The Empire Farm Days is an annual showcase held this year from August 3-5 in Pompey, NY.
“The event is the largest outdoor agricultural trade show in the Northeastern U.S., showcasing all the latest tractors, farm implements, dairy industry innovations alongside working demonstrations, live animal seminars, and more than 600 exhibits loaded with the latest agricultural information for successful farming.”
At this year’s event, King’s AgriSeeds sponsored a speaker series in partnership with the New York State Soil Health Initiative. Presenters included experts in the field, several panels featuring farmers with active agricultural operations, and a daily cover crop demonstration.
From their website, the mission of the New York State Soil Health Initiative is to:
- Recruit a network of farmer collaborators for sharing innovation, and for monitoring and documenting soil health benefits.
- Evaluate soil health economic benefits such as reduced input costs and capital investments, improved resiliency to extreme weather, and new market opportunities.
- Provide fresh outreach materials and support practitioner training, field days, and soil health assessments on collaborating farms from all types of systems.
- Develop a soil health “road map” and coordinate a NYS “Soil Health Summit” that will include presentations and panels composed of farmers, researchers, government and non-government organization representatives, policymakers, and other stakeholders.
Naturcycle staff attended all three days of this massive exhibition. The presentations and discussions featured as part of the speaker series covered important topics regarding soil health in agricultural systems, such as biology and ecology, measuring critical physical and chemical characteristics, and tillage reduction in organic systems. These conversations were informative and enlightening. Looking forward to next year’s event!
