Join us on March 13^th & 14^th for a Value-Added Dairy Tour to Eastern New York!

Are you a dairy producer interested in on-farm dairy processing? Looking to diversify your operation with direct to consumer sales? Interested in value-added production? Well, hop on the bus - we're headed East!

On March 13^th and 14^th, Margaret Quaassdorff from our team, along with Katelyn Walley from the Southwest New York Dairy, Livestock, and Field Crops team, will be hosting a tour of value-added dairy processing facilities and farms in Eastern New York. More information about our tour stops is below. We will plan to leave from the CCE-Genesee Office parking lot in Batavia at 8:30am on Wednesday, March 13^th and will be back on Thursday, March 14^th at 9:00pm.

The cost to register is $100, and you can register and pay online by visiting tinyurl.com/CCEDairyTour. Thanks to the generous grant funding from the Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center, the only other costs you will need to plan to cover are Wednesday and Thursday dinner and any incidentals you'd like to plan for (snacks, refreshments, and purchases at our diverse tour stops-be sure to bring a cooler!). We will be staying overnight at a hotel in Cobleskill, NY. Final stop locations, times, accommodation information, and additional details will be shared directly with the participants after registering (or by request).

Following the tour, we will provide opportunities to bring participants back together for discussion groups and educational programs to continue learning more about value-added dairy ventures and the business planning considerations for implementing them!

If you are interested in attending but would like additional information, please contact Margaret Quaassdorff at 585-405-2567 or maq27@cornell.edu or Katelyn Walley at 716-640-0522 or kaw249@cornell.edu. 

Tour Stops (subject to change) 

Trinity Valley Dairy (Cortland, NY) is a fourth-generation family farm in the beautiful valley of East Homer. The Moo Crew Ken and Sue Poole, Derek and Kelsi Poole and Branden and Rebekah (Poole) Brown run the farm. In 2013, they turned a sweet corn field into a milk production facility and general store that sells local products. Their farm is small and independent, bottles its milk onsite for our Trinity Valley brand and the Manhattan Milk Co. We will be stopping there for a catered lunch and an overview of their operations, along with milk and cookies!

Byebrook Farm (Bloomville, NY) is an 8th generation dairy farm milking 40 cows, operated by Paul and Gwen Deysenroth, and Dennis and Sami Deysenroth. They produce and bottle raw milk and make farmstead Gouda cheese. They also operate a year-round farm stand with their products and other local farm goods. We'll get a peek at their processing operation and learn more about how they've continued to diversify sustainably to support their family.

Don's Dairy Supply (South Kortright, NY) is a full service dairy supply and service business owned by Don and Debbie Coager, and their two children - Kyle and Brooke. Their operation specializes in designing and building custom-made container-based, dairy processing units!

SUNY Cobleskill's Dairy Processing Center (Cobleskill, NY) is operated by their Institute for Rural Vitality. We will meet with DPC manager, Debbie Brant, to tour the facility and learn more about how they accept applications to allow dairy producers to access their product development services and small-batch processing equipment. We will also hear from JoAnne Cloughly, Carriage House Cafe's Manager, about their retail space that highlights campus-made products and local farm goods.

King Brother's Dairy (Schuylerville, NY) is a fifth generation dairy farm that offers milk delivery and an extensive range of products, including ice cream, at their farm store. We will have the opportunity to see their processing facility through viewing windows, hear more about the farm's goals and tremendous growth, and have a chance to browse their farm store.

Argyle Cheese & Ideal Dairy (Hudson Falls, NY) is a partnership between Marge and Dave Randles and the Dickinson and Getty families. Argyle Cheese has been in business since 2007, and in 2020 they partnered with Ideal Dairy to build a new processing facility and direct source all of the milk needed to make high quality cheese, yogurts, buttermilk, smoothies, and much more. Ideal Dairy milks 3200 cows and is home to "Cookiecutter Holsteins".

Registration is open now and will close 2/26 or when trip spaces are filled.

REGISTRATION: https://swnydlfc.cce.cornell.edu/event_preregistration_new.php?id=2268

We're extremely grateful to all of our tour hosts for sharing their space, time, and expertise with our group to make our trip diverse and fun! Please don't hesitate to reach out if you're interested in attending or would like to register.

Funding for this tour was made possible by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service through Dairy Business Innovation Initiative, grant 21DBIVT1004-00. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the USDA.

Value-Added Dairy Tour (PDF; 1887KB)