SYRACUSE, N.Y. – American Dairy Association North East’s dairy educational programs are reaching millions of families as they shelter-in-place during the COVID-19 quarantine.
“We know that families with kids now at home now are looking for educational activities and videos, and we have been able to offer our existing programs and develop new options to meet the demand,” said ADA North East CEO Rick Naczi. “Consumers clearly care about dairy farmers and how the milk that they consume is produced as evidenced by the remarkable number of views of our programs.”
ADA North East’s Virtual Farm Tour recordings have racked up 206,500 views – a jump from the initial 23,000 views in the three-season series before the quarantine began. Geared toward age groups ranging from Pre-K to high school, the tours invited classrooms on a free, live visit to a farm with real-time interaction with each dairy farmer.
The tours were hosted by Nate Chittenden, Dutch Hollow Farm in Schodack Landing, N.Y.; Hannah Worden, Will-O-Crest Farm, Clifton Springs, N.Y.; Joy Widerman, Jo-Bo Farm, Gettysburg, Pa., George Andrew, El-VI Farms in Newark, N.Y.; and Katie Dotterer-Pyle, Cow Comfort Inn Dairy in Union Bridge, Md. All videos are available on the ADA North East YouTube page or on AmericanDairy.com.
The spring 2020 tours have been cancelled as a result of the COVID-19 situation.
ADA North East’s new “Fun on the Farm” Facebook series has garnered more than 1.6 million views since starting eight weeks ago. This week’s featured farm, Snider Homestead in New Enterprise, Pa., will show the dairy operation through the eyes of the young children who live on the farm by introducing their favorite cows and talking about their daily farm chores.
The series runs each weekday at 10 a.m., on our Facebook page. Previous episodes covered cow care, a farm sing-along, dairy product processing, cooking with dairy, on-farm recycling, farm technology, and dairy and fitness. The following farmers hosted the videos: Katie Dotterer-Pyle, Cow Comfort Inn Dairy in Union Bridge, Md.; Jess Peters, Spruce Row Farm in Meadville, Pa.; Lolly Lesher, War-Har Farm in Bernville, Pa.; Renee Norman Kenny, Kenny Dairy Farm in Enon Valley, Pa.; Johanna Bossard, Barbland Dairy in Fabius, N.Y.; Kelsey O’Shea, Mapleview Dairy in Madrid, N.Y.; and Emily Shaw of Dairy Girl Fitness.
ADA North East also offers dairy lesson plans that meet schools’ Common Core standards for grades 2—12. Topics include on-farm technology and recycling, nutritional value of milk, and others.
For more information about dairy checkoff educational programs, call 315.472.9143, or visit AmericanDairy.com.
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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 more than 10,000 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.
