Archive: Around Town

Saturday drew people from around the county to the eleventh annual Farm City Day.  What made this one special was that the host farm's livestock isn't cows -- it's alpaca.  "Most people, when they think farming, they do tend to think big black and white cow," says Cornell Cooperative Extension's Community Agriculture Awareness Educator Debbie Teeter.  "But alpaca is a breed of its own.  People definitely come out for alpacas, because they are so cute and adorable and new."

The event was hosted by Angel Tree Farm, one of Lansing's two alpaca farms.  Owned by Jay and Carol Engels and Carol's parents Mal and Ellie Hunter, the farm represents a unique and growing form of agriculture that has begun to attract new blood to livestock farming.  "Our goal is to make people more aware of alpacas and llamas as an agricultural choice," said Carol Engels.  "With the economy the way it is today it is a manageable livestock that allows you to be able to work also."


Farm City Day was conceived 11 years ago to bring the public to working farms to learn about agriculture in a fun way.  The first was hosted on Lewis and Linda Stuttle's Lew-Lin Farm in Dryden.  The event returned to that farm for the tenth anniversary last year.  Teeter says the event has been on dairy farms for eight of the eleven years, because dairy is the number one agricultural industry in New York State as well as Tompkins County.  But as the event's organizer she tries to mix it up, and has recruited a fruit and vegetable farm, a horse farm, and now an alpaca farm as hosts as well.

Town Supervisor Scott Pinney helped open the day, welcoming the crowd.  It was his first Farm City Day.  "The Engels and the County have done a very good job of setting this up," he said.  "The Town of Lansing  supports farmers.  I believe that farmers add a lot to our community.  They are local businesses.  If we support them it supports local jobs, and our local land.  We have the Right To Farm Law.  We also have farms under the Farm Protection Plan so they won't be sold off to developers."

One big draw on Saturday was the The Black Sheep Handspinners Guild tent.  Normally the Guild meets on the second Saturday of each month, but this month they brought their meeting to Farm City Day.  Meetings typically include ten minutes of business and a lot of spin and kniting and crocheting or felting.  Founded in 1974, the guild has about 50 members.


"We're demonstrating different spinning techniques," Jim Johnson, the guild's librarian, said.  "There are four different kinds of wheels here today.  Several of us are also spinning on drop spindles.  It's just a fun day for us."

The Cooperative Extension's Food and Nutrition program offered 'Play With Your Food,' where kids could construct animal critters from vegetables and food grown on farms.  "It's from local farmers markets," Teeter said.  "It's a little past the edible stage, but not so gross that you wouldn't want to touch it.  The kids use the vegetables to create creatures that they can take with them."

Also popular was Sharon Garner's sheep and border collie demonstration, and a 'Make and eat a GIANT ICE CREAM SUNDAE' event with the reigning Tompkins County Dairy Princess, McLean's Lacey Foote.  Exhibits on composting, indiginous plants by Dan Segal of Plantsman Nursery,  face painting, the I Love NY Agriculture Challenge, cheese & milk samples, Farm Fact Find Passport to Fun, agriculture and the watershed, what alpacas eat, farmers need for seeds, and Ronnie Raindrop were among the other attractions.  Ray Reynolds of One Of A Kind Orchard was also supposed to display his varied apples.  Due to an equipment malfunction he wasn't able to come, but he donated peaches for the silent auction.


That auction is the primary source of funding for Cooperative Extension's 'Ag In The Classroom' program.  It allows Teeter to hire a work study student from Cornell to work on initiatives, to keep lending materials in order, and work on special programs.  

Teeter was also excited that the 4H Exchange club was on hand with refreshments.  "I'm always happy when we are able to have the 4H Exchange Club come to run the food concession," she said.  "That's a great club.  They raise money to travel every other year.  They just got back from Montana, and they'll host Montana next year.  The goal of the club is to do as much fund raising for any teen in the county to participate.  Any kid can belong, because they raise the money to travel."

Teeter said that alpaca farming is a relatively new way to enter farming in New York.  "You don't need a lot of land," she said.  "There is a lot of farmland that is suitable only for pasture.  So if you get hold of some acreage that isn't suitable for crops you could raise alpaca."


The Engels have gone a long way toward making their farm successful in only four years.  They started with three female alpacas, two of them pregnant.  Since then the herd has grown impressively, and the family has begun to sell animals, as well as wool and goods made from their wool in their popular alpaca shop on the premises.  "We're at 26 alpacas and a couple of llamas," says Carol Engels.  "We have sold a few.  That has helped.  We have primarily sold males, which are sold as fiber animals, and not as valuable.  But that's how you start out so we're happy with that."

"Farm City Day allows the non-farming public to visit a working farm of some sort," Teeter says.  "They get up close and personal with whatever livestock and vegetables they grow, and learn about agriculture in a fun atmosphere.  We strive for it to be safe and fun and inviting to children and adults."

Saturday's event attracted about 800 visitors.  The silent auction raised almost $1,000.

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