Visit the Farm Day - Save the Date for this Family Friendly Event

JAMESTOWN, NEW YORK (July 12, 2017) – Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County is excited to announce that 2017’s Visit the Farm Day will be held on Saturday, August 26th from 11am to 3pm. This year’s event will take place at an outstanding, local dairy farm, Oak View Dairy.

Oak View Dairy is located on the corner of Shadyside and Nutt Roads, just minutes away from Jamestown, Lakewood, and surrounding communities. Their physical address is 3836 Nutt Road, Jamestown, NY 14701. The day’s events will include guided walking tours, opportunities to interact with farm animals, displays of farm equipment, and many educational opportunities. The Chautauqua County Dairy Princess and her Court will also be on hand to distribute free milk and string cheese. The guided tours will feature stations led by area agribusiness leaders that include: cows being milked in a modern parlor, feeding and housing of dairy cows, raising baby calves, and farm equipment used.

Visit the Farm Day’s purpose is to provide an opportunity for the general public to view a modern day, working farm and see all of the ways that agriculture improves the quality of life in Chautauqua County. Chautauqua County is home to over 1,500 farms, and our farm families work hard to produce safe, wholesome food products for us all to enjoy. Visit the Farm Day also gives area farm families an opportunity to connect and share with their community about their farm and the life of a farmer in Chautauqua County.

This year’s host, Oak View Dairy, has been a family-owned farm since 1817, and is currently celebrating its bicentennial year! The farm is owned and operated by Bruce Kidder, and Shawn and Tara Cotter. Shawn and Tara have 4 children: Jacob, Aubin, Megan, and Lauren. The farm currently milks 450 cows 3 times a day, and raises another 450 head of youngstock. They farm over 1,000 acres of land on which they grow high quality corn, hay, and oats and also graze their youngstock on an additional 300 acres of pasture. Through excellent management and care, the cows currently average 81 pounds of milk per cow per day, and the farm ships almost 1.3 million gallons of milk per year. Oak View Dairy continues to improve the farm’s infrastructure utilizing modern technologies and state of the art equipment.

Admission and parking are free for this family friendly event which will be held rain or shine. Visit the Farm Day is organized by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County’s Agriculture Program Staff with the financial support from area agribusiness sponsors and the Chautauqua Region Community Foundation. Plan to join us at the 2017 Visit the Farm Day event on Saturday, August 26th anytime between 11am and 3pm at Oak View Dairy in Jamestown for a fun day learning about agriculture!

For more information about Visit the Farm Day, contact the agriculture program staff at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County: Lisa Kempisty, Dairy/Livestock Educator at 716-664-9502 ext. 203 or Katelyn Walley-Stoll, Farm Business Management Educator at 716-664-9502 ext. 202. Visit our event page on Facebook for the latest event information. If you are in need of any special accommodations, please contact the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County office at 716-664-9502.

Visit the Farm Day is one of many programs offered by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chautauqua County (CCE-Chautauqua) in line with the County’s 20/20 Comprehensive Plan. CCE-Chautauqua is a community based educational organization, affiliated with Cornell University, Chautauqua County Government, the NYS SUNY system, and the federal government through the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. For more information, call 716-664-9502 or visit our website at www.cce.cornell.edu/chautauqua. Cornell University Cooperative Extension provides equal program and employment opportunities.

Last updated July 12, 2017