The 22nd annual Genesee County Decision-makers' Agriculture Forum will focus on "Homegrown Markets" and it takes place on Wednesday, Sept. 21, beginning at the Batavia United Methodist Church.
The church is located at 8221 Lewiston Road (Rt. 63) in the Town of Batavia.
The ag tour, sponsored by the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce, is free but you must register by Sept. 14.
To register for the tour, call the chamber at 343-7440, ext. 27, or stop by the office at 210 E. Main St. in Downtown Batavia. You can also RSVP by emailing your name, business and address to: chamber@geneseeny.com.
The day will begin at 7:15 a.m. with registration, breakfast and speaker Stephen Tudhope, chair of the chamber's ag committee.
At 7:50, it's time to load the buses and travel.
(8 o'clock) First stop is First Light Farm & Creamery, a farmstead dairy and creamery that produces artisanal goat and cow milk cheeses. Brothers Trystan and Max Sandvoss learned the art and science of cheese making and animal husbandry in the Pacific Northwest, working for three different artisanal creameries over four years.
(9 o'clock) Second stop is Grassland Dairy. Brent and Polly Tillotson established their 100-cow, 260-acre organic dairy farm in 2008. Understanding and transitioning their farm to organic took them three years. Brent's experience growing up on his family's farm resulted in acquiring useful skills and knowledge, which helped him with this new venture.
(10:15) Last stop is Fenton Produce, LLC. Fenton's is a family owned and operated, third-generation farm -- the same farm that Paul's uncles bought in the early 1930s. There is a strong heritage of farming on Paul's side -- but this is the first generation to be a produce-only farm. They are strictly a vegetable farm that grows produce for the retail market. In addition to attending farmers markets and running their CSA, they also sell produce to 10 Wegmans stores in the Buffalo area and Tops in Batavia, along with selling to local farm stands in the area.
(11:15) Wrap up and return to the church.
