Farm Field Day Attendees Treated to Lessons on Beef, Berries, and Donuts – Oh My!

By Tim W. Shenk

Brett Chedzoy stood over a trailer outfitted with a layer of heat-resistant bricks, flipping beef burgers on a wire rack over a pile of smoldering coals. Maria Chedzoy readied the fixings. 

On a warm Saturday afternoon in June, the Chedzoys’ front yard at Angus Glen Farm in Watkins Glen, New York filled up with guests. Participants came from around Central and Western New York for a farm field day focused on beef production and other farm enterprises such as apples, berries, and Christmas trees. 

Brett Chedzoy, agroforestry specialist at Cornell Cooperative Extension Schuyler County and owner-operator of Angus Glen Farm in Watkins Glen, NY, explains pasture grazing for livestock in wooded areas to a group of interested farmers and aspiring farmers on a farm field day on June 21, 2025.

People got to know each other over burgers made from the Chedzoys’ own beef. Then the field day sponsored by Cornell Small Farms Program (CSFP) and Cornell Cooperative Extension Schuyler County began in earnest.

Attendees sought inspiration, insight, and technical know-how. Many have worked on farms for years, raising dairy calves, planting vegetables, or pruning grapes, and they have dreams of starting or expanding their own farm operation.

CSFP supports farmers in all phases of development. The CSFP Equitable Farm Futures Initiative focuses on educating beginning and aspiring farmers in New York State from all walks of life. The pedagogy includes online and in-person education in English and Spanish, following Cornell University’s founding principle that the university be “an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.”

Chedzoy walked field day participants through wooded areas and explained the concept of silvopasture. “New York State is two-thirds forest,” he said. “Silvopasture integrates livestock and forage into that environment, which takes advantage of the land we have here. You have to manage it, because you want about 50 percent sun and 50 percent shade so the forage can grow.” 

Chedzoy opened a gate to let a dozen young bulls into a new area of wooded pasture. They ambled in, barely seeming to notice the nearly two dozen people congregated in their territory. “On hot days like these, the animals are always going to look for shade,” Chedzoy continued. “We have found we have happier, healthier cows if we can move them every day and give them access to shade. Our job is just to let cows be cows,” he said.

The second stop on the field day tour was just down the road at Apples and Moore, owned and operated by Alec Moore. Moore told his story as part of the farm tour.

In 2021, Moore bought the apple orchard where he had worked and learned the trade as a teenager. He has expanded the offerings to make the farm a full family experience, with u-pick apples and raspberries, jams and jellies, and the main attraction, apple cider donuts. In the fall, it’s all hands on deck, with many members of his family and surrounding community pitching in to serve the crowds of apple pickers.

This spring, he took a new risk, signed a 12-year lease on adjacent acreage, and planted hundreds of little fir trees that he calculates will grow into six- to eight-foot u-cut Christmas trees in a few years. Participants were impressed.

Victor, who attended the event from nearby Penn Yan, NY, came away with a clear lesson about the need for diversification in agricultural production. “Working many years in grapes, you learn that there are good years and bad years. It’s important to think about diversifying your operation. Here there are apples, raspberries, cider, cider donuts, and even Christmas trees. If one product has a bad year, diversity minimizes risk.” 

Moore and Chedzoy, in addition to managing their own farms, work at the Cornell Cooperative Extension out of the Schuyler County office, so they have to make every minute count. Both got back on their tractors after the field day ended at 6 p.m. on a Saturday to finish essential tasks that they can’t get to during the week.

Among the participants at the field day was a group of 10 from the Western New York organization Alianza Agrícola, which is working on developing a cooperative for beef cattle production.

Luis, who is part of the leadership team of Alianza Agrícola, spoke on behalf of the group. “First, we’re very grateful for the way we were welcomed. We want to thank our hosts, the two farm owners, for opening their doors to us and for giving us such valuable information about their operations.” He noted wanting to learn more about Chedzoy’s silvopasture methods of grazing cows in wooded areas with an accelerated grazing rotation.

Several participants commented on how encouraging it was to witness a cow-calf operation run based around the limited schedules of a family in which everyone has off-farm jobs. “You feel inspired by what you see here,” said Ismael, another member of Alianza Agrícola, in the evaluation of the event. “You can start small with the resources you have and grow over time.”

Participants were also encouraged by meeting Moore, a farmer who they felt they had a lot in common with because of his youth and his path into owning his own operation. “It was nice to hear Alec’s story, that he didn’t inherit a farm from his parents or grandparents,” said one participant. “He had a dream of owning his own farm, and he went out and got the loans and the know-how and everything else he needed to get started.”

Luis was impressed by the fact that “there is no single recipe for success. A farm plan can be adapted to your economic position, and the goals, mission, and vision that you have.”

The group was accompanied by Lucia Vignale, a Cornell University graduate student who studies plant breeding and genetics. Vignale was impressed by “the warmth of the participants, their eagerness to learn and take initiative. It’s great to share this time with people who have had similar experiences.”

Vignale, originally from Uruguay, felt comfortable and welcomed by the hosts and other participants. “When you move to another country, you leave behind everything you know and love, and it’s easy to feel lonely or lost. But the group participating in the workshop felt very united.”