Empire Farm Days set for August

SENECA FALLS, N.Y. — The Northeast’s largest outdoor ag show, Empire Farm Days, will be held Aug. 11-13.
The 300-acre event will be held at the Rodman Lott and Son Farms in Seneca Falls, NY, presents the perfect mix of exhibits, seminars and demonstrations on the latest innovations, technology and best practices to help farmers with operations of all sizes and interests stay competitive, efficient and profitable.

Empire Farm Days draws everyone from dairy producers and cattle ranchers to cash croppers, equipment operators, horse owners, farm families and more. Entry is $10 per vehicle.

Dairy seminars

The dairy profit seminars will focus on the economic impact of milk quality, reinvesting in a dairy operation or the next generation, feed additives, and using income over feed costs.

Three of the New York State 25-year Supermilk winners will offer a panel discussion. Junior dairy leaders from 17 New York counties graduate Aug. 12.

The Farm Bureau Youth, Young Farmer, and Collegiate area offers news on events, programs and award opportunities for the future generations of agriculture. The field demonstrations will feature farm equipment tilling, mowing, raking, baling and processing hay, and chopping and handling forage.

Presenters include soil health testing innovator Will Brinton, founder of Woods End Soil Laboratory, Mt. Vernon, Maine; and representatives from the Cornell University PRO DAIRY Program, Western New York Crop Management Association, Seedway, and Kings Agriseeds.

Demonstrations

Field demonstrations include cover crop plots established by Seedway and Kings Agriseeds.

In addition, the USDA NRCS Big Flats Plant Materials Center, in cooperation with Rodman Lott and Son Farms, will have an innovative companion seeding of Dutch white clover and dwarf perennial ryegrass in soybeans using herbicides to stunt the cover crops until canopy closure.

Also new for 2015 is a visit by the confined space manure pit simulator, from the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety of Peosta, Iowa. NECAS Director Dan Neenan will be offering 20-minute safety education demonstrations every hour throughout the three-day event.

Youth programs

Little farmers up to age 12 are invited to enter the expanded Kiddie Tractor Pull that benefits the NYS 4-H Foundation.

FFA students compete Aug. 13 in tractor safety driving and welding competitions. Visitors 18 and older can test drive wheel loaders, backhoes, skidsteers, 4-wheelers and utility vehicles.

For a full schedule of events, visit www.empirefarmdays.com, or call 877-697-7837.