SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Teachers can bring the farm to the classroom with American Dairy Association North East’s two new virtual farm tours this fall. The 45-minute real-time video chats show firsthand how farmers care for the cows, the land and produce high-quality milk for consumers. Students will have the opportunity to send questions to the farmers, who will answer live.
Two local dairy farms are featured. On October 26, at 9:15 a.m., George Andrew of EL-VI Farms, LLC, in Newark, New York, will guide a tour for elementary students, and on November 14, at 1 p.m., Katie Dotterer-Pyle of Cow Comfort Inn in Union Bridge, Maryland, will host a tour geared toward high school students. Each tour will be recorded and made available for later viewing.
“We developed the virtual farm tours to share positive and accurate dairy messaging with teachers and students, recognizing that consumers are so far removed from production agriculture and this may be the only opportunity to view a real dairy farm,” said ADA North East CEO Rick Naczi. “Using this technology allows us to reach more students and help them make the connection of where their food comes from and how it is produced.”
Teachers can visit ADA North East’s website here: 
https://www.americandairy.com/dairy-in-schools/virtual-farm-trip.stml to select a date and register for a tour. Classrooms must be equipped with an internet-connected computer and speakers, and ADA North East staff will provide details for testing the connection.
The virtual tours are part of a pilot project and more tours will be offered in 2019.
For more information, contact Emma Andrew-Swarthout at eandrew@milk4u.org.
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About American Dairy Association North East
American Dairy Association North East (ADA North East) is the dairy farmer-funded organization funded by participating dairy farmer’s checkoff investment to build demand and sales for milk and dairy foods throughout the local region. Representing nearly 12,000 dairy farm families in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New York, New Jersey and northern Virginia, ADANE develops and implements local programs to drive milk and dairy sales at retail outlets and in schools. The organization also conducts consumer education about dairy through events, traditional and social media, and in collaboration with health professionals through National Dairy Council®. ADA North East works closely with Dairy Management Inc.™, the national dairy checkoff organization, to support nutrition research, national partnerships and developing export markets for dairy to bring a fully integrated promotion program to the region. For more information, visit www.AmericanDairy.com.
Source: American Dairy Association North East
