As 15-year-old Riley Mahaffey of Amenia led Cleo, her 5-month-old Simmental beef cow, into the Hudson Valley Farm Life tent at the Dutchess County Fair in Rhinebeck, she attracted a throng of followers. Her dad had suggested that Riley bring her cow when she discussed her experiences in 4-H because he was sure Cleo would generate interest. As the tent filled for the 2 p.m. talk on Aug. 26, people were curious.
Riley is president of her chapter of 4-H and secretary of her chapter of the Future Farmers of America. Her articulate and confident presentation about the breeding and showing of cattle at 4-H events and about her recent trip to the Iowa State Fair kept folks engaged.
Initiated and programmed by retired Pine Plains veterinarian Doug Hart, the Hudson Valley Farm Life tent made its debut on the fairgrounds this year. Hart, a longtime member of the Dutchess County Agricultural Society, which organizes the annual fair, planned six days of talks and presentations at the tent. “It’s brand new and we didn’t know how it would go,” Hart said. “It grew out of our desire to fulfill our mission, which is to promote agriculture and to educate the general public about agriculture.”
Two or three times daily the documentary Our Farms, Our Farmers, produced by the Pine Plains Little Nine Partners Historical Society (LNPHS) and made by filmmakers Murphy Birdsall (a writer for the Herald) and Keith Reamer, was shown in the tent. Between screenings, talks and discussions took place. Participants included Kate Osofsky and Carey Osofsky Alberg of Ronnybrook Farm; Morgan Battenfeld of Battenfeld’s flower and Christmas tree farm in Milan; and John Neilson of Red Hook, who was the vegetable gardening grand champion at this year’s fair. Tom Angell talked about the historic Bentley Farm in Stanfordville.
Dyan Wapnick, the president of the LNPHS, was impressed with Mahaffey’s presentation and thrilled that the 1 p.m. screening of Our Farms, Our Farmers was packed. The location was challenging for showing a film—on one side the antique farm machinery display was quite noisy, as was the cow barn on the other. “At one point there were cows mooing on the screen and cows mooing in the barn right next to us,” Birdsall said with a laugh.
The tent was open to the outside, allowing fairgoers to look in from a distance as well as sit for the movie. Hart said, “265 people watched the film. We had room for more, but it shows people are interested in documentaries about the history of farming in the area.”
On the final day of the fair, Angell said to Birdsall, “Look at the conversation you started.” She replied, “That was Keith’s and my goal: To start a conversation.”
Hart, too, was pleased by the response to his tent: “We were successful and we have something we can build on.”