Moooo-ve Over for National Farm Animals Day!

Cozy up to your best barnyard pal on April 10th because it’s National Farm Animals Day! Each year, this day brings attention to the humane care of farm animals, and is an opportunity to learn about the animals and where our food comes from.

New York State is a major agricultural producer. It’s a big part of our state’s economy, earning $5.75 billion in revenue in 2017, with a whopping $2.7 billion from dairy products and milk alone!

98% of farms in New York are family owned, and our region has a deeply rooted history in farming, agricultural research, and a growing agritourism industry. The North Country is full of active farms, dairies, and educational organizations promoting greater awareness and technologies supporting agriculture and animal husbandry. Did you know that 30% of the total land in Clinton County is still active farmland?

This National Farm Animals Day, learn more about farm animals, farming practices, and local stories and organizations with the videos and resources below!


Learn About Farm Animals & Environments

“Baa Baa Black Sheep” Vocabulary Building  | Circle Time at Home

Grades PreK-K
Learn about farm animals. Students will be introduced to farm animal vocabulary and play language games with the terms.

What Do You Get From That? | Everyday Learning

Grades PreK-1
In this video, children learn about different animals on a farm and the everyday items we get from them. Cows give us the milk we drink every day. We use that milk to make lots of other things we enjoy like ice cream, cheese, butter and cream.

DragonflyTV | Farm Animals

Grades 4-6
Explore what makes some animals farm animals, and why others are not, with Imran and Nabil in this DragonflyTV video.

Scientist Profile: Cow Vet

Grades 4-6
Who does a cow call when she’s sick? Large animal vet John Fetrow, otherwise known as Dr. Moo! John works at the University of Minnesota’s Cow Transition Management Facility, where he researches the birth cycle of cows. He is an expert on common cow diseases, what kinds of food and care cows need to remain healthy, and even the best kind of bedding for sleepy cattle.

Farm Solutions to Water Pollution

Grades 6-12
Farming has always meant more than cultivating crops and raising animals. In this KET video from Common Ground and Cleaner Water, learn from a third generation farmer what it means to protect the land for future generations by caring about water quality on his farm and on his neighbors’ farms down stream. See how building a containment pond helps prevent animal waste from polluting streams and helps fertilize crops.

The Trouble with Antibiotics | How Widespread Is Antibiotic Use on Farms?

Grades 9-12
Learn about the widespread use of antibiotics on farm animals and the challenge the FDA faces in collecting data about the drugs, in these videos excerpted from FRONTLINE: The Trouble with Antibiotics. Learn how antibiotics have been used to promote growth and why researchers suspect that their increased use on farms is contributing to the problem of antibiotic resistance in humans. Over 70 percent of antibiotics sold in the U.S. currently go to farms; however, efforts to obtain information and regulate antibiotic use has been opposed by interest groups.


Activities & Games

Scrub-A-Dub | Peg + Cat

Grades PreK-K
In this game, your child will learn to sort by size and capacity to get the farm animals nice and clean for a picture!

Barnyard Match | Daniel Tiger

Grades PreK-1
In this one or two player game, you and your child can play along with Daniel Tiger as he finds matching pairs of pictures.

Little Red Barn

Grades PreK-1
If your child loves barns and farm animals, he’ll love this easy cardboard barn.

Make Bianca’s Stuffed Pig | Cyberchase Activity

Grades 1-3
Learn to make your very own stuffed pig. Use a grid to measure and design a pattern to make a stuffed pig in any size you want in this Cyberchase activity.

Down on the Farm: Playful Pig and Delightful Duck | Cartoon Academy

Grades 1-7
Joe Wos teaches students how to draw a playful piggy and a delightful duck using easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions. Students are familiarized with art terms such as “setting,” “symmetry,” and “profile.”


Local Stories

Cheesemaker | Career Journey

Learn all about work at Asgaard, a goat dairy farm in Au Sable Forks, New York with cheesemaker and trained dairy scientist, Gail Huston.

Abandoned & Abused Horses in the Adirondacks

A farm in the Adirondacks devoted to abandoned and abused horses who need a special kind of care is taking care of area animals. Jack LaDuke reports on the Crane Mountain Valley Horse Rescue in Westport, New York.

Forgotten Farms: What needs to change?

We talk with filmmakers Sarah Gardner and Dave Simonds about their documentary, Forgotten Farms, which chronicles the plight of how low milk prices are hurting local dairy farmers. We also hear from local farmers who watched the film at the Miner Institute in Chazy, NY. Watch the documentary trailer online and learn more about the film on their website.


Local Organizations

The William H. Miner Institute

Located on the Adirondack Coast in Northern NY, the William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute is the present-day manifestation of the philosophy and principles once embodied by William Miner on Heart’s Delight Farm. Since its creation in 1951, the principal function is the economic improvement of agricultural operations through research, education, and demonstration. Learn more about their programs, including annual events like Farm Day, Dairy Day, and Equiday.

Cornell Cooperative Extension

Cornell Cooperative Extension is a dynamic education system connecting Cornell’s world-class research with regional and county-based educators and partners across the state. With a presence in every county and all five boroughs of New York City, CCE is uniquely positioned to tailor opportunities and resources to match the diverse and ever-evolving needs of individual communities across the state. Learn more about their involvement in NYS 4-H programs and NYS 4-H camps.