New Farmers Grant Fund Issues Awards

From New York State:

The state’s New Farmers Grant Fund will provide over $743,000 in grants to support 25 early-stage agricultural businesses across New York state. 

The purpose of the fund, now in its second round, is to assist early-stage farmers in improving their farm’s profitability, and as a result, adding to the diversification and growth of New York’s agricultural sector.
 
“Agriculture remains a critical component of the New York’s economy and these grants will help ensure this industry’s continued strength,” said Gov. Andrew Cuomo. “This funding will support new and emerging agribusinesses as they expand their operations, develop and market high quality products and generate new growth in their communities.”
 
Empire State Development, in consultation with the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, administers the fund. More than 55 applications were submitted for program funding this round.
 
Projects were scored competitively based on specific criteria, including demonstration of project readiness. Grant funds will be used for project costs associated with the expansion of production, construction of farm buildings, purchase of equipment and seed, or upgrades to increase efficiency and boost production.
 
New Farmers Grant Fund award recipients are:
 
Capital Region
Eastern Hay Company, LLC – Washington County: $45,485
MX Morningstar Farm – Columbia County: $19,200
Sparrowbush Farm – Columbia County: $16,932
 
Central New York
Ingersoll Farms – Oswego County: $49,051
Main Street Farms, LLC – Cortland County: $17,000
Shared Roots Farm, LLC – Cortland County: $21,428
Z’s Nutty Ridge, LLC – Cortland County: $17,334
 
Finger Lakes
Blue Moon Bend, LLC - Wayne County: $20,250
Bolton Farms, Inc. – Monroe County: $24,788
McCracken Farms – Monroe County: $24,669
 
Long Island
Bhumi Farm, Inc. – Suffolk County: $22,943
 
Mid-Hudson
Alewife Farm – Dutchess County: $15,728
Sawkill Farm – Dutchess County: $33,925
Platte Creek Maple Farm – Ulster County: $26,289
 
Mohawk Valley
Jones Family Farm LLC – Herkimer County: $42,675
Windy Hill Goat Dairy – Otsego County: $28,645
 
North Country
Echo Farm – Essex County: $26,599
Full and By Farm, LLC – Essex County - $16,000
Juniper Hill Farm – Essex County: $49,783
Mace Chasm Farm, LLC – Essex County: $50,000
Michael & Carrie Higby – Lewis County: $18,000
North Branch Farms – Jefferson County: $45,000
 
Southern Tier
Plowbreak Farm – Schuyler County: $21,404
Van Noble Farm – Tompkins County: $40,362
 
Western New York
Perry-Dice Organics – Cattaraugus County: $49,534

Lawsuit Settled Against Group Caring for Retired Racehorses

This is from the Attorney General's office:

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the settlement of a lawsuit against directors of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, Inc. (TRF), one of the nation's largest charitable organizations dedicated to caring for retired racehorses. 

The enforcement action charged that directors of the New York-based foundation’s board had neglected their duties by taking on more racehorses than the group could afford to care for, resulting in the neglect and mistreatment of many of these animals. 

Under the settlement, TRF will add a veterinarian, named by the Attorney General's office, to its board. A revamped board will also include a director nominated by an animal welfare organization and one nominated by members of the nation’s horse racing and breeding industry.

The settlement further requires the board to establish a five-person committee, consisting of the three new directors and two current board members not named as defendants in the lawsuit, charged with recruiting a new, full-time chief executive officer for the organization.

"New York needs the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation to be fiscally sound and responsibly managed. Our agreement to remake the board of directors will help put this important charity back on solid financial ground and able to care for the animals it receives – and it gives TRF a shot to reclaim its place as one of America's leading thoroughbred organizations,"Schneiderman said. "As it was previously constituted, the foundation's board proved unable to conduct necessary financial oversight and management."

It's Pumpkin Time in Central New York

Logan Hilbert, 1, of North Syracuse during his first pumpkin patch visit to Behling's Orchard in Mexico.

It's pumpkin time and farms across Oswego County have plenty of the orange fruits to buy.

But how the crops fared varies on where in the county a farm is located.

For instance, Will Ruby of Mexico said his half acre or so "look good" and the weather was great for raising pumpkins.

But Josephine Godfrey, of Godfrey's Last Stand on Route 264 near Phoenix, said the pumpkins her family planted early in June didn't do well.

"It was the wet weather," she said. "We planted, they started blossoming and then we were getting a lot of rain."

She said the pumpkins the family planted later, in early July, did much better. She said the farm will have enough pumpkins for its customers, but won't be able to ship any to any other locations.

"We have about half a crop," she said of the 4 1/2 acres planted with pumpkins.

Ruby said he planted his pumpkins late (beginning of June) so they are just turning orange in the field now.

Pumpkins are huge sellers this time of year the closer Halloween gets on the calendar. Most people throughout the region use them for either autumn decorations or carve them to make spooky adornments for their windows at Halloween time.

As pumpkin are grown lying flat in a field, they can be harmed by too much rain or not enough rain. Too much rain and either they won't develop when first planted or they will be subject to mildew or rot nearer harvest time.

Cornell Cooperative Extension says on its website that another concern for growers are several different viruses which can cause plants to not produce fruit at all or results in poor fruit quality (size or color). Striped cucumber beetles and squash bugs remain the main insect pests.

New York state ranks amongst the top three states (Illinois and Pennsylvania are the other two) in pumpkin production in the country with more than 6,800 acres of pumpkins produced with an estimated value of $24 million each year.

Nearly all of these are for fresh market use for either decorating or eating. The pumpkin industry is highly variable with fruit ranging from quarter pound to several hundred pounds each.

Pumpkins are grown throughout New York state and are marketed through roadside stands, nursery centers and farmers markets and are also important in areas that have lots of agritourism. Included in this group are also other fall ornamentals such as gourds and ornamental squash.

Gillibrand Hosts New York Farm Day

This news is from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand:

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., will host the 12th annual “New York Farm Day” on at 5 p.m. Sept. 17 in the Russell Senate Office Building's Kennedy Caucus Room.

Farm Day brings together producers of New York’s award-winning wines, farm-fresh products and seafood, as well as leading restaurateurs from across New York State to showcase some of New York’s very best in Washington, D.C.

“I’m proud to continue the Farm Day tradition in Washington, DC,” Gillibrand said. “As a member of the Agriculture Committee, I am focused on improving the health of our economy and the health of our families.

"From rising childhood obesity and outdated nutritional standards to the economic crisis facing our dairy farmers and specialty crop farmers, agriculture issues in Washington affect families in every corner of New York. Strengthening our agricultural sector and promoting good nutrition for New Yorkers are essential to our long-term health and economic growth,” she said.

“New York Farm Day is a tasteful and effective way to educate policy makers that New York is a major farm state, and that agricultural is a major part of the state economy,” said Jim Trezise, president of the New York Wine and Grape Foundation.

“The grape, grape juice and wine industry now has production facilities in 53 of New York State’s 62 counties, and generates over $3.7 billion in economic benefits annually," Trezise said. "Our ability to grow and contribute even more depends on the business climate, which is shaped by public policy, so we thank Senator Gillibrand for hosting this immensely popular and effective event.”

Gillibrand is the first New York senator in nearly 40 years to serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee. In  her four years on the committee, Gillibrand traveled across New York state, visiting farms and holding listening sessions to hear concerns and ideas straight from farm communities with the most at stake in the Farm Bill.

The Senate Farm Bill included a number of provisions Gillibrand fought hard to strengthen, including specialty crops, expanding rural broadband, reform of dairy pricing, expanding markets, increasing access to capital and extending disaster relief to commercial fishermen, and other important measures. 

To see a list of which New York farms or businesses are presenting at Farm Day, go to https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=gmail&attid=0.1&thid=14127c71b03f64b8&mt=application/pdf&url=https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui%3D2%26ik%3Dce9dcad029%26view%3Datt%26th%3D14127c71b03f64b8%26attid%3D0.1%26disp%3Dsafe%26zw&sig=AHIEtbScmrp4_9eOWxwN2ACXinFm5aseCA 

New York to Participate in Greek Yogurt Program in School Lunches

News from U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer:

  

New York state has been selected as one of four states to participate in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Greek Yogurt Pilot Program.

The program will allow school districts to test Greek yogurt on their menus beginning in September. U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer, who championed the program, said yogurt will provide a high-nutrition and protein alternative for children in their school lunches.

On Monday, the USDA issues a solicitation to buy Greek yogurt for delivery to participating school districts. The USDA seeks both four-ounce single serving containers of flavored yogurt and 32-ounce containers of nonflavored yogurt that could be used in various recipes.

The other states involved in the yogurt programs are Tennessee, Idaho and Arizona. Schumer said New York was a perfect selection for the program because of the large number of Greek yogurt plants (Chobani, Fage, Alpina and Muller) making the product right in New York state.

“Starting this school year, students across the state will be balancing New York-made Greek yogurt on their lunch trays. I am thrilled that New York schools will have a chance to participate in the first-ever Greek yogurt pilot program in September," Schumer said.

"Schools in New York, and the other three states participating in the pilot, will soon see that Greek yogurt is an affordable and nutritious high-protein option for their menus,” Schumer said. “I am proud to see this pilot plan reach this final step, because it’s a boon for New York yogurt and dairy industries, and it’s beneficial for the health of our kids.”

Companies wishing to bid on the yogurt contracts have until July 22. The Farm Service Agency will evaluate bids and make awards by the end of July.
 

Cornell Chicken, Syracuse Salt Potatoes, Waldorf Slaw, Finger Lakes Riesling and Concord Pie for the Fourth of July

Have you eaten yet?

If not, try this all New York state barbecue meal. Go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/craig-goldwyn/crispy-cornell-chicken-recipe_b_771375.html to check it out.

If you have eaten, save this for next year or another patriotic holiday.

New York State Malthouses Look to Supply Booming Microbrewing Industry

Check out http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/CB/20130614/NEWS01/306140082/Malthouses-look-supply-booming-microbrewing-industry?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|New%20York%20news|p this story about the beer industry.

June is Dairy Month -- New York is a Big Cheese

While New York state is the champ when it comes to yogurt production, it isn't to shabby in the cheese department either.

New York has been a leader in cheese making for years -- 161 years to be exact. It was in 1851 that Jesse Williams of Rome, NY opened the first commercial cheese factory in the United States. Sure, cheese had been made for ages before, but always by individuals on dairy farms.

Photo of the Williams cheese factory. From the Oneida County Historical Society website

Williams found a way to take large quantities of milk and make large quantities of cheese at one time.  According to the Oneida County Historical Society website, "After his cheese factory became successful in 1851, his fame spread throughout the land. Soon, factories, following his design, were built in states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Ohio and countries in Europe, including a large number in France.  Fifteen years later, 500 cheese factories were operating in New York state alone.

"By 1864, Rome had become the cheese-making capital of the world and that year cheese makers from throughout the country met in Rome and formed the New York State Cheese Manufacturers Association."

So, you see, New York is a big cheese. And it remains so today.

The Empire State is not the leading cheese manufacturer in the United States, but it does well. According to 2011 statistics from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wisconsin is the leader in cheese production, followed by California, Idaho, New Mexico and then New York.

But New York does hold the top spot in production of one very particular type of cheese. We are the leaders in cottage cheese and have been for many years. The April 2013 report on cheese production for all of 2012 showed a nearly 1 percent increase in the amount of cottage cheese made -- a total of 315 million pounds.

California leads the way in production of Italian cheese and Wisconsin is number one in American-type cheese. New York's production of Italian cheeses, such as parmesan, mozzarella and provolone, accounts for 48 percent of all cheese made in the state.

There are many cheese manufacturers in the state, in fact, too many to mention. Go to http://www.newyorkcheese.org/  to learn more about New York cheese makers.

And of course, if having so many large manufacturers isn't enough to satisfy your cheese cravings, there also are many farms in the state that make their own artisan cheeses for sale. A group of them in Central New York and the Finger Lakes have joined to form the Finger Lakes Cheese Trail -- 12 farms and creameries that use cow or goat milk to make fabulous cheeses.

Go to http://flcheesetrail.com/ for information on the farms, a map on how to find them, a list of what they make and a great calendar of events along the trail.

June is Dairy Month -- Another Yogurt Factory Opens in NYS

On just the third day of Dairy Month, New York welcomed the newest yogurt factory to the Empire State.

The official grand opening for the new Müller yogurt plant in Batavia was conducted Monday.

Müller, a yogurt brand that originated in Bavaria, Germany, has made all of its yogurt at Müller’s production facility in Leppersdorf, German before opening the Batavia plant.

The brand has been available in Europe for more than 100 years, but now is sold in the United States through cooperation with Quaker. Muller Quaker Dairy LLC in Batavia is a joint venture between PepsiCo, Inc. and the Theo Muller Group.

The Muller facility in Batavia. Photo from Muller Facebook page

Müller is sold now in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, but will be expanding its sales to other parts of the U.S. According to the company, the new facility was built on 82 acres and is one of the country's largest yogurt manufacturing plants and is expected to create more than 180 new jobs.


Muller Quaker Dairy entered the U.S. dairy market in July 2012 with premium yogurt products such as Muller^® Corner^®, Muller Greek Corner^® and Muller FrütUp™, which all offer yogurt with add-ins you can flip, stir or dip.

The opening of the Müller plant will add to New York state's lead in the nationwide production of yogurt.

In April, Gov. Andrew Cuomo stated New York had taken the lead in yogurt production when the state's processors made 692 million pounds of yogurt in 2012 compared to 587 million pounds made in California.

In 2011, California processors made 627 million pounds of yogurt compared to 554 million pounds in New York. Cuomo also reported that in the last five years, New York's yogurt plants have nearly tripled in production, and milk production on farms grew by more than 1 billion pounds.

Go to http://mullerquaker.com/where-to-buy and click on New York state to find out where to buy Müller yogurt locally. Go to https://vine.co/v/b361KIiWZIb to see an event during the grand opening at the Batavia plant.

New York Ranks 25th in Food Production in the U.S.

Here is a list of states that produce the most food. 

Go to http://wherefoodcomesfrom.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=9076#.UYBq_MrS9l_ to check it out. The list is from the Where Food Comes From website.

Number of NY Farms Remains Stable; Number Decreases in US

Here is the latest release from the New York office of the National Agricultural Statistics Services. This is good news, considering how the number of farms has decreased in the past:

The number of farms in New York for 2012 remained the same as a year earlier, said King Whetstone, director of USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, New York Field Office.

The number of farms for 2012 is estimated at 36,000. Land in farms was 7 million acres.

Farms with sales more than $500,000 increased by 100 to 1,900 while farms with sales between $250,000 and $499,999 remained at 1,300. The area of land operated by farms in these two
groups totaled 2.55 million acres, up 50,000 from 2011.

The next smaller sales class, farms with sales between $100,000 and $249,999 increased by 300 to 3,500 while land operated by
these farms increased to 1.20 million acres. There were 11,300 farms with sales between $10,000 and $99,999 compared with 10,800 a year earlier.

Land they operated totaled 1.9 million acres. There were 900 fewer small farms with sales between $1,000 and $9,999 in 2012,
at 18,000. Land in farms for this class dropped to 1.35 million acres.

The number of farms in the United States in 2012 is estimated at 2.2 million, down 11,630 farms from 2011. Total land in farms, at 914 million acres, decreased 3 million acres from 2011. The
average farm size is 421 acres, up 1 acre from the previous year.

Farm numbers and land in farms are differentiated by five economic sales classes. Farms and ranches are classified into these “sales classes” by summing sales of agricultural products and
government program payments. Sales class breaks occur at $10,000, $100,000, $250,000 and $500,000.

Farm numbers in the $500,000 and higher sales class increased by 8.6 percent, to 145,190 farms. Higher commodity prices and larger value of sales contributed to changes in the number
of farms within these sales classes.

Meanwhile, the number of farms in the $1,000 - $9,999
sales class decreased by 2.5 percent to 1,172,200. Farm numbers increased slightly in the $10,000 - $99,999 sales class to slightly more than 600,000 farms.

The number of farms in the $100,000 - $249,999 and $250,000 - $499,999 sales classes increased 1.9 and 1.1 percent,
respectively.

Land in farms increased in the largest sales class while decreasing in all other sales classes. Land operated by farms in the $500,000 and higher sales class increased 3.7 percent, to 317.1
million acres.

Land operated by farms in the $1,000-$9,999 sales class decreased by 3.9 percent, to slightly less than 97 million acres. Land in farms in the $10,000 - $99,999, $100,000 - $249,999 and $250,000 - $499,999 sales classes decreased by 1.4, 2.6 and 2.4 percent
respectively.