By Farmer Ben
By the time July rolls around, things are moving pretty fast on farms around the Mohawk Valley. First cut hay is wrapping up for a lot of people, second cut is already being thought about, and you’re trying to stay ahead of the weather the best you can. Some days it feels like you spend more time checking the weather report than anything else.
This is also the time of year when county fair season starts up, and for a lot of farm families, that’s a big part of summer. Around here, fairs like the Lewis County Fair, Boonville-Oneida County Fair, Madison County Fair, Herkimer County Fair, Schoharie County Sunshine Fair, and eventually the New York State Fair are all part of the summer tradition.
Most people see the rides, the food, and the concerts when they go to the fair, but for farm families, there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes. By July, a lot of kids are spending just about every day getting animals ready to show. Cows are getting washed, clipped, and worked with. Animals are getting walked around the barns and getting used to noise and crowds. There’s a lot of time that goes into it before anybody ever steps into the show ring.
A lot of these kids are out in the barn early in the morning before most people are even up, and then back out there again at night. Animals still need to be fed, cleaned up after, and taken care of every day. It teaches responsibility pretty quickly. People see the fun side of the fair, but there’s a lot of work behind it that most people probably don’t think about.
At the same time, hay season keeps rolling. July can be stressful because everybody is trying to get dry hay made between rainstorms. You can have everything ready to bale and then get a quick shower that changes the whole plan. Around here, farming usually comes down to working around the weather.
You’ll probably see tractors out later at night this time of year too. When the weather is finally right, you keep going until the work is done. That’s just part of summer on the farm.
July is also National Ice Cream Month, which honestly fits pretty well with fair season. Ice cream stands are packed this time of year, especially after ball games, fairs, and summer events. You know it’s summer around here when the ice cream stands are busy every night.
A lot of people don’t always think about how connected all of it is. The milk used for ice cream starts on dairy farms right here in our area. The fairs celebrate agriculture. The hay getting baled in the fields now is feed that’ll be used for animals this winter. It’s all tied together.
Summer gets busy fast around here, but this is one of the best times of the year to live in the Mohawk Valley. The farms are active, the fairs are starting up, roadside stands are open, and people are outside enjoying summer.
So if you get stuck behind a tractor this time of year heading down a back road, just give us a minute. Chances are somebody’s trying to get hay in before the rain comes.
That’s the Mohawk Valley.
That’s what we grow.
