The New York State Agricultural Society was founded in 1832, with the goal of promoting

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

improvement. One of its main activities is operating the annual New York State Fair.

Activities

A major activity of the society is running the annual New York State Fair. The first such fair was held in 1841, in Syracuse, and drew 10,000 attendees over two days. The second was held in Albany, with Auburn, Buffalo, Elmira, New York City, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Saratoga Springs, Watertown and Utica all hosting fairs between 1842 and 1889. The fair moved permanently back to Syracuse in 1890. The society publishes a newspaper titled ''The Cultivator''. Originally a monthly publication, it is semi-annual. The society supports research into ways to make farms more productive, such as the best type of grass to grow for feeding dairy cows, and whether grass fields should grow naturally or be plowed and reseeded periodically. The society honors New York State agricultural businesses with a Business of the Year award. Every year since 1937, the society has also given the Century Farm Award in four out of 56 counties on a rotating basis. These awards were given to farms that had been owned and operated by one family for one hundred years, where the families were also "good farmers and active members of the community in which they live". The society holds an annual dinner, traditionally attended by the governor of New York State. It has also hosted dignitaries such as US Department of Agriculture secretary

Arthur Hyde Arthur Mastick Hyde (July 12, 1877October 17, 1947) was an American Republican politician, who served as the 35th governor of Missouri from 1921 to 1925, and as the United States Secretary of Agriculture for President Herbert Hoover from 1929 t ...

, newspaper publisher Frank Gannett, and University of Maryland president

Raymond Pearson Raymond Allen Pearson (April 9, 1873 – February 13, 1939) was an American agricultural administrator and educator who served as the 7th president of Iowa State University from 1912 to 1926, the 20th president of University of Maryland, College ...

. In 1876, the society had an income of $41,210. Of that, $15,086 was from the state fair. In 1900, as a result of a change to a state law, the New York State Agricultural Society was mandated to receive $20,000 in premiums "of all moneys appropriated for the promotion of agriculture in any one year". The society runs the New York State Agricultural Society Foundation, which makes grants to young scholars to promote agricultural literacy, professional skills, and provide funding for students to attend the society's annual functions.

Notable past presidents

The following is a (possibly incomplete) list of notable past society presidents. * Jesse Buel (1834–1835) * Archibald McIntyre (1836) * John P. Beekman (1837–1838, 1844) * James S. Wadsworth (1842–1843) *

Lewis F. Allen Lewis Falley Allen (January 1, 1800 – May 2, 1890) was an American farmer, businessman, politician and prominent Buffalonian. Allen was the uncle-in-law of President Grover Cleveland and is credited with introducing Cleveland to the practice of ...

(1848) * John A. King (1949) *

Lewis Morris Lewis Morris (April 8, 1726 – January 22, 1798) was an American Founding Father, landowner, and developer from Morrisania, New York, presently part of Bronx County. He signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence as a delegate to the Continen ...

(1853) * William Kelly (1854) * Alonzo S. Upham (1857) * Benjamin N. Huntington (1860) * George Geddes (1861) * Ezra Cornell (1862) *

Edward G. Faile Edward George Faile (February 9, 1799April 20, 1864) was an American merchant. Born in Scotland, his family moved to the United States when he was an infant, settling in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, north of New York City. ...

(1863) * John Stanton Gould (1866) *

Marsena R. Patrick Marsena Rudolph Patrick (March 15, 1811 – July 27, 1888) was a college president and an officer in the United States Army, serving as a general in the Union Army, Union volunteer forces during the American Civil War. He was the provost marshal fo ...

(1867–1868) *

Benjamin F. Angel Benjamin Franklin Angel (November 28, 1815 – September 11, 1894) was an American lawyer, politician and diplomat. Life Benjamin Franklin Angel was born in Burlington, New York, the son of Benjamin Angel and Abigail (Stickney) Angel. He studi ...

(1873–1874) * John B. Dutcher (1893–1894) *

Benjamin F. Tracy Benjamin Franklin Tracy (April 26, 1830August 6, 1915) was a United States political figure who served as Secretary of the Navy from 1889 through 1893, during the administration of U.S. President Benjamin Harrison. Biography He was born in th ...

(1897-1898) * Rosswell P. Flower (1899) *

Timothy L. Woodruff Timothy Lester Woodruff (August 4, 1858 – October 12, 1913) was an American businessman and politician. A leader of the Republican Party in the state of New York, Woodruff is best remembered for having been elected three terms as the Lieutena ...

(1900) * Millard Davis (1937–1938) *

Leigh G. Kirkland Leigh G. Kirkland (February 8, 1873 – December 25, 1942) was an American farmer and politician from New York. Life He was born in Conewango, Cattaraugus County, New York, the son of George Kirkland (1829–1893) and Emily E. (Ball) Kirkland (1 ...

(1941)

References

{{Reflist

External links

* New York State Agricultural Societ
official website
1832 establishments in New York (state) Agricultural organizations based in the United States Non-profit organizations based in New York (state)