NORWICH – A bee can visit up to 10,000 flowers in a single day, but only produce about a teaspoon of honey during its entire life span – around 28 days – says Sherburne bee-keeper Lash Taylor.
That was just one of the many farm facts offered up Friday from a host of local food producers during “Agriculture Awareness Day 2007” at the Chenango County Fair.
Taylor has been keeping bees for about six months. He says curiosity is what got him started.
“It’s interesting,” he said. “They are fascinating little creatures. But you have to understand them.”
Helping the public to better understand the local farmer is the idea behind Awareness Day, which is sponsored by the county’s Ag Development Council. With exhibits and booths set up under an open-air tent in the ag area of the fairgrounds, it’s become a showcase for farmers like Taylor, who represent a growing number of non-dairy producers in the area.
“There is quite a bit of diversity in our farm community,” said Chenango County Farm Bureau President Bradd Vickers. “We have a lot going on that people don’t really know about until they see it.”
From bio-diesel manufacturers to chicken farmers, local ag industrialists are thinking more and more outside the box, Vickers said.
“There are alternatives,” he said. “We have to find ways, other things we can do, to expand our income.”
Vickers and the Farm Bureau tout the “25/25” program, in which 25 percent of the nation’s energy supply would be produced by farmers by the year 2025. He is currently developing a feasibility study with a Virginia-based engineering firm, EcoTech Solutions LLC, to possibly build an anaerobic digester somewhere in the county. The digester would convert cow manure into heat and electricity for a large facility, like the Chenango County Correctional Facility, which has been used as an example. Farmers would then be able to use the bi-product from the digester as high-grade fertilizer at no charge.
“It creates one more value added product farmers can benefit from,” Vickers said.
Aside from developing more value-added opportunities, expanding the local farmers consumer market share on the products they already grow and sell, said Nancy Morey, a farmer, member of the Ag Development Council and representative of Opportunities for Chenango. Morey and OFC specialist Stacie Edick are currently running the “Bullthistle Bounty Card” program, in which consumers can get a discount on the locally grown products they purchase at participating stores in the area. Also, in conjunction with Cornell Cooperative Extension, Morey and Edick are also conducting an “Eat Local Challenge” Sept. 10-16, in which participants set goals to eat locally grown products and keep track of their progress in “passport” guide book provided by OFC.
“It’s pretty diverse,” Morey said, referring to the selection of products available to consumers. “This day recognizes the importance of that diversity to the county. It’s not just dairy.”
Following the “eat local” theme, Steve Holzbaur, of the Center for Agricultural Development & Entrepreneurship, has received funding from the county’s planning board to create a feasibility study for implementing a mobile farmers’ market, where local produce would be delivered to consumers’ front doors.
“It’s going to create a low-cost option for consumers,” said Holzbaur. “People will be able to purchase locally grown produce for less money than what they normally get at the grocery store. It eliminates the middle man.”
Holzbaur added eliminating the middle man also lessens fears of contamination and keeps dollars in the local economy.
State Assemblyman Pete Lopez (R-Schoharie) and Ag and Markets Special Assistant Chip Pratt also visited the fairgrounds representing Albany.
Lopez talked with Rob Reiber and Giff Foster, who operate Creative Energy Solutions, a bio-diesel processing plant in Bainbridge that’s designed to get its fuel crops from area farmers.
“He (Lopez) feels strongly about helping Farm Bureau’s energy program and businesses like Creative Energy Group from Bainbridge advance,” said Vickers. “Pete knows our future depends on freeing ourselves from foreign oil and is aggressively pursuing alternate energy technologies across the state and region.”
The theme of this year’s Ag Awareness Day was energy usage.
Vickers says marketing and protecting farm land amidst the area’s population growth should be the two main focuses of the Ag community.
“We have quality water, quality land and open space,” he said. “Once the land is subdivided and sold, that it’s it. Period. End of sentence.”
Those interested in taking the “Eat Local Challenge” can register by e-mailing their name, address and phone number and local food goal (for example 50% or 60% of your diet) to bounty@ofcinc.org or call Stacie Edick at 334-7114.
“Obtaining the booklet early is a good idea so people have time to become familiar with all the local food that is available in Chenango County,” Edick said.