New York Dairy Checkoff Leader Meets With Environmental Educators to Showcase Sustainability Efforts
December 22, 2025 | 2 min to read
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – American Dairy Association North East board member Barb Hanselman of Bloomville, N.Y., recently hosted a virtual tour of her family’s dairy, Del-Rose Farm, for the New York State Outdoor Education Association.
In addition to New York, ADA North East has cultivated third-party support with the state environmental education organizations in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Collaboration with these groups helps build trust in dairy by highlighting dairy farmers’ commitment to protecting the environment.
“I want consumers to understand that a farmer’s job is to feed and nourish people, and we take it very seriously in order to secure long-term sustainability,” said Hanselman. “A farm’s legacy is tomorrow, so we hope these educators share our stories with their students to show that we work hard to do what’s best for the soil, water resources, cattle, communities and our environment.”
Hanselman partnered on the presentation with Nate Townsend of the Watershed Agricultural Council. He works with farmers in the New York City Watershed region, where Del-Rose Farm is located, to protect water quality on behalf of the 9 million New York residents.
Hanselman discussed the practices they incorporate to protect the waterways, including no-till cropping, cover crops, crop rotation and manure management. “Getting support from multiple sources like the Watershed Agricultural Council only enhances our operation as we work to produce a safe, nutritious product for consumers,” added Hanselman.
“Sustainability and the environment are always on top of consumers’ minds,” said ADA North East CEO John Chrisman. “We’re so fortunate that dairy farmers like Barb share their practices with environmental groups, to ultimately build trust in dairy.”
For additional checkoff information, contact American Dairy Association North East at 315.472.9143.
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 8,000 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.