicapped, Community Networking, Group and Individual Counseling, Family Group Therapy.

From 1965 until 1973 I worked at Rochester Psychiatric Center with both adults and with the Children’s Unit.

Education:
BA Sociology and Math from Nazareth College of Rochester.
MSW in Social work from SUNY at Buffalo, School of Social Work.
LCSW, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Licensed School Social Worker.

Personal Interests:
I sing in the Church Choir, swim, do aqua aerobics, grow flowers, cross country ski, am a member of the Church Social Outreach Committee, Community Volunteer, Refugee Resettlement Volunteer for Catholic Family Services assisting 2 Bantu Somali families assimilate into life in the USA.

From fifth grade through HS I lived on a farm in Yates County. I rode horses, helped take in square bales of hay with a hay hook, tied and picked grapes, picked raspberries, babysat, and worked as a waitress.

I also work for Crisis Care Network and in that role I provide Critical Incident Debriefing and Crisis Counseling to employees following a robbery, suicide, plant closing or other traumatic incident.

Why I enjoy Working for NY Farm Net
I enjoy working with Farm Families, because of their culture, work ethic, and because they are requesting services. When working as a School Social Worker there were times when I was the person helping them to see that their child was having difficulties in the school setting. A message that was not easy to receive.

I enjoy working as part of a network, because I have the flexibility to accept as many or as few cases as I want. Also when I notify the office that I will be away, I know that if a crisis should arise with one of the families I am working with or have worked with, another member of the network would have access to my files and be able to fill in.

Donald

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Ag Finance/Estate Planning/Bankruptcy
General Farm Management

Education:
B.S. – Cornell University
MBA -- Syracuse
MPA – Cortland

Personal Interests:
Hiking/Biking/Gardening
Sports

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet
Help farm families find solutions to all types of problems. Work with rural issues.

Richard

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Financial Management
Lending Relations
Business Planning

Education:
BS Agricultural Economics, Cornell 1970

Personal Interests:
Woodworking
Gardening

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet:
I enjoy utilizing my years of finance experience to assist others with their business and financial issues.

Don

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Dairy, farm management, finances, bankruptcy, grape, operating agreements, business plans, willing to try anything.

Education:
B.S. Ag Engineering, Cornell, 1962.
Several courses in banking/finance. Personal consulting (Stephen Ministry).

Personal Interests:
Golf, outdoors, reading; cutting firewood!!

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet
Enjoy meeting people, solving problems. I want to keep involved in agriculture and enjoy the sharing at FarmNet meetings. I want to keep active!! Willing to work on most any case!

Peter

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Mental health and addiction issues (including gambling). Communication issues.

Education:
MSW – University of Buffalo, 1997.
BSW – Buffalo State College, 1992.
Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

Personal Interests:
Active with National Association of Social Workers on regional and state level.

Involved with advocacy efforts on health care and mental health issues.

Hobbies include:
Computers, house repair and car repair.

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet
It is very rewarding to directly help others and FarmNet enables me to enter someone’s kitchen or barn and assist them with discovering options otherwise not visible.

Clifford

Professional Area(s) of Specialization:
Any type of financial case. Estate management, and farm transfers

Education:
BS Cornell '62, Poultry Husbandry & Ag Ec; Cooperstown High School '58; Stonier Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers ’82.

Personal Interests:
Gardening, feeding birds in the backyard, church work, singing in choir, helping people.

Why I Enjoy Working for NY FarmNet
It gives me an opportunity to sort out problems farmers are having and help them come up with solutions which they may not have thought of or been unable to verbalize themselves.

Bill

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Agricultural production – fruits and vegetables
Land preservation and use
Labor management

Education:
Cornell University BS 1962
Michigan State University MS 1972

Personal Interests:

Organizations:
Serve as secretary to the Suffolk County Agriculture and Farmland Protection Board.
Serve as consultant to the Suffolk County Farmland Select Committee that deals with the Purchase of Development Rights (PDR).
Active in the local Rotary Club and the Rotary District.
Serve on the Board of Directors of the Gift of Life program and while Chairman of the board for three years, we were able to provide cardiac surgery for 150 children from developing countries.
A 40 year member of the Riverhead Fire Department
Serve on the Board of Directors of the Suffolk County Fire Academy.
Serve on the Board of Director of Long Island Cauliflower Association, a farm supply business.

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet
Having worker with farm families as an Agricultural Extension Agent for almost 40 years, I have a genuine interest in the viability of farms and farm families. Over these years I have been fortunate in building an effective network with the agencies, both private and governmental, that can assist in many ways.

David

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
I like to help people that need guidance in today’s tough agricultural finance environment.

Education:
Bachelor of Science, Cornell University

Personal Interests:
Family – travel – view world agriculture.

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet
I like to see people succeed. I especially like to see people succeed in agriculture.

Lori

Professional Area(s) of Specialization:
I enjoy working with agricultural producers that are anticipating retirement, transferring the farm operation, or beginning farming. These transitions require planning, writing of goals, and researching tax, estate, and financial implications. Often facilitation with a third-party is helpful to guide the process and establish accountability. Responsible decisions are needed for healthcare, insurance, and resource management. I have experience with using Quicken for farm record keeping. I can help answer questions about using Quicken. I work with Oklahoma State University to develop a quarterly Quick Tips newsletter and annual Quicken instruction manuals to provide financial management information and Quicken instructions.

Education:
Bachelor of Science in Education – Business and Home Economics Emporia State University: Emporia, Kansas 1988-1991
Graduated Magna Cum Laude
Associate of Arts – General Studies
Cloud County Community College: Concordia, Kansas 1986-1988
Graduated with Honors

Personal Interests:
I enjoy camping and kayaking with my family. We enjoy exploring the waterfalls and hiking trails in Upstate New York. I enjoy music and am teaching myself how to play banjo. My passion is sharing life skills with others. There is so much that affects our financial lives and yet we know so little about it all. I like to seek out information and share it with others.

Why I Enjoy Working for NY FarmNet
NY FarmNet keeps me in touch with the backbone of this nation, our agricultural producers. FarmNet is a resource for producers that can help guide them through financial and family decisions. NY FarmNet is a special organization that recognizes the link between personal well-being, communication skills, and financial decision making. We feel like many can benefit from our services if they will just ask. We can’t make decisions for anyone, but we can offer information and links to resource information. This group has compassion for the agricultural community.

Warren

Professional Area(s) of Specialization:
Financial and Fruit Production. Also, interested in dispute resolution and helping improve family communications.

Education:
MS in Plant Science from University of New Hampshire 1968.

Personal Interests:
Sailing, Alpine skiing, fitness training, piano, family.

Why I Enjoy Working for NY FarmNet
I enjoy the satisfaction of helping farm families solve problems which enables their farms to remain sustainable. In addition, the camaraderie and intellectual stimulation of working with other consultants and FarmNet staff is gratifying.

Richard

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Debt structure, Cash flow, Dealing with creditors, Bankruptcy, Valuation, Marketing, Budgets, Financial management, Retirement planning, Partnerships; LLS, etc., Property transfer

Education:
B.S. Cornell Agricultural Economics

Personal Interests:
Sportsman

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet
Opportunity to give back to the community.

James

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Individual and family counseling.
Educate and link clients to community resources.

Education:
Canisius College , B.S. – English
University of Denver , Master of Social Work

Personal Interests:
Travel; family and five grandchildren; reading.

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet
Interesting work.
Good co-workers.

Phyllis-Ann, MSW, LMSW, ACSW

Professional Area of Specialization:
Personal Consultant

Education:
MSW from Rutger’s Graduate School of Social Work

Personal Interests:
Raising Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats, horseback riding, raise, train and compete with field bred Golden Retrievers and am the Field Editor for the Golden Retriever Club of America (the national club for the breed) and I have a standing column in “The Golden Retriever News”, their journal. My specialty is field training articles. I also have a website, http://www.corbecgold.com/

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet:
I enjoy working for FarmNet because I like to work with farm families. I understand their stresses and issues concerning the responsibility of a 24/7 job like running a farm. This is a proud group of families who are reluctant to seek help from professionals in an agency setting.

Walt

Professional area(s) of Specialization:
Farm management and finance. Succession issues. Transfer plans. Business agreements

Education:
B.S. Agriculture
M.S. Farm Management
180 hours graduate credits

Personal Interests:
Travel; surf internet and research; sing; “Drive Miss Daisy”

Why I enjoy working for NY FarmNet
Helping people solve problems.