Pride of New York

Posted on February 28, 2011 by pwilde

Speaking in New York City, New York State’s Acting Agriculture Commissioner Darrel J. Aubertine is encouraging New Yorkers to buy and use local agriculture products in their restaurants to meet what he sees as a growing demand for locally produced food.

The New York State Dept. of Agriculture and Markets has set up their “Pride of New York Marketplace” exhibit at the New York Restaurant Show, February 27th to March 1st, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City:

The following New York companies are participating in the exhibit at the NY Restaurant Show:

  • A Taste of the North Fork (Suffolk County)
  • Anthony Road Wine Company (Yates County)
  • Basis Farm to Chef (New York and Ulster Counties)
  • Beth’s Farm Kitchen (Dutchess County)
  • Champlain Valley Specialties (Essex County)
  • Damascus Bakeries, Inc. (Kings County)
  • Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars (Steuben County)
  • Esposito’s Sausage (New York County)
  • Farm to Table Co-packers (Ulster County)
  • Great Performances (New York County)
  • Greenmarket Wholesale/GrowNYC (New York County)
  • Hudson Valley Duck Farm (Sullivan County)
  • Jerry Shulman Produce Shipper (Nassau County)
  • Katchkie Farm (Columbia County)
  • Long Island Agricultural Marketing Association (Nassau County)
  • Long Island Wine Council (Suffolk County)
  • My Brother Bobby’s Salsa (Dutchess County)
  • North Country Farms (Jefferson County)
  • Northeast Livestock Processing Service, Inc.  (Montgomery County)
  • Orwasher’s Bakery (New York County)
  • Peconic Bay Winery (Suffolk County)
  • Red Jacket Orchards (Ontario County)
  • Regional Access (Tompkins County)
  • Rick’s Pick’s (New York County)
  • Ronnybrook Farm Dairy (Columbia County)
  • Shawangunk Wine Trail (Orange County)
  • The Ravioli Store (Queens County)
  • Winter Sun Farms (Ulster County)
  • Yohay Baking (Suffolk County)

To learn more about NYS’s Dept of Ag and Markets including their “Pride of New York” program, visit their website http://www.agmkt.state.ny.us/

Posted in Restaurants | Leave a comment

TIL

Posted on February 25, 2011 by pwilde

Today I learned at the 2011 New York Farm Show in Syracuse: robots are everywhere on the farm.  It should come as no surprise that robotics can take a lot of the backbreaking work out of a backbreaking profession. Tractors did the same in the early part of 20th Century.  Farmers can milk three or three and a half times a day with these machines, as well as feed their animals more efficiently.

Here’s a Flipcam video that we shot at the Farm Show.

Robots at the NY Farm Show

When this work can be mechanized, it can provide time for other profitable activities. Every farmer wishes he had time to grow or make other things on the farm.  And every farmer wishes she had more time to be a better business person. Profitable use of the land can mean more and better jobs in agriculture and it’s related activities. NY Local will pursue these ideas in the future.

Posted in On the Farm | Leave a comment

Wormpower

Posted on February 23, 2011 by pwilde

NY Local will explore the many new industries that are being created to support agriculture in New York State. Last Fall saw the opening of a new facility that supports growers across New York and across North America.

On October 7, 2010, there was an open house at Wormpower, a vermicomposting operation in Avon, New York. Roger Beachy, the director of USDA NIFA spoke, and we also see Tom Herlilhy from Wormpower, and Eric Nelson, Professor of Plant Pathology and Plant Microbes, from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University, as well as Allison Jack, PhD candidate in Plant Pathology at Cornell.

Watch the video:

Wormpower Open House

In a subsequent post we’ll explain the science behind vermicompost and why it is so beneficial for starting seedlings. Stay tuned.

Posted in New businesses | Leave a comment

Happy Birthday

Posted on February 22, 2011 by pwilde

Our first post… it’s auspicious that we begin an online version of NY Local on George Washington’s 279th birthday. We’re celebrating one birth with another because the first president, longing for a different life in 1793, said “I would rather be a farmer than emperor of the world.” And he returned to farming when he retired from the presidency.

NY Local will explore the reasons why jobs in agriculture of all kinds, from compost to the consumer, can be rewarding and profitable; how life on the farm, in the city, and in-between is enhanced and sustained by local food, fuel and fiber.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment