"i Love Ny" Agriculture Challenge

To help promote local farmers and their products, Senator Bill Larkin is encouraging Hudson Valley residents to participate in the "I Love NY Agriculture Challenge."

New York Farm Bureau Foundation for Agricultural Education, in collaboration with NY Farms! and New York Agriculture in the Classroom, have announced the start of the annual I Love New York Agriculture Challenge, a scavenger hunt contest that awards participants for finding various agricultural items available throughout New York State.

"I think this is one of the best activities for kids and adults alike to enjoy all the delicious agricultural products our state has to offer," said Senator Larkin. "It’s also a terrific way for people to see all the wonderful local farms right in our own back yard."

All New York State residents are eligible to take part in the challenge, which will continue through November 30, 2005. Participants must collect 15 items that represent a sector of New York agriculture in order to be eligible for one of 13 prizes donated by various New York agricultural groups or the grand prize, an on-farm overnight stay at a Bed and Breakfast donated by the New York State Wine and Grape Foundation.

A strand of horse hair, a puff of sheep’s wool, a chicken feather, a rose petal, a maple leaf, an apple seed, a pumpkin seed, a stem of timothy, a Real Milk symbol, a Real Cheese symbol, a Pride of N.Y. logo (as proof of purchase), any 2004 N.Y. Fair (state or county) ticket stub, a Farmer’s Market manager’s signature, a business card of a N.Y. Farmer, and a wine cork featuring a N.Y. Winery.

Prizes will be awarded at the New York Farm Bureau State Annual Meeting the first week of December and include an entry pass to the 2006 N.Y.S. Fair, an entry to any N.Y.S. race track, a $25 farmers market gift certificate, five pounds of N.Y. fancy apples, and many other great prizes.

Entries should include the 15 agricultural items with a name, address, phone, and fax or email, and be sent to NY Farms!, 125 Williams Rd., Candor, N.Y. 13743. For more information contact Sandra Prokop from New York Farm Bureau Foundation for Agricultural Education at nysprokop@fb.org or call 800-342-4143.