Agriculture Literacy Week Begins Monday

By Debra J. Groom
Watertown Daily Times

The book for this year's Ag Literacy Week

The beautiful story of a young girl caring for her animals and then using their fleece to make a tapestry will be read to second-graders throughout the north country during Agriculture Literacy Week, March 16 through 20.

The featured book this year is called “Weaving the Rainbow,” by George Ella Lyon and illustrated by Stephanie Anderson.

Now in its 10th year, Ag Literacy Week is sponsored by the New York Ag in the Classroom program. During Ag Literacy Week, volunteer readers go into second-grade classrooms and read that year’s chosen book about a certain aspect of farming.

The elementary schools are given copies of the book and teachers and the readers discuss the book with the students.

Volunteers who go into the classrooms to read the book usually are somehow connected with agriculture — such as dairy princesses, master gardeners, farmers, Cooperative Extension agents, etc. But anyone can volunteer to read.

Ag Literacy Week Coordinators in Lewis and St. Lawrence counties still are seeking more readers to help out in local schools.

St. Lawrence County coordinator Betsy Hodge said she is being helped by FFA members in the Gouverneur, Canton and Edwards-Knox school districts. “Anyone else who wants to get involved should call or email Bobbi-Jo at our office,” Mrs. Hodge said. The phone number is 379-9192 and the email is bmr37@cornell.edu

To be a reader in Lewis County, email coordinator Jennifer Karelus at jlbeckman34@yahoo.com.

“My volunteers and I will be reading in all the elementary schools in Lewis County, including Harrisville, Lowville Academy, Beaver River, River Valley Mennonite School, Glenfield Elementary, Port Leyden Elementary and West Leyden Elementary,” Mrs. Karelus said. She also said any teachers who would like to have a reader come to their class should drop her an email. 

In Jefferson County, coordinator Sue Gwise said she has lined up readers and 43 classrooms for Ag Literacy Week. Readers will be visiting Belleville Henderson, Antwerp Elementary in the Indian River school district, General Brown Elementary and Dexter Elementary in the General Brown school district, Lyme, Augustinian Academy in Carthage, Wilson and Mannsville Manor elementaries in South Jefferson, Immaculate Heart Central Elementary in Watertown and Ohio Street, North, Starbuck, Sherman Street and Knickerbocker elementaries in the Watertown city district. Readers from Jefferson County also will visit the Copenhagen school district.

Both Mrs. Hodge and Mrs. Karelus said in addition to having volunteers read the book, they also like to line up others to come to the classes to beef up what the children learn.

For example, the year the Ag Literacy Week book was about honey and beekeeping, a beekeeper visited with her bees, and some readers came dressed in full beekeeper gear. This year, the coordinators hope to have some people who can use a spinning wheel to spin yarn, some fleece recently shorn from a sheep to show to the children and a finished product (a knitted sweater or mittens) so the children can see that the fleece from the sheep was used to make the article of clothing.

Mrs. Hodge said demonstrations like this make it easier for children to learn about what is done on a farm and how farming affects them.

She remembers the year the Ag Literacy Week book was about poultry. She said the children learned about raising chickens and how chickens lay eggs.

“We talked about what eggs are used for,” Mrs. Hodge said. “Then in a moment of a light bulb going off, one little girl said, ‘Then without chickens, we wouldn’t have eggs to make chocolate chip cookies.’ This is the coolest part of this experience.”

When reading “Weaving the Rainbow,” children will learn all the steps to making a woolen or woven item, from shearing, carding, spinning and dying.

Fiber production is an important part of agriculture in New York state, although not a huge part of the industry. A few thousand farms in the state raise goats, sheep, alpacas, llamas and rabbits and take the fleece or hair from those animals to make fiber and, eventually, clothing or woven items.

Some of the previous topics covered by books during Ag Literacy Week are poultry; maple sugaring; nutrition and knowing your farmer; vegetable and fruit growing; apples; tree growing; bees and honey; and dairy and making cheese.

For more information, go to www.agclassroom.org/ny/programs/literacy.htm.

What Part of Agriculture is Being Featured for Ag Literacy Week in 2015?

The book to be featured in next year's Ag Literacy Week has been chosen.

Go to http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs177/1105132857985/archive/1118469119777.html to find out what it is.

New York State Fair Opens Today

Go to http://www.nysfair.org/your-fair-visit/agriculture-info/ for information on all agriculture exhibits, schedules and events.

New York state is agriculture.

And agriculture is New York state.

How can you tell? Just visit the Great New York State Fair.

Yes, folks, there is much more to the fair than the rides, the concerts and the food. It’s amazing what you will see if you venture just a short ways outside the Grandstand, Chevy Court or the Midway.

Step inside any of the animal buildings and see all the different breeds of cows, sheep, goats, horses and poultry. Talk to the farmers. Ask them questions. They don’t mind. In fact, they love it.

Beef cattle in the beef barn in 2013

Do you know the difference between a Charolais and a Limousin? Go to the beef cattle barn to find out. Why do some farmers raise Jerseys or Belted Galloways instead of the ever-popular black and white Holsteins? Ask the farmers in the dairy cattle building.

Why do roosters crow? Each day at 11 a.m. in the poultry building, roosters from across the state compete in a crowing contest. I bet some farmers there can give you the low-down on that noisy affair.

And while the state doesn’t have a lot of goat, pig and sheep farmers, that doesn’t mean these folks aren’t passionate about their animals.

This goat checks out the photographer at the 2013 fair.

Go to the goat barn to find out the difference between meat and dairy goats and what goat meat and milk are used for. In the same building, see all the swine of different colors and sizes. Watch a sheep being shorn and find out about what all that wool is used for in the sheep barn. 

Also check out the llamas and alpacas, other animals which supply fiber for clothing. They also are some of the most curious creatures and love having their photos taken.

There are few animals more beautiful than horses and you not only can see them up close and personal in the horse barn, but then go to the Coliseum to watch them compete. There is every type of horse imaginable in this great state of ours – from miniatures to the grand workers Percherons and Belgians – and they all are majestic and mighty and worthy of our attention.

And of course, agriculture isn’t just animals.

Maple syrup at the 2013 State Fair

Be sure to stop at my favorite building – the Horticulture Building -- to see the busy bees making honey, taste some gooey sweet maple products or buy a New York state apple for a delicious and nutritious State Fair snack.

There also are many booths and exhibits of other state agriculture products, such as grains, beer, plants, vegetables, flowers, shrubs and trees (yes, folks, this all is agriculture).

And just outside the right front door of the Horticulture Building, fairgoers can begin to dream of a white Christmas by checking out the New York State Christmas Tree Growers Association and its display of award-winning trees. You might even see Santa and some snow!

The biggest part of the state’s agriculture industry is, of course, dairy.

New York ranks third in the United States in dairy production, behind California and Wisconsin. It ranks number 1 in the country in the production of cottage cheese and yogurt. Annual sales of New York milk total nearly $500 million.

Farmers in New York supply milk to plants throughout the state that are making all types of hard and soft cheeses, fluid milk, ice cream, regular and Greek yogurts, butter, cream and half and half. There’s nothing better than coming out of a store with some dairy products that you know were made just a day or two ago from fresh, New York milk.

While at the State Fair, be sure to taste some of these dairy products in the Dairy Products Building, where you can get milk at the ever-popular Rainbow Milk Bar, cheese, ice cream and – new this year – yogurt at the Yo2Go Yogurt Bar.

Photo supplied by NY Animal Agriculture Coalition

Also, be sure to stop into the dairy cattle building and see all the different breeds that call New York home. Then head back toward the FFA Building and next door, stop at the Dairy Cow Birthing Center. The center, run by the New York Animal Agriculture Coalition, is in its second year and features the live births of dairy calves.

This is where the process of all that delicious milk begins.

Anyone who wants a beverage with a little more a kick than milk can go to the Colannade (the columned area between the Dairy Products and Science and Industry Buildings) to visit the Wine Court. Here you can buy and taste wonderful New York state wines. Talk to the winery owners and find out about just what New York state has to offer.

Tastings of various wine and cheese pairings also are available in the Pride of NY Room located in the back of the Horticulture Building at 2:30 and 5:30 p.m. every day except Labor Day. Each day will be hosted by a different New York. On Labor Day, the area will host beer tasting seminars at 2:30 and 5:30 p.m.

Holstein ready to show at the 2013 State Fair

You see – you could spend an entire day at the Great New York State Fair and do nothing but check out the agriculture offered by the farmers of this state. This is the time for the farmers to shine, to show off what they do 365 days a year to all of the great consumers in the state.

So, even if you do attend a concert, play some games on the Midway or chow down on sausage sandwiches or blooming onions, please try to spend some time with the farmers. Thanks to them, we have the most fabulous food in the world that is grown or raised right here in our backyards on our plates each day.

I can’t think of anything more wonderful than that.

New York State Fair 'One Thing' Series -- Today's Feature, Llamas

Llamas Shady, 6, left and Jacoba, 4, pose for a shot at the NY State Fair

If you want to see llamas and alpacas at the New York State Fair, be sure to head out in the next few days.

These animals are in the swine barn through early next week and then many of them move out to make way for the pigs.

I asked llama owner Barb Kurzowski, of Holley in Orleans County, what 'one thing' she would say about her animals.

"They don't all spit," she said. "That's the first thing the public assume is that they all spit."

Kurzowski said the only time the animals spit is if they are annoyed or being pestered by people. I guess that makes complete sense.

According to various websites, llamas are bred throughout the world for their fiber. They have some of the best fiber of any animal and it makes very warm items. In fact, llama.org states "The Incan civilization (in South America) could likely not have thrived at its high, harsh altitude without the warm fleece of these native animals."

In other places, including South America, llamas are used as pack animals carrying heavy loads through the mountains passes. 



  

Empire State Farming Blog to Highlight New York State Fair with 'One Thing' Series

Well, the New York State Fair's 2013 edition is almost here.

And in the spirit of the fair, Empire State Farming will be celebrating with a series that will run each day of the fair and some special stories along the way.

Later today, look for a photo and news about this year's Butter Sculpture. Also there will be a story about a new exhibit this year in which fair visitors can see the live birth of a dairy calf.

Then on each day of the fair, I will post an item I am calling "One Thing." Stay tuned to find out what it's all about.

Have fun at the fair. And remember, while riding the rides and eating all that food, stop in to the animal barns and talk to the farmers and check out the beekeepers and maple producers in the Horticulture Building.

These people are what the fair is really all about. 

Learn About Horses, Alpacas during Shows at the New York State Fairgrounds

This news comes from the state Department of Agriculture and Markets:


Shows for horses and alpacas will be at the New York State Fairgrounds this weekend.

The Empire State Arabian Spring Horse Show will be at the Toyota Coliseum beginning at 8 a.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday (May 3, 4 and 5). The event will feature All-Arabian and Half-Arabian horses from throughout the United States and Canada for a three-day dressage event. Admission is free.

In the 4-H Arena, the Pinto Horse Association of New York Spring Fling All-Pinto Horse Show will take place beginning at 7:30 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Attendees will be able to see the horses, with their distinctive coats of two-toned large patches, as they take part in events designed to test the horse and rider’s control, showmanship and riding ability. Admission is free.

The Northeast Alpaca Expo will feature hundreds of alpacas, which will be judged on the quality of their thick coats.  The show begins at 8 a.m. Saturday in the Exhibit Center. Alpacas are domesticated members of the camel family that are raised for their hair, with their fiber used in all kinds of clothing and bedding products. Organizers plan to use a small camera to show and listen to judges as they discuss the qualities of each entrant.  Seminars on a variety of alpaca-related issues are also scheduled. The show is free.