Tiashoke Farm
The Farm
In New York State dairy farms are the backbone of our farming infrastructure. They keep the large animal veterinarians, the feed dealers, the tractor supply stores and so many other supporting businesses open for the benefit of all types of other farms... If they fail, we all do. The current crisis facing our region's dairy farmers is a story we explore on many levels at farm camp.
Stuart and Jessica Ziehm, along with Stuart's brothers, run Tiashoke Farm, a 500-cow dairy in Buskirk. They are a wholesale dairy operation and we spend an evening with them learning the ins and outs of dairy farmers working within the Agri-Mark Dairy Cooperative. Agri-Mark is the largest dairy co-op in the Northeast and the producer of Vermont's Cabot cheese and its New York sister, McAdam.
Stuart and Jessica take us through a day in the life of a dairy farm. We explore the world of milk production and discuss milk's role as a globally traded commodity. We step beyond pictures of cows on cardboard boxes to give you the real story of New York State dairy farmers and how northeast milk production compares with the rest of the nation.