By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 9 November 2013 at 12:00 am
Dry cider is coming back strong in the United States, a resurgence highlighted in the New York Times on Friday.
The newspaper also sampled many dry ciders and a panel of taste-testers listed Steampunk Cider as the No. 2 of them all. Steampunk is made by the Leonard Oakes Estate Winery in Medina.
“It was fresh and tangy with a honeyed character that reminded me of chenin blanc,” said NYT writer Eric Asimov. “It was also, at $11, our best value.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 31 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Provided photo
MEDINA — Representatives from Monsanto were in Medina last week to present a $25,000 check to the school district for its agriculture program.
The company met with FFA students, district leaders and local elected officials as well as State Assemblyman Steve Hawley.
Medina will use the funds to create a small, self-sustained, on-campus mini-farm with video surveillance; a compost center; a hydroponics system; and organic community gardens at the middle and elementary schools.۬
Medina would like to have some of the projects in place by May, when the community will host the state FFA Convention.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 October 2013 at 12:00 am
The Orleans County Farmers’ Market was going to end its season in Albion last Saturday, but the market day was cancelled due to high winds.
Farmers aren’t going to call it a season yet. They will be back for a final day this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Save-A-Lot parking lot.
Vendors will also be in Medina in the Canal Basin from noon to 5 p.m. on Thursday for the last time this season. Trick-or-treaters are welcome to stop by around 5 to visit the farmers, said Ann Nice, one of the vendors.
“We continue to have plenty of farm fresh fall produce and products,” Nice said. “Thank you to all our customers. We look forward to growing for you in 2014.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Brown’s Berry Patch is selling the new RubyFrost apple that is being released to the public for the first time this fall. Several other local farm markets are selling the apple.
WATERPORT – A month ago local apple growers introduced consumers to the new SnapDragon apple. Those farmers quickly sold out of the variety, which has been promoted heavily in the media.
Growers have another new apple, RubyFrost, which matures later in the season. That apple has been picked and many growers are selling it at local markets. RubyFrost is a red apple that tastes sweet and tart. It is compared to Empire and Granny Smith varieties.
RubyFrost is a hard apple to bite, I can attest to that. I tried one for the first time today at Brown’s Berry Patch. Growers are excited about the apple because it stores well. Nutritionists say it will provide a boost of vitamin C well into winter.
RubyFrost and SnapDragon have been more than a decade in the making. They were developed by Cornell researchers. A new organization that consists only of New York apple growers, NYAG LLC, was formed to sign up farmers to grow the crop on limited acres so there wouldn’t be an oversupply, leading to crashing prices for growers.
The new apples are being released through farm markets this fall and next year. The apples won’t be readily available in grocery stores until 2015 when recent plantings have a full crop.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 25 October 2013 at 12:00 am
ALBION – Vendors for the Orleans County Farmers’ Market won’t be selling their wares on Saturday in Albion due to the high winds forecast.
The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory for Saturday from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The winds, forecast for 25 to 35 miles per hour with gusts up to 50 to 55 mph, would be dangerous for the vendors, and could send their overhead tents flying.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 23 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Hay bales sit in a farm field on Route 279 in the town of Gaines.
The farm community is cheering legislation signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday that caps assessments for agricultural land to no more than 2 percent increases annually.
Farmers have been vocal in recent years about their property taxes, which are the second highest in the country and more than triple the national average, according to New York Farm Bureau.
“The 2 percent agricultural assessment cap has long been a priority for New York Farm Bureau,” said Dean Norton, NYFB president. “It is a big step forward in reducing the increasing property tax burden that has limited our farmers’ ability to grow.”
Several agricultural groups pushed the state to enact a cap on ag assessments, including Farm Credit East, the New York Wine and Grape Foundation, the New York Apple Association, the New York Corn and Soybean Growers Association and the Northeast Dairy Producers Association.
“The 2 percent agricultural assessment cap is vital to preserving New York’s family farms,” said Dale Stein of Le Roy, a board member for the Dairy Producers. “Without this cap, tax costs will escalate to an unaffordable level for the farms and force many family farms out of business.”
State Sen. George Maziarz supported a cap on ag assessments. The Senate and Assembly both approved the legislation.
“We are striving to make it easier to keep farms in operation, and we can do that by preventing them from drowning in a tidal wave of new taxes,” Maziarz said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 16 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Zachary Baxter, a fourth-grader at Albion, paints a pumpkin during today’s Fall Festival at the elementary school. Panek’s Pumpkin Patch donated about 1,000 pumpkins, one for each student in the school.
ALBION – They painted pumpkins, drank apple cider and munched on cinnamon doughnuts.
They also made a scarecrow, learned about how a combine harvests corn and how a press turns apples into cider.
Mark Gibson, a member of the Albion High School FFA, works a cider press, squeezing apples as part of the cider-making process. Fourth-grade students in Mrs. Klips’ class watch the press in action.
Albion Elementary School students were treated today to the FFA’s first ever Fall Festival. FFA students managed the stations and taught the elementary students about food. The FFA has a corn maze set up, but students stayed away from that due to a morning rain and some mud.
Tomorrow is Day 2 of the festival and the corn maze may be open for elementary school students to explore.
Fourth-graders in Mr. Gardner’s class pose with a scarecrow they made today at the FFA’s Fall Festival.
With the corn maze off limits today, kindergarteners in Mrs. Brace’s class spent time coloring a fall theme.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 11 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – The Albion FFA was awarded $500 from Growmark in Knowlesville, and one FFA student, ninth-grader Vivian Rivers, received a new blue FFA jacket after being selected for the “Blue Jacket” award by Club President Sara Millspaugh and FFA advisors Adam Krenning and Cathy Schmitt. Millspaugh, left, and Rivers are pictured with Growmark salesman Kirk Zinkievich.
ALBION – FFA students in Albion received some help in looking their best after a $500 donation from Growmark in Knowlesville. The money will help students pay for the iconic blue corduroy jackets, as well as ties for competitions and events.
In addition to the $500, Growmark bought a jacket for an underclassman in the FFA program. Vivian Rivers served as president of the junior high FFA last year. She was in the middle school program for three years before joining the high school FFA this year.
“She’s done a lot for our program,” Adam Krenning, FFA advisor, said about Vivian.
Albion hosted the state convention last May, and Vivian put in many hours helping to prepare for the event. She has also assisted with other fund-raisers and events, including the annual citrus sale.
Krenning, junior high FFA advisor Kathy Schmitt and Sara Millspaugh, the FFA president, picked Rivers to receive the jacket.
Vivian is taking an agriculture class this year. She said she enjoys learning about food production. The FFA has been a way to make new friends.
“State Convention was fun,” she said. “You meet a lot of interesting people.”
(Editor’s note: Tom Rivers is Vivian’s proud father.)
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 5 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers – Bob Brown stands next his wife Deborah while praising his ancestors, including Orleans County pioneer Bathshua Brown, for settling in an area that was such a dense forest it was known as the Black North.
CARLTON – Bob Brown often thinks of Bathshua Brown, who 209 years ago was left to tame a forest, start a farm and raise a family, all without her husband Elijah. He died on a boat while the family moved from Sodus to near the Oak Orchard River not far from Lake Ontario.
“Her most important piece of equipment was an ax,” Brown said today when the family dedicated a peace garden, part of a trail of gardens that has emerged to celebrate more than 200 years of peace between the United States and Canada.
Each of the peace garden sites tell a story, recalling life from two centuries ago. The garden at Brown’s Berry Patch includes an interpretive panel. It notes the family’s eight generations of work as farmers. It focuses on Bathshua Brown and her “pioneer tenacity.”
When Bathshua and her 12 children settled in Carlton, the area was a dense forest. Trees were thick the area was known as the “Black North,” because the sun could barely penetrate the dense canopy, Orleans County Historian Bill Lattin said.
Former State Assemblyman Charlie Nesbitt served as master of ceremonies during the dedication of a peace garden today at Brown’s Berry Patch.
This marker notes Brown’s Berry Patch is now part of the Bicentennial Peace Garden Trail.
“The early days were not comfortable,” Lattin said. “It took a great deal of tenacity to get through the early days.”
Bathshua was a determined woman. The family had already met hardship. The interpretive panel at the new garden tells the family’s story. Before Elijah died on the journey to Carlton, he and his wife rented a farm off Fishers Island off the shore of Connecticut. They lost all of their livestock, possessions and buildings to a British captain in 1776 during the Revolutionary War. The Browns moved to Sodus before purchasing the farm in Carlton in 1804 from the Holland Land Company.
“During the War of 1812 the British had several armed vessels on Lake Ontario to hinder commerce along the south shore,” according to the panel. “During one of the raids a British captain foolishly found himself captured and subsequently brought up to Bathshua Brown, the matriarch of the area. To her surprise he was the same captain who plundered the family on Fishers Island. Bathshua gave him three choices: be turned over to the American forces at Ridge Road, let her sons have at him, or return to his ship and never come back to this area again. He chose to leave and was never seen again.”
Bathshua and her pioneering spirit is also noted on a historical marker in front of Brown’s Berry Patch.
Bob Brown said he thinks of her hardships and how they compare when he gets annoyed when a cell phone doesn’t work or when there are other minor inconveniences.
“As a society we need to stop and count our blessings,” he said.
The garden shares an inspiring story of Bathshua Brown. It also highlights a beautiful and fun area with the farm market and adventure course at Brown’s Berry Patch, said Paula Savage, the Peace Garden Foundation president.
Paula Savage, the Peace Garden Foundation president, congratulates Bob and Deborah Brown for creating a honorary peace garden at Brown’s Berry Patch. The Brown’s garden has been recognized by the Peace Garden Foundation and is now part of a peace garden trail.
She helped create a peace garden in Batavia last year. There are 18 in New York state, and they highlight the friendship between the U.S. and Canada, she said.
The gardens tell stories, and that heritage can be a draw for tourists, said Wayne Hale, the Orleans County tourism director. Counties and regions are tapping heritage tourism as an economic development tool, he said.
“It’s all about the story,” he said.
Former State Assemblyman Charlie Nesbitt served as master of ceremonies for the garden dedication. Albion High School student Elijah Van Epps sang the United States anthem while student Zach Shaffer sang the Canadian anthem.
State Assemblyman Steve Hawley presented the Browns with a citation for working to create the garden and for choosing to celebrate peace between the two countries.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 2 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Some beef cattle are pictured in Carlton back in April.
The federal budget isn’t the only deadline that passed on Sept. 30 without an agreement in Congress. The legislative body also failed to act on the Farm Bill, which sets the nation’s agricultural policy.
The Farm Bill is usually renewed in five-year agreements. Congress was unable to approve a five-year deal in 2012 and instead opted for a one-year extension. That expired on Monday.
“Only this time, the likelihood of a one-year extension seems remote,” said Dean Norton, the New York Farm Bureau president. “This only raises the uncertainty level on our farms that are looking to plan ahead for next year as the current harvest season enters its final stages. How does any business set a budget, purchase supplies, or make hiring decisions without having some idea of what governmental policies are in place that have a direct impact on what they do day-in and day-out?”
Norton is in Washington, D.C., urging lawmakers to move on the Farm Bill.
“Without it, our dairies are put in an especially vulnerable position if volatile milk prices swing too low,” he said. “This will continue to leave many of New York’s important fruit and vegetable growers without a reasonable safety net as well. In addition, a number of other cost saving reforms and vital programs will be cast aside if there is no movement to secure a responsible farm policy in the next few months.”
The Farm Bill doesn’t just affect farmers. Consumers could see higher prices and reduced access to local food, Norton said.
Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, said Farm Bureau members throughout the country are “deeply concerned over the political challenges that are making it next to impossible for Congress to reach a compromise on important legislation.”
Farm Bureau wants to see a Farm Bill that provides a safety net for farm products and other risk management tools as farmers plan for next year’s crop, Stallman said in a statement.
“Farm Bureau is encouraging Congress and President Obama to work together to get the budget process in order, get our national economy back on track and move forward on legislation important to agriculture, such as the Farm Bill, immigration and tax reform and waterways funding,” he said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 1 October 2013 at 12:00 am
ALBANY – Gov. Andrew Cuomo has finally signed an expanded Niagara Wine Trail into law, a measure that could be a significant benefit to Orleans County.
The Niagara Wine Trail ran along Route 104 mostly in Niagara County. It reached into Orleans to include the Leonard Oakes Estate Winery near the western end of Ridgeway. But it couldn’t keep moving east, without a change in the state law.
Several groups, including the wine industry, have tried for years to extend the wine trail. The State Senate was the first to go for it, but the Assembly didn’t agree until this year.
The Assembly and Senate both voted in favor of the measure. It seemed a done deal back in June. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s signature seemed a no-brainer.
This trail is expected to be a tourism boost for Western New York. It will stretch from Niagara Falls through Orleans and into Monroe County. It also will run south from the Falls area into Erie County.
I’ve been watching this for nearly four months now, wondering why it was taking the governor so long, especially with all of his talk about creating jobs, promoting New York and agriculture, and the need for more state attention for Western New York. We lost the summer, a chance to rev up our tourism engine while this sat on his desk.
The governor finally summoned the strength to sign this last week.
The legislation expands and renames the Niagara Wine Trail system. The new configuration, which takes effect immediately, extends the trail across all of Orleans County and into western Monroe County, encompassing more wineries.
We in Orleans can piggyback on this trail and create other trails. A “Cobblestone Trail” on 104 makes a lot of sense. We might consider trails for farm markets, Medina sandstone and perhaps other historic sites.
We can tap into the tourism promotion dollars in Monroe County, Rochester, Buffalo and Erie County. This could be big for Orleans.
The trail will run on Route 104 between the Ferry Avenue/Route 62 intersection in Niagara Falls and Route 390 in Monroe County. That will be known as “Niagara Wine Trail Ridge.”
The complement to the Ridge route is the “Niagara Wine Trail Lake,” which follows Route 269 north from its intersection with Route 104 at the Niagara-Orleans County Line to Route 18. It then runs west to Route 425, then south to Route 62 and along that route until its intersection with I-290 in Amherst.
Seventeen wineries are on the trail now and more are under development. The money to pay for additional signage on an expanded trail system has already been earmarked through a 2011 Regional Economic Development Council Award. The expansion imposes no new costs to taxpayers.
The governor also signed legislation for three other wine trails, giving the state 16 such trails.
The state expanded the “Shawangunk East Wine Trail” in Ulster County. New York established the “Adirondack Coast Wine Trail” that runs from the Town of Peru into the Town of Plattsburgh. The “Chautauqua Wine Trail” will be renamed the “Lake Erie Wine Country Trail.” The route will remain unchanged.
The state also approved new legislation allowing New York wineries to sell wine from roadside farm markets if the product was made within 20 miles of the roadside farm market.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 30 September 2013 at 12:00 am
Other new apple, RubyFrost, has another 3 weeks to mature
Photos by Tom Rivers – These SnapDragon apples from Kirby Farms have red color, good size and a juicy crispness.
ALBION – They represent high hopes for New York apple growers and they will soon be put to the taste test. SnapDragon and RubyFrost, two new varieties developed by Cornell researchers, are ready to make their public debuts.
The two new apples will be released at about 40 farm markets throughout the state.
“There’s a lot of people asking, ‘Where can we get it?’” said Roger Lamont of Albion, chairman of the New York Apple Growers LLC. That group formed in a partnership with Cornell to sign up growers and manage the supply.
The apples won’t be readily available in grocery stores until 2015 when recent plantings have a full crop. But they will be at many local farm markets in the next two years.
“Farm markets are good because of the direct contact with growers,” Lamont said.
There is a bigger supply of RubyFrost apples this year, and some will be held in storage until January, when Lamont said they will be released in a limited supply through grocery stores.
“We want to get the consumers’ reaction,” Lamont said.
Lamont drove a truck load of SnapDragons across the state on Friday so farm markets in eastern New York would have the apples. He wants to start developing an eager customer base for the apples.
The new varieties represent a major change in how new apples are managed and marketed. Cornell and other apple breeding programs used to develop new varieties which were then typically slowly released and often in a haphazard manner.
If a variety became popular, growers would plant trees en masse, leading to an oversupply and falling prices.
Tim Kirby checks on his SnapDragon apples in an orchard along Route 31 in Albion. Kirby is selling the apples at Kirby’s Farm Market in Brockport.
Lamont said the new system ensures there is a big supply, but not too many where prices will fall below profitable levels. New York Apple Growers LLC is also directing funding to Cornell’s apple breeding program, to fund research for more new varieties in the future.
The program is open to all New York apple growers, but not to growers outside NY. Some other apple-growing “clubs” have formed in recent years and not all growers had an opportunity to grow and sell new varieties. That put some growers at a disadvantage.
Tim Kirby of Albion said he is grateful the new varieties are open to all of the growers in New York, and that the apples will be managed so there isn’t an oversupply.
“People want something new and different,” he said. “This is real positive for the industry.”
Kirby planted SnapDragon and RubyFrost apples in 2011. SnapDragon has proven “grower-friendly,” requiring less work than another popular variety, the Honeycrisp.
The SnapDragons all seem to ripen at about the same time, meaning they can get picked at once, rather than multiple times.
RubyFrost is a late-season variety. It’s a red apple that tastes sweet and tart.
The Kirby farm picked SnapDragons last week and was one of the first in the state to sell them at a farm market. Kirby’s Farm Market is located on Route 104 in Brockport.
Kirby said they should prove popular with customers because of the apples’ red color, the crispiness and the size. They are a little smaller than Honeycrisp, which some consumers perceive as too big.
Kirby was in an orchard off Route 31 near Riches Corners Road on Friday. He had already picked many of the SnapDragons and had them in crates.
“They color well,” he said about their red skins. “Look at them. They’re beautiful.”
SnapDragon gets its juicy crispness from its Honeycrisp parent, and it has a spicy-sweet flavor.
RubyFrost takes longer to ripen on the tree. That apple will be picked in about three weeks. It’s a cross between Braeburn with Autumn Crisp.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 20 September 2013 at 12:00 am
ALBION – I stopped by Liberty Fresh Farms, an onion packing house on Route 98 in Albion, last evening because my 9-year-old son is part of a Lego league through Orleans County 4-H.
The Panek family, owners of the former Remley Printing building, is letting three Lego teams practice building robots and whatnot in some of the rooms in the building.
The Paneks helped form Liberty Fresh. When I was there last night, the sun was setting and the tall stacks of onion crates were striking. I noticed a statue of a patron saint by a tree. The rainy spring made for a difficult growing year for onion farmers.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 18 September 2013 at 12:00 am
‘This is a lot better than looking at a book.’
Photos by Tom Rivers – These Albion High School students – Aaron Burnside, Gary Moore and Dillon Black – were out in a corn field with other members of Adam Krenning’s agricultural science class on Tuesday.
ALBION – Adam Krenning used to show YouTube videos of corn planters spreading seeds in a field and combines coming through in the fall and harvesting the crop.
Krenning’s agricultural science students could read about the biology of plants from a textbook, learning about how photosynthesis from plant leaves helps grow corn and other crops.
This year, his students aren’t confined to an indoor classroom. The district last spring opened a 5-acre “Land Lab” near Clarendon Road.
A local farmer Adam Kirby planted the crop last May. Albion ag students filled the planter with seeds. One of the students, Aaron Burnside, sat in the planter with Kirby.
Four months later the plants are about 10 feet tall. Students have been out in the field, measuring the plants’ heighth, the distance between rows (29 inches) and distance between plants in each row (6 inches).
“This is a lot better than looking at a book,” said Dillon Black, a senior.
Gary Moore, an Albion 11th grader, holds an ear of corn in the school district’s 5-acre land lab, which is producing its first crop this year for the school’s agriculture program.
Students were surprised by how big and strong the corn plants grew in four months, and all that to produce one ear of corn, although different varieties could have two or three ears.
When they studied the corn plants on Tuesday, Krenning sent them about 25 plants deep into the corn field. Krenning said the edge of a corn field can give a false indication about a field’s health. The edge often has small or stilted plants because animals can feed on them or the soil is splashed with road salt.
Aaron Burnside, a junior, was impressed with the plants. He said it’s been a good growing season with lots of rain and sunshine.
“This is the first time the classes can get hands-on with the plants,” he said.
The ag sciences classes and FFA chapter have developed a corn maze that will be open to Albion elementary school students. They will each paint a pumpkin on Oct. 16-17 as part of a fall outdoor event with apple cider and donuts. Each elementary classroom is making a scare crow for that event.
The district opened the 5-acre Land Lab last year. Local farmer Adam Kirby in May brought a planter to the site to plant corn.
Later this fall students will be able to watch the corn be harvested. They also will likely be able to see it at the ethanol plant in Medina, where the corn is ground up and turned into fuel.
The district’s agricultural program also is working with Panek Farms in Albion. The farm planted corn on 63 acres of land owned by Albion Central School. Panek is tracking the farm’s expenses for the crop. It will share that data plus the revenue numbers for the crop later with students. The net profits from the crop will be donated back to the district for the ag program.
Krenning said those funds plus the knowledge shared by Panek Farms will make for a program full of enrichment for students.
Recent rainy days kept his class inside, instead of out in the corn field. He could sense their enthusiasm on Tuesday, when they went into the cornfield, inspecting and measuring the plants.
“You can explain all you want on the board or with YouTube videos, but this is where the educational aspect really happens,” Krenning said.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 13 September 2013 at 12:00 am
Courtesy of Mike Zingler -Mike Zingler is pictured with Abby Wambach during a commercial shoot at his farm in Kendall.
KENDALL – When the New York Apple Association was planning a new commercial to promote the state’s $300 million apple industry, it wanted an apple farm close to Rochester, an orchard that was clean and a good representative of the industry.
The Apple Association picked Mike Zingler’s farm in Kendall to film a commercial featuring Abby Wambach, a Rochester native who holds the world record for most goals scored by a woman in international competition.
The new commercial featuring Wambach is now being aired. The soccer star also is featured in in-store advertising.
She spent part of July 30 at Zingler’s farm for the commercial shoot.
“She was great,” Zingler said about Wambach, whose family owns Wambach Farms, a farm market and garden center. “She is a gracious person. She’s really into farming.”
Wambach was hired as an apple ambassador because of her local roots and healthy, active lifestyle, said NYAA President Jim Allen.
Mike Zingler’s son, Jimmy, was able to meet Wambach. Jimmy, 20, played soccer at Kendall. He works at his father’s farm and is also a part-time college student.
Zingler is a past member of the NYAA board of directors. She has a reputation as a progressive grower with high standards at his farm, Allen said. Zingler also has an iconic red barn and a striking tree in the orchard that created an ideal farming atmosphere for the commercial shoot, Allen said.
“Mike’s location was just excellent,” Allen said.
The Apple Association is eager to promote this year’s crop, which is the biggest on record at 32 million bushels.
