Wayne County Dairy Princess Wins State Pageant

From the American Dairy Association North East

Left to right: 2nd Alternate Erin Armitage, State Dairy Princess Natalie Vernon and 1st Alternate Rachel Rouland.

Natalie Vernon of Wayne County was named the 2020-2021 New York State Dairy Princess Tuesday night at the Holiday Inn in Salina, outside Syracuse.

She has served as the Wayne County Dairy Princess since spring of 2019. She will now spend the next year advocating for the dairy industry throughout New York state.

As state princess, she receives a $1,200 scholarship and will serve as a dairy industry ambassador and spokesperson, working with the American Dairy Association North East to represent dairy farmers at a variety of special events, including the New York State Fair, county dairy princess pageants, farmer meetings, fairs and school visits.

She will also play an integral role in the training and mentoring of new county dairy princesses.

Named first alternate state princess was Rachel Rouland of Monroe County. Erin Armitage of Washington County was named second alternate state princess. They receive a $700 scholarship and $600 scholarship, respectively. Both will assist the New York State Dairy Princess with training, appearances and other duties.

Twenty-two county dairy princesses competed in the state pageant, which included a personal interview, impromptu questions, a prepared adult speech, a product knowledge exam, writing skills test, and informal interaction with others.

Judges evaluated the contestants on their communication skills, knowledge of the dairy industry, poise and personality. Judges were: Tracy Smith, Warren County, N.J., Dairy Princess Coordinator & So-N-So Acres Farm; Mike Weimer, Classifier, Holstein Association USA; and Holly Pullis, Hollywood Enterprises & Roedale Farm.

Heidi Kovalewski, Onondaga County Dairy Promotions chairperson, was presented with the Golden Cow award, given annually to recognize outstanding service and dedication to local dairy promotion in New York state.

The American Dairy Association North East sponsors the dairy princess competition each year. This was the 57^th annual pageant.

The outgoing state dairy princess was Reegan Domagala of Lewis County.  

Live Stream Farm Tour June 12 at Wayne County Farm

A dairy farm in Newark, Wayne County, is having a live stream farm tour on its Facebook page June 12.

The El-Vi Farms LLC on Pelis Road is having the event from 5 to 6 p.m. June 12. On its Facebook page, it invites folks to "Join us for a live stream farm tour via our Facebook page. On June 12th at 5pm in promotion of dairy month, see how we care for our cows on a daily basis."

Go to the farm's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/El-VI-Farms-LLC-114974595209911/

Onion Production Forecast Down Slightly from 2014

New York state's onion production is estimated to be down slightly from last year, according to statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The National Agricultural Statistics Services estimates New York will see an onion crop of 2.31 million hundredweight (100 pounds), down 2 percent from the 2.36 million hundredweight in 2014.

Harvested acreage also is down, but yield per acre is projected to be up to an average of 335 hundredweight per acre from the 295 hundredweight per acre in 2014.

Nationally, 92,650 acres of onions are being harvested in 2015, compared to 93,200 in 2014.

Onions are primarily grown on muck soils found in Oswego, Orange, Orleans, Genesee, Madison, Wayne, Yates and Steuben counties. 

"The crop in general looked great so we should be on target for yields comparable to last year," said Jonathan J. Schell, agriculture team coordinator with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Oswego County.

Documentary on Migrant Women Farmworkers to be Shown March 2

An award-winning documentary that follows the lives of five women migrant farmworkers in Wayne County will be shown Sunday, March 2 in Central Square.

"After I Pick the Fruit: The Lives of Migrant Women," by Nancy Ghertner, will be screened at 12:30 p.m. at First Universalist Society of Central Square, 3243 Fulton Ave. (state Route 49 just west of US Route 11). Ghertner will speak after the 93-minute screening.

The film begins and ends in the apple orchards around Sodus, but includes footage shot in Chilapa de Diaz, Mexico; at the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, the orange groves of Florida, the Capitol Building in Albany and the women's homes when the work day is done. Ghertner spent 10 years filming the women.

Sunday's program is co-sponsored by the Workers' Center of Central New York, based in Syracuse.

"After I Pick the Fruit" follows the women as they struggle to fulfill their roles as workers, wives, mothers and members of an isolated community that's almost invisible to the outside world. It is an intensely personal film, born of friendships between Ghertner and each of the five women, who ask to be identified only as Soledad, Vierge, Maria, Elisa and Lorena.

The Bush Administration's post-9/11 crackdown on illegal immigration is pivotal. Three of the women are undocumented. Ghertner shows how raids in 2006 affect the women, their families, farmers and residents in and around Sodus.

"I was inspired to make the film after seeing women working in the fields and orchards near my  hometown of Sodus," Ghertner says on her website, www.afteripickthefruit.com. "I wanted to meet them, to understand how they lived and what happened -- after they picked the fruit."

Once she got to know the women, Ghertner says she was driven "to make the invisible visible" and raise awareness about the human price of getting fresh fruit to the supermarket.

The film earned an award of excellence at the 2012 International Film Festival for Peace, Inspiration, and Equality. It received a documentary award at the Southern Appalachian International Film Festival.

In 2012, "After I Pick the Fruit" was an official selection for both the Reel to Reel International Film Festival and the Twin Cities Film Fest.

Ghertner will have DVDs available for purchase after the Central Square screening. Proceeds, less production costs, benefit the Las Mujeres Divinas Scholarship Fund, which supports farmworker women and their children's education.

Donations in support of the Workers' Center of Central New York also will be accepted, although the program is free. The Workers' Center advocates and empowers low-wage and vulnerable workers, including farmworkers.

Maffei Names Agriculture Advisory Board

U.S. Rep. Daniel Maffei has set up an agriculture advisory board.

Here is his http://maffei.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/rep-maffei-announces-agriculture-advisory-board news release on the board.

Lots of good people here. I know about 15 of them first hand.

Annual Apple Tour in October in Wayne County

This news comes from Assemblyman Bob Oaks' Facebook page:

"Planning a Fall apple tour? Wayne County Annual Apple Tasting Weekend is Oct. 11 to 14, but the Tour Challenge goes on all October.

Collect stamps on a form available at participating markets or from the Wayne County Tourism Office and win great prizes. Go to www.waynecountytourism.com for more information.

Apple Country Spirits in Williamson Gets Shout-Out in NY Times

Check it out at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/14/dining/front-burner-nourish-in-greenwich-village-tomato-soup-potato-chips-and-more.html?ref=dining&_r=0

Grand Opening Aug. 3 at Apple Country Spirits in Wayne County

Go to http://applecountryspirits.com/events/4/grand-opening/ to see all the info on apple vodka being made at Apple Country Spirits.