The 43rd Annual Dairy Day celebration, held this morning in the Fair’s Empire Room, awarded 34 processors and manufacturers from across the state with Gold, Silver, or an Award of Excellence. This year there were 234 entries from 44 different exhibitors, including processors that are NYS Grown & Certified. Other highlights from the competition include:
- Trinity Valley, from Cortland, Central New York region, earned top honors for Fluid Milk, Small Processor.
- Saputo Friendship, from Friendship, Western New York region, and Upstate Niagara, from Buffalo, Western New York, earned the most medals overall, with a total of eight each.
- McCadam Cheese earned five medals, including Gold, Silver, and Award of Excellence in the Flavored Yogurt category.
- Upstate Niagara took home Gold in the Plain Yogurt class and Byrne Hollow Farm, from Cortland, Central New York region, won Gold in the Flavored Yogurt class.
- Old Chatham Creamery, from Chatham, Capital Region, won Gold in the Farmstead Open Class category and Acorn Hill Farm, from Kerhonkson, Hudson Valley region, won Gold in the Farmstead Goat/Sheep Cheese class.
The entries were evaluated by eight expert judges from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, Cornell University, Vivolac and Wegmans. Winners of the competition will be displayed in the Dairy Products Building next to the Butter Sculpture.