New York State Fair Sets Dairy Day for September 3

The Dairy Day programme will begin at the Expo Center with an awards ceremony for dairy farms and processing businesses. Prizes in the Dairy Products Competition will cover fluid milk, artisan cheese, cultured yoghurt and ice cream.

Industry groups will also recognise people involved in herd management, farm sustainability and dairy extension services. The event is scheduled during the fair’s 13-day run, which continues through Labor Day.

The Dairy Products Building will feature an 800-pound butter sculpture made with dairy products from the region. A renovated Milk Bar, run with Cornell Cooperative Extension and supplied by Upstate Niagara Cooperative, will sell chilled milk in 25-cent cups.

The celebrity Undeniably Dairy Shake-Off will follow the morning awards. Organisers have moved the milkshake competition to the Wegmans Demonstration Kitchen for this year’s event.

The Mobile Dairy Experience will return as a 53-foot exhibit covering milk production, herd care and environmental stewardship. Visitors will also be able to see dairy cattle and milking operations at the Dairy Cattle Barn and the Dairy Discovery Center.

The fair brings producers, processors and consumers together at the historic fairgrounds in Syracuse. New York’s dairy industry generates billions of dollars in annual economic output through fluid-milk processing, cheese manufacturing and agricultural employment, while Dairy Day gives cooperatives and independent processors a venue to present their products and promote local consumption.