Officials Mark Opening of St. Lawrence Wine Trail

(Pictured from left to right are RVRDA and IDA CEO Patrick Kelly, Senator Patty Ritchie, Larry Hollister of Bella Brooke Winery, St. Lawrence Valley Redevelopment Agency Chair Robert McNeil, Assemblywoman Addie Russell, Randy LaMay of River Myst Winery and St. Lawrence County Chamber Of Commerce Executive Director Brooke Rouse)

Local leaders got together Thursday to mark the official opening of the St. Lawrence Wine Trail, the state’s 18^th wine trail.

State Sen. Patty Ritchie said the trail should help draw tourists to the area, create jobs and support local businesses.

Established through legislation sponsored by Ritchie, the trail spans 80 miles, starting near Black Lake’s Bella Brooke Winery in Morristown, extending to Lisbon’s River Myst Winery and then to High Peaks Winery in Winthrop. 

In addition, the trail was also designed to bring visitors to St. Lawrence Brewing’s microbrewery in Canton, allowing the four companies additional opportunities to work together and market the new tourist destination.

Recently, more than 90 highway signs marking the new wine trail were placed throughout its 80 mile span. In addition, now available through the St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce are brochures and a website that include a map of the trail, winery descriptions and information on other local attractions.

According to the New York Wine and Grape Foundation, in 1976 there were just 14 wineries in New York State.  Today, that number has ballooned to more than 1,600 family vineyards and over 350 wineries.

Marketing Materials Available for Pride of New York Program

From the state Department of Agriculture and Markets:

The recently relaunched Pride of New York website features a new fulfillment house function for marketing and branding materials. 

At the request of Pride of New York participants, growers and producers across the state can now visit the Pride of New York fulfillment house, located under the About Us section on the Pride of New York homepage, to order banners, stickers and other branding materials to display alongside local New York state products.

 

The fulfillment house makes it easy for the more than 3,000 members of the Pride of New York program to order materials for their business. All proceeds from the sale of the marketing materials will be used to replenish any depleted stock.  

The streamlined Pride of New York website also allows consumers to quickly find Pride of New York products by using the updated advanced search tool, which provides item searches by category, county and item.

The Pride of New York program is designed to highlight and promote the benefits of locally produced and grown agricultural products and build consumer awareness. 

It is also an important partner of the Taste NY initiative, which is dedicated to promoting New York’s food and beverage industries and has created opportunities for local producers to showcase their goods at large public events such as the Great New York State Fair and special events with organizations such as the Culinary Institute of America and the New York Racing Association. 

The program has also opened stores at Thruway rest stops, along the state’s highways, New York City airports, and transportation hubs, enabling travelers to buy New York State’s homegrown and homemade products.

Also, since October 2013, more than 300 restaurants have taken the Pride of New York Pledge, committing to increase their use of New York products by at least 10 percent. 

To find out more about the Pride of New York program, call (800) 554-4501 or go to www.prideofny.com 

If you are already a Pride of New York member, please make sure your information and listing is up-to-date by emailing prideofny@agriculture.ny.gov

Watertown Farmers' Market Benefits from Rainless Wednesdays

A story from one of my colleagues at the Watertown Daily Times.

Check it out http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/news03/watertown-farmers-market-benefited-from-rainless-wednesdays-20151008 here.

LaFayette Apple Festival set for Oct. 10 and 11

The LaFayette Apple Festival is this weekend.

The annual event is 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday Oct. 10 and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday Oct. 11. There is also an apple pancake breakfast each day at 7 a.m.

Come to LaFayette -- the heart of Onondaga County's apple country (Beak & Skiff Apple Orchard in LaFayette recently was named the number one orchard in the US in a USA Today poll) -- to experience crafters, free entertainment, artists, nonprofit organizations, a scarecrow contest, king and queen contest and pie contest. 

There also are loads of goodies to eat -- in fact everything possible that can be made with apples will be at the festival (especially dumplings, doughnuts and fritters).

Parking is free. Admission is $5 and ages 12 and under are free. Presale tickets for $4 are available at Old Tyme Cafe in LaFayette or Baileys ice cream on Route 11 in Nedrow.

No pets are allowed (only service dogs).

It's Harvest Time -- Thank a Farmer

Be sure to think about this today.

New York Could Benefit Greatly form the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday put out a fact sheet stating how New York will benefit from the Trans-Pacific Trade agreement.

The fact sheet states New York state has five basic agricultural exports: dairy, fruit and nuts, vegetables, soybeans and feeds and fodder. New York ag exports have a value of about $1.7 billion.

Dairy --Japan will eliminate tariff s on cheese and whey and create tariff -rate quotas (TRQs) for whey, butter, milk powder and evaporated and condensed milk. Malaysia and Vietnam will eliminate tari ffs on dairy products. Canada will eliminate tari ffs on whey and create TRQs for cheese, fluid milk, butter and other products.

Fruits -- Japan, Malaysia, and Vietnam will eliminate tariff s on all fresh and processed fruits, including citrus.

Vegetables -- Malaysia and Vietnam will immediately eliminate all tariff s,and Japan nearly all tari ffs, on fresh and processed vegetables. All three countries will eliminate tariff s on potatoes and
potato products

The fact sheet states "The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) will boost demand for U.S. farm and food products among nearly 500 million consumers in 11 countries across the Asia-Pacific region. By reducing tariff s and opening new markets for American agricultural products, the TPP will help increase farm income, generate rural economic activity and support local jobs."

 

A total of 12,900 jobs in New York state are supported by agricultural exports to other countries.

 

Also on Wednesday, Andrew Novakovic, a professor in the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell University, said the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement could result in the opening of Canada as a dairy market for the United States and New York -- a market that has been closed for years.

 

He issued the following statement on how the Trans-Pacific Partnership will help the New York dairy industry:

 

“The outlines of the dairy agreement contained in Trans-Pacific Partnership is distinguished not so much by what it did, but rather that it managed to do anything at all. The participants in the trade agreement include the two most protectionist dairy sectors in the world and, arguably, the two most liberal.

The U.S. occupies an intermediary position that was very protectionist 20 years ago, and has become more liberal and more self-assured in world trade.

The breakthrough for the dairy chapter was a Canadian agreement, under heavy U.S. lobbying, to expose their closed system to slightly greater imports, which they cleverly will do within their production quota system.

Under the Canadian system, not only has the trade door been closed, they have tightly managed milk production to essentially assure stable and profitable prices for dairy farmers.

The accumulated effect has been a Canadian dairy industry that in many respects resembles U.S. farming of 40 years ago and prices that are increasingly higher.

From 1991 through 2000, Canadian farm milk prices averaged 18 percent higher than the U.S. Since 2000, they have averaged 62 percent higher. Profitability in Canada is more stable than the U.S., but not dramatically higher.

The implication is that the supply-managed system has, over time, allowed increased costs to be rewarded with increased prices. Eliminating the protection of the Canadian cocoon is a frightful prospect for Canadian farmers and an alluring opportunity for world exporters, including New Zealand and the U.S.

Although Canada apparently has agreed to only permit an amount of dairy product imports equal to 3.25 percent of its total milk supply, this represents a brand new opportunity for the U.S. to develop marketing relationships with Canadian processing and marketing companies and the confidence of Canadian consumers.

This opportunity will be available to any dairy firm in the U.S., but it will be especially enticing to border states, like New York. As a beginning, it is assuredly modest, but what is terribly important is that it is a beginning.”

 

 

Ag Commissioner Hosts Taste NY Culinary Tour

From the state Department of Agriculture and Markets:

The state’s Taste NY Culinary Tour in the Hudson Valley was conducted Monday by Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard Ball.

The tour provided more than 30 leading restaurateurs and chefs from the Hudson Valley, New York City, Western New York, Central New York and Capital Regions a first-hand look at the quality and diversity of New York agriculture in the region.  

 

Following two successful Taste NY Culinary Tours in the Finger Lakes and on Long Island in August, Monday’s tour included visits to three farms and processors across Dutchess and Ulster counties. As a result of the three tours, nearly 100 chefs and restaurant owners from across the state have been introduced to some of New York state’s best agricultural food and beverage producers.

 

The Culinary Tours were organized following the Governor’s Farm to Table Upstate-Downstate Summit in an effort to connect restaurateurs with regional producers and growers, and highlight the many opportunities for the sourcing of local foods.

 

The Hudson Valley region is known for its strengths in the agricultural industry — its rich soils, abundant water supply and proximity to metropolitan markets.Dutchess County agriculture comprises over 170,000 acres, one third of its total acreage), producing $44.8 million in market value products, a large part of the county’s $438 million tourism industry.  

Agriculture is also the county’s third largest employer. 

Ulster County also has a long agricultural history and is home to a diverse array of agricultural enterprises including fruit and vegetable production as well as dairy and egg.

 

The three stops on the Hudson Valley Culinary Tour included Hepworth Farms in Milton, Ulster County (vegetables), Bad Seed Cider in Highland, Ulster County (cider), and Hudson Valley Fresh in Wappingers Falls, Dutchess County (dairy farm). 

 

Hepworth Farms is a seventh generation family farm that produces more than 400 varieties of vegetables using organic practices on its 250 acres of farmland. Produce is sold to restaurants, processors and at farmers’ markets, and the farm works with several local distributors to sell its vegetables in the wholesale marketplace. 

While at Hepworth Farms, participants had the opportunity to tour the packinghouse and get a firsthand look at operations. 

 

Participants also visited Bad Seed Cider in Highland, which makes its cider with 100 percent fresh pressed apples, some of which are grown at neighboring Wilklow Orchards. Manhattan Beer sells the cider wholesale throughout the Hudson Valley and New York City area.   

 

At Stormfield Swiss in Wappingers Falls, one of the dairy farms in the Hudson Valley Fresh cooperative, participants toured the farm, learned about the dairy cooperative enterprise, and sampled various dairy products. Hudson Valley Fresh produces whole, skim, low-fat and chocolate milk along with half and half, heavy cream, yogurt, ice cream mix and sour cream. Milk is locally sourced, processed and distributed to local businesses.

 

“We feel it is important to provide these tours so that the consumer has the opportunity to see firsthand where their product comes from. They also see the care that goes into a product which they use every day," said Jennifer DeForest, owner of Stormfield Swiss, one of nine farms producing Hudson Valley Fresh milk.

Amy Hepworth, owner of Hepworth Farms, said, “Anytime anyone in the food industry knows more about agriculture as it pertains to their food and food supply, the better. It’s very important for chefs and others to understand agriculture first hand and this is what this opportunity presents.Chefs influence people," said Amy Hepworth, owner of Hepworth Farms.

The Taste NY Culinary Tour concluded with a tour of The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. A reception to kick off Hudson Valley Restaurant Week capped off the evening with more than 300 guests.