Initially, North Harbor, a 1200-cow operation, had been part of Cornell University’s NY Ag in the Classroom, with Emma presenting her hands-on life sciences dairy farm program to area schools – The Life Sciences Road Show. But when COVID forced schools to rely much more on virtual learning, Shirley refocused her program and ZoomDairy was created.
Writing recently, Shirley explains…
“We offered no-cost virtual tours of our dairy six days a week from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. The tours were offered to students, families, home schooler, and clubs young and old [from 4-H to civic groups]. Tours usually lasted about 45 minutes and at the end, participants could “adopt” a newborn calf and name her. Her photo was taken and sent to the participants who could ask for more photos and news as the heifer grew.
“Our tour began in the calf barn where we focused on calf care and feeding. A quick drive across the road took us to the maternity barn. Many groups saw calves being born, the hoof trimmer care for our cows’ feet and everyone learned about the different diets we feed our cows. From the maternity barn we could walk to the parlor and see cows being milked. The last segment took us into the milk house to see milk trucks being loaded, learning about processing and food safety.
“All along the way, participants were encouraged to ask questions and the tour guide focused on making the tour as interactive as possible. ZoomDairy was more than just a tour of our dairy. During the tour we incorporate many concepts of agriculture and the life sciences such as plants, anatomy, nutrition, reproduction, technology, animal behavior, health, machinery, food safety, recycling and more.”
The farm is owned by Ron and Nancy Robbins who farm with their three grown children. The operation consists of the dairy, a 7000 acre grain farm, a trucking company and an agri-tourism operation called Old McDonald’s Farm. In one of the many YouTube videos the farm has produced, Nancy explains that as a “city girl” from nearby Watertown, she wanted to show her friends and their children about life on the farm. The apocryphal story is that Ron said one day that if she got a quarter for every pony ride she had given, she could start her own business. So in 1986 she did just that and the rest, as they say…
Today, Old McDonald’s attracts some 50,000 visitors each year with a wide variety of farm animals, hay rides, dairy tours, games, miniature golf and a café complete with homemade ice cream. This tradition of working with the public at large inspired the Robbins family to get involved with education for school children, working with area schools as well as the Cornell program noted above.
Emma Shirley came to the farm when her husband, Daniel, joined the grain farm management team coming from the USDA research farm in Beltsville, Md. Today she is the enthusiastic driver of the ZoomDairy tour program as well having responsibilities in season for the in-person educational activities. She’s added a ZoomFarm program for the animals at Old McDonald’s as well… sheep, goats, pigs and more.
To garner more support for the dairy and ag education programming here and elsewhere in the region, a non-profit 501 C (3) foundation has been established with its own board of directors… The Sackets Harbor Ag Education and Awareness Center. Tax deductible donations are invited from organizations and individuals. Support has been received from Dairy Farmers of America and Great Lakes Cheese, where North Harbor milk is shipped, as well as from Farm Credit, Farm Bureau and several area businesses.
Editor’s note: For more about the Foundation’s activities, go to https://dairybusiness.com/sackets-harbor-agricultural-education-and-awareness-center-supporting-agricultural-education-efforts/
Watch for an video interview with Emma Shirley on DairyBusiness Update to be posted on December 13 and for a DairyVoice podcast with Brian Robbins, North Harbor Dairy manager, on December 20.
Here’s a YouTube video showing Emma in action on a tour
And finally, The Robbins’ operations have a very informative website at https://robbinsfamilygrain.com/
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