Farm Days Opens for 25th Year in Seneca Falls

2012 Empire Farm Days: Celebrating 25 Years of Devotion for Lott Family

Seneca Falls, NY – 2012 marks the 25th year of the Rodman Lott family hosting Empire Farm Days at their farm southwest of Seneca Falls, NY.

Each August since 1988, the family has dedicated 300 of the farm’s 4,300-acres for the Northeast’s largest outdoor agricultural trade show. The event draws 70,000 farmers and more than 600 exhibitors representing 3,000 agricultural-related entities.

“My dad took on Empire Farm Days in 1988 and now my sons are helping to host the event here,” says Rodman’s son Ralph. “We’ve been doing this for so long now that Empire Farm Days is like a third crop for us in the summertime.”

The Lott family farming history starts with Rodman and Ellen’s crop operation from 1954 to 1968 in Pennsylvania. In 1960, they also had a 400-acre soybean farm in Delaware. In 1968, they moved to Florida’s Panhandle to raise peanuts, beef cattle and pigs. In 1980, they settled in Seneca Falls, NY, where they now grow corn and soybeans.

Ralph, his wife Shirley, and their children Nicole, Benjamin and Rodman, and his wife Tara, have all been involved with Empire Farm Days over the years, and, although “retired,” Rodman and Ellen still help on the farm and at the event.

“This show is the place to learn what you need to do to be more efficient and more profitable. Empire Farm Days is a great way for farmers to visit one site to see all the latest and different equipment available to them. If it’s made, it’s here. The Ride and Drive Experience offers a great opportunity to test drive with all the brands,” Ralph says.

Ralph says, “The first year we hosted Empire Farms Day on our farm we were using the zone tillage system we had seen demonstrated at an earlier show.”

Empire Farms Days’ exhibits and activities include Dairy Profit and Equine Center seminars, live animal care demonstrations, farm safety and family life displays and activities, 600-plus representatives of agricultural institutions and organizations; GPS-equipped and compact tractor, and ATV test drives; and chicken, beef and pork BBQ. For more details, contact Empire Farm Days Manager Melanie Wickham at 877-697-7837, mwickham@empire farmdays.com

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