Since launching the Virtual Farm Tour concept in 2018, the 21 tours hosted live from the farm by 10 different farmers from New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey have racked up nearly 500,000 views between the live and recorded broadcasts.
“The popularity of our virtual farm tour program continues to grow because of the digital world our consumers live in, especially the Gen Z students,” said ADA North East CEO John Chrisman. “We can extend our reach and we’re able to show how farmers truly care about their cows and the environment and are committed to producing a sustainable product – all things that matter to Gen Zs.”
The spring tour hosts included:
- Ed Facer of Star Rock Farms, Conestoga, Pa., in March;
- Kelly Reynolds of Reyncrest Farm, Corfu, N.Y., in April; and
- Sarah Lyness of Spring Run Dairy, Pittstown, N.J., in May
“It’s so important to do these tours so students can make the connection between the farm and the dairy products they are consuming in school,” said Reynolds.
Lyness agreed and said, “Hosting the tour was a great way to tell a positive story about a dairy farm.”
ADA North East has been testing and implementing ways to make this program more valuable for teachers and participants, including offering the two sessions from each farm. Other developments in the program this spring included vocabulary lists and teacher-developed student lesson plans which meet Common Core Standards for elementary, middle and high school classes.
All tours are available at AmericanDairy.com under “Virtual Farm Tours.” Watch for upcoming announcements for the Fall 2022 Virtual Farm Tours.
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Photo caption: Ed Facer of Star Rock Farms, Conestoga, Pa., hosted a Virtual Farm Tour for American Dairy Association North East in March 2022.
Photo caption: Kelly Reynolds of Reyncrest Farms, Corfu, N.Y., hosted a Virtual Farm Tour for American Dairy Association North East in April 2022.
Photo caption: Sarah Lyness of Spring Run Dairy in Pittstown, N.J., hosted a Virtual Farm Tour for American Dairy Association North East in May 2022.
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 9,000 dairy farm families in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and northern Virginia, ADA North East 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, or call 315.472.9143.
