NEW BERLIN – New York 22nd Congressional District Congressman Anthony Brindisi and United States Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue visited Chobani’s plant in New Berlin and discussed issues dairy farmers are currently facing in the United States.

The meeting was held on Wednesday afternoon, at the Chobani plant. Agriculture representatives that attended the panel included Chenango County Farm Bureau President Bradd Vickers, Cornell Cooperative Extension Executive Director Ken Smith, Farm Credit East Vice President Tom Cosgrove, IDFA President Michael Dykes, Dairy Farmers of American Senior Director Jennifer Huson, and Chobani Senior Director of Government Affairs Mark Broadhurst.

“It is an honor to bring Secretary Perdue to Upstate New York,” said Brindisi. “We make the finest agriculture products in the world and we need to make sure these producers can bring those products to market. We had a great discussion today and I think both the Secretary and I have some good ideas on how to improve the situation for our producers.”

At the event, Brindisi urged Perdue to recognize the high nutritional value of Greek yogurt in the school lunch program and led a bipartisan effort to crack down on the false labeling of plant-based products.

Chobani representative Broadhurst also spoke about the dairy industry and the needs of dairy farmers at the event.