New Agriculture Exhibits Planned for State Fair

From Empire Farm & Dairy magazine:

By DEBRA J. GROOM
dgroom@wdt.net
 

While the New York State Fair is jam-packed with fun and food, its primary emphasis always has been on agriculture, the biggest industry in New York state.
 
In fact, the New York State Fair is run by the state Department of Agriculture and Markets.
 
So, while running around the fairgrounds this summer checking out musical acts and the sand sculpture, exploring the midway, and scarfing down fried dough and sausage sandwiches, remember to check out the agricultural exhibits.
 

Vegetables that competed at last year's State Fair

Visit the animals in the barns. See the beautiful flowers, hearty vegetables, sweet honey and maple syrup and crunchy apples in the Horticulture Buildings. Look at the ever-popular butter sculpture and try some New York yogurt and ice cream in the Dairy Products Buildings.
 
And, as always, see how the entire dairy industry begins in the Dairy Cow Birthing Center.
 
Here are some new ag exhibits to check out at the 2017 New York State Fair:
 
** STEAM Exhibit. This is one of the most anticipated new items at this year’s fair and is located in the Science and Engineering Building.
 
The exhibit will highlight a number of technical careers and trades that are extremely popular today. Many qualified workers are going to be needed to fill these STEAM jobs in the future. Federal government statistics indicate employment in the science, technology, engineering and math fields will grow by 9 million by 2022.
 

Butter sculpture from a previous State Fair

STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. The exhibit will feature hands-on activities, workshops and demonstrations aimed at stimulating creativity in young fairgoers and encouraging them to consider careers in related fields. 
 
“The technical fields and the arts provide wonderful opportunities for our young people and for our economy while encouraging innovation and creativity,” said Troy Waffner, acting director of the New York State Fair. 

“This is an exciting new exhibit and I encourage everyone to stop by and see the amazing work being done in these industries now and the opportunities for the future.”
 
Examples of projects and fields to be displayed include drones, medical projects, advanced manufacturing, virtual reality, robotics, citizen science, wearable technology, soldering, 3D-printed prosthetics, architecture, stop-motion animation and more. 

There also will be a special Ag Career Day on Students Day Sept. 1. 
The exhibit will feature an area in which people with enthusiasm for particular topics will create projects as fairgoers watch.
 
** A number of the animal barns will have special signs this year providing a phone number. Fairgoers will be able to send a text to that number from their cell phones asking questions about anything they are curious about in the animal barns. 

They will immediately get a text back from the barn superintendent or perhaps even the state Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets with an answer to their questions.
 
“We want the fairgoer to have the right information,” said Mary Ellen Chesbro, New York State Fair coordinator and agricultural manager. “Sometimes they will ask a question out loud and someone standing near them will answer. But that might not always be the right information. With this, they won’t have to hunt down someone to ask — they will be able to get an answer and get it fast.”
 
So far, the text questions project will be up and running in the goats, sheep, swine and beef barns. Chesbro said she also is trying to get it set up in the dairy barn.
 
** If you want to know what’s going on during the horse shows in the Coliseum, check out the free headphones. Chesbro said there are 75 headsets available (simply look for the signs inside the Coliseum entrances). There will be an explanation of what is going on during the particular show going on at that time and fairgoers can text questions to the narrator of the horse show.
 
“We want them to leave not only wondering why, but knowing why,” Chesbro said.
 

A Holstein at a previous State Fair.

** Mark your calendars. Dairy Day is moving this year.
 
Usually the first Monday of the fair, the annual salute to everything dairy this year will be Thursday, Aug. 31. 

Chesbro said Dairy Day had to be mooooved because of the extra day at the beginning of the fair (the fair opens Wednesday, Aug. 23, not on a Thursday). This extra day means the dairy cattle would be changing places beginning Monday, Aug. 28, with some moving out and others moving in. This means there would be no dairy cattle in the barn on Aug. 28.
 
“You can’t have Dairy Day without dairy cattle,” Chesbro said.
 
All of the popular Dairy Day events will take place, including the parade, celebrity milkshake-making contest, cheese auction and visits throughout the fairgrounds by county dairy princesses and the New York State Dairy Princess. 

One new feature on Dairy Day is guests can enter a drawing to win Taste NY dairy gift baskets by answering trivia questions when they visit three popular dairy attractions on Dairy Day.
 
To participate, guests can pick up a copy of the questions at any of the fair’s six Guest Relations locations. 

A treat at the Yo2GO Yogurt Bar

They can find the answers by visiting the Milk Bar, Cheese Booth and Yo2GO Yogurt Bar. When a guest has completed the questions, they can drop off their answers at the Dairy Cow Birthing Center where they will be entered to win. Three winners will be selected at the conclusion of Dairy Day.
 
** There will be a Hot Beef Sundae competition on the dairy building stage at noon Aug. 24. Contestants are being lined up via social media.
 
** On Beef Day, Tuesday, Aug. 29, people will be able to participate in the Pound Out Hunger event. By paying $2, they will be given three strikes at an old car with a sledgehammer. The money raised through this event goes to a food pantry to buy hamburger for the needy.
 
** There are some new additions at the Witter Agricultural Museum. There is a beautiful back porch and handicapped ramp for visitors. There also are arbors complete with displays of growing hops and grapes.

New York State Fair Wins Awards

From New York State Ag and Markets:

            State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball today accepted the Medal of the Onondaga Historical Association on behalf of the Great New York State Fair in recognition of the Fair’s ongoing efforts to educate the public through history.

            “As the oldest state fair in the United States, the Great New York State Fair itself is filled with rich history, and part of our job as administrators of the Fair is passing down that history to others,” Commissioner Ball said.  “We thank the Onondaga Historical Association for this great honor and look forward to doing our part to promote history once again at the 2014 Great New York State Fair.”

New Shipwreck Exhibit:

            Continuing the Fair’s aim to promote history in 2014, Commissioner Ball and Acting State Fair Director Troy Waffner today announced a new exhibit that will take place at this year’s Fair called “Great Shipwrecks of NY’s “Great” Lakes.”  NY Sea Grant is partnering with the Great New York State Fair, Great Lakes Seaway Trail, Great Lakes Research Consortium, Lake Champlain Sea Grant, Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, and the H. Lee White Marine Museum along with other partners and sponsors to present this new exhibit, which will tell the story of various shipwrecks located throughout the state. 

For more than three centuries, Lakes Erie and Ontario, and the Niagara and St. Lawrence Rivers, in addition to the Finger Lakes, Lake Champlain, and Lake George, have been major thoroughfares for military, shipping, and recreational endeavors. As a result, their waters are home to an extraordinary collection of historic shipwrecks. In fact, hundreds of shipwrecks are located across New York State, including Benedict Arnold’s gunboat Spitfire, which was discovered at the bottom of Lake Champlain in 1997.

Travelers and residents are fascinated by the story of these vessels, the people that lived and worked aboard them, and the scientists who study them today. This exhibit will guide fairgoers through a journey on the many ways they can continue discovery of New York’s shipwrecks whether it be diving underwater, exploring a historic site, or taking in a scenic view.

            A 30 by 60 foot tent will be situated in the mini-state park, located just outside of the Horticulture Building on the Art and Home Center side.  It will display a replica 18th century bateau, which is a French and Indian War vessel.  The display will also provide fairgoers with information on various wreckages throughout the state through panels, photographs and videos.  In the reflecting pool, a remote sensing buoy will provide real time weather and water conditions. 

David G White, Recreation Specialist at NY Sea Grant, and Associate Director at the Great Lakes Research Consortium, said, “New York is home to some of the most important and historically significant shipwrecks in the entire country, and this summer our goal is to help educate fairgoers on some of the history that took place right in their own backyards.  Our ‘Great Shipwrecks of NY’s “Great” Lakes’ exhibit will highlight some of this history and bring New Yorkers back in time to when our waters were the most important transportation and strategic defense hubs in our entire nation.  We want to take fairgoers on a journey through another place and time, and we can’t wait to show you what’s in store this summer.”

History of the Fair Exhibit:

            The History of the Fair Exhibit, which debuted in the Grange Building at the 2013 extravaganza with much fanfare, will return in 2014 with a number of new features.  Even more historical artifacts will be on display, including historic photos of “tea time at noon at the Colonnade.”  An exhibit commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Art and Home Center will also be featured this year.

            A three tiered, interactive sand castle will give fairgoers a small sample of what it takes to complete the annual sand sculpture, which in itself uses 180 tons of sand, and takes two workers six days to complete. 

A gift shop will sell a DVD that tells the story of the 1969 Fair, as well as vintage posters and pins, logos old and new, and a collectible holiday ornament that will change annually.  This year’s ornament will be the Horticulture building and will provide a brief history of the building itself.

Witter Agricultural Museum:

According to the New York State Agricultural Society, the purpose of the entity known as the Daniel Parrish Witter Agricultural Museum is to enhance, advise, promote, develop and assist in the operation of the museum to share the heritage of New York’s Agricultural development with museum visitors.

The Society established the State Fair and conducted it for 57 years; the organization was also instrumental in developing the Daniel Parrish Witter Agricultural Museum, built on the fairgrounds in 1928. “The Witter Museum is a great resource,” comments Penny Heritage, spokesperson for the NYS Ag Society, “sharing the heritage of New York’s agricultural development with visitors.”

            The museum, situated next to Restaurant Row, features a log cabin that was unassembled, brought within the museum’s boundaries, and rebuilt exactly as it was.  It’s also a living history museum dedicated to telling the history of New York agriculture.  It features tradespeople like basket weavers and broom makers - local artisans making actual products for fairgoers to enjoy.  There is also an interactive display on modern agriculture, featuring farm facts and statistics. 

Carriage Museum:

The Carriage Museum, located next to the Witter Museum, offers fairgoers a unique perspective on carriages used for everyday agricultural purposes, including old milking trucks, buggies, sleighs, carriages of all shapes and sizes, and chuck wagons.  The Museum has a number of interactive, living history shows for fairgoers, showing how a chuck wagon works and an actual working blacksmith shop that makes specialty items such as horseshoes.  A blacksmith is on-site every day in the Carriage Museum to walk fairgoers through the process of the blacksmith trade.  

Antique tractors on also be on display for the full Fair at Gate #10.

The New York State Fair, operated by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, runs from August 21 – September 1, 2014.  The Fair’s mission, reflected in its 2014 theme, “Summer’s Best in Show,” is to showcase the best of New York agriculture while providing top-quality entertainment.  This year’s tagline – “New Attractions, Old Favorites, Timeless Fun” – highlights the more than two dozen new events and attractions and the expansion or enhancement of several Fairgoer favorites.

In addition to the annual New York State Fair, the Fairgrounds host dozens of agricultural events throughout the year, including some of the Northeast’s most prestigious horse and livestock shows.

The home of the Great New York State Fair is a 375-acre exhibit and entertainment complex that operates all year. A year-round schedule of events is available on the Fair’s website.  Find The Great New York State Fair on Facebook, follow @NYSFair on Twitter, and enjoy photos from the Fair at Flickr.com/photos/nysfair. Also, New Yorkers are invited to send their ideas for the Great New York State Fair at statefairideas@agriculture.ny.gov.