Seneca Falls, NY. “Why I Farm,” a successful public education program, pumpkins, and the “Chicken Chat” will be among the new features at the Farm Bureau Family Center at the 2017 Empire Farm Days at Rodman Lott and Son Farms in Seneca Falls, NY, August 8, 9, and 10.

The “Why I Farm” public education program created by the Seneca County Farm Bureau is the 2016 New York Farm Bureau Promotion and Education Award winner. Visitors to the Farm Bureau Family Center at the 2017 Empire Farm Days will learn more about this educational outreach centered around fact-based articles written by farmers about “Why I Farm.”

Pumpkins will be the featured crop on the 2017 Farm Bureau Wheel of Agriculture as a key NY commodity. New commodity brochures, exhibits and feel boxes will provide details on all the latest food and agriculture topics, while a new in-tent scavenger hunt learning experience will be a fun way to learn and to enter a daily prize drawing.

“Chicken Chat” will be a new hands-on Farm Bureau activity at Empire Farm Days to educate visitors of all ages about poultry. The Pennsylvania Friends of Ag Foundation developed a large display gameboard and realistic plastic eggs that can be taken from a basket and stuck to the board. Major sponsors are providing chicken hats and colorful activity sheets for the young players.

The 2017 Farm Bureau Family Education Center will also include:

• an exhibit illustrating the vast diversity and acres devoted to agricultural production in New York State with farm numbers for each of the New York Farm Bureau districts;
• updated New York Farm Bureau Leadership Network and Membership Benefits areas
• current news, event, programs, awards and resources in the Youth, Young Farmer, and Collegiate area
• a 2017 NY Farm Bureau Scholarship Winners exhibit and 2018 scholarship application information
• the kid-friendly Grain Box Play Area with toy farm equipment, coloring, puzzles, interactive games, and straw bale seating
• balloons, popcorn and juice refreshments and a place to relax at the show.

Empire Farm Days is the largest outdoor agricultural trade show in the Northeastern U.S. The 300-acre event provides educational seminars, crop and working equipment demonstrations, agricultural and outdoors information and vendor booths, live animals, and rural life exhibits. Parking is $10 per vehicle. Learn more at empirefarmdays.com.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

• Empire Farm Days Manager Melanie Wickham, 877-697-7837, mwickham@empirefarmdays.com
• New York Farm Bureau Foundation for Agricultural Education Managing Director Sandra K. Prokop, 800-342-4143, SProkop@NYFB.org
• EFD Publicist Kara Lynn Dunn, 315-465-7578, karalynn@gisco.net