Blog

• 
  January 27, 2021
• • Featured • Announcements

When the NY Animal Agriculture Coalition was faced with the decision of not attending the 2020 Great New York State Fair, which was eventually canceled, the organization was given an opportunity to showcase dairy in a different way, on the Moo-ve. 

Kicking off on what would have been the first day of the 2020 State Fair, our team hit the road and headed for the dairy farm. Our goal was similar to the Dairy Cow Birthing Center at the State Fair – to bring the farm to you, at home. At the Dairy Cow Birthing Center, we look forward to bringing farmers and fairgoers together by sharing what’s happening on the farm. We all know that 2020 was different and that was true for us, too.

Dairy on the Moo-ve featured farms in a variety of New York regions.

When the 2020 State Fair was canceled, we quickly collaborated with dairy farmers in a variety of regions throughout New York and brought Dairy on the Moo-ve to life. For four months we visited dairy farms, live on location, and highlighted numerous topics that are essential in making dairy farms successful each day. Each of the 20 farms that we visited were different. Every farm had a different number of cows ranging from 120 to more than 2,000. We had the opportunity to share organic and conventional farm practices with everyone and came to you live from the barn, the milking parlor, the calf pen, and the field.  

We appreciate the support that everyone shared throughout our days on the moo-ve and are grateful for the questions everyone asked during this experience.  During our visits we discussed housing, calvings, feeding & nutrition, crops, and technology. We came to you live from the field discussing fall harvest and shared the impact of weather and importance of biosecurity on the farm.  We were able to visit with not only farmers, but veterinarians, nutritionists, and employees. Sharing information about animal health, milking procedures, farm safety, cover crops, and farmland protection were all topics we were able to bring to you, direct from the farm and the farmer. 

Dairy on the Moo-ve allowed us to not only bring the farm to you in the safety of your own home but we also had the opportunity to capture photos and videos that we’ve saved to share with you on another day. It has been an exciting time being on the moo-ve across the state and we could not have brought this to you without the support of the following sponsors: 

• Community Bank
• Dairy Farmers of America
• Dairy Promotion Order and New York dairy farmers
• Farm Credit AgEnhancement
• Merck Animal Health
• New York Corn & Soybean Growers Association
• Trouw Nutrition

We also want to thank the farmers for the opportunity to visit with them, their employees, and their families during this program. There is no doubt that 2020 presented some challenges but we could not let those challenges deter us from continuing the tradition of sharing the farm with all of you, just as we have done every Fall for the past seven years. The exciting news? Just because 2020 is over doesn’t mean this is coming to an end. We know there was a lot of enjoyment that came from our farm visits so we hope to continue them throughout 2021 so stay tuned as we continue to take Dairy on the Moo-ve!