by Rachel Hunter
New York State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball visited the 2024 Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fair on Friday, August 2.
The Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fair Association warmly welcomed NYS Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball. The fair board shared their gratitude for the state funding that has allowed for many upgrades to the fairgrounds in recent years, including the new dairy cattle barn in 2024 and infrastructure improvements.
Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fair Manager Don Peck (who serves as NYS Association of Agricultural Fairs District 3 Director) and Gouverneur Fair President Beth Martin led NYS Ag Commissioner Ball on a fairgrounds tour, stopping at the cattle barns, FFA Building, 4-H Youth Building, Dairy Princess Booth, and more. Commissioner Ball also had the opportunity to talk with St. Lawrence County Dairy Promotion, 4-H’ers, FFA members, dairy cattle exhibitors, etc. In addition to the Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fair Association, those joining the tour included North Country dignitaries: Village of Gouverneur Mayor Ron McDougall, NYS Assemblyman (AD 116) Scott Gray (R-Watertown), NYS Senator Mark Walczyk’s Office (Mike Schenk). Also in attendance was Elizabeth Wolters, Deputy Commissioner for the Department of Agriculture and Markets.
Richard A. Ball was nominated as Commissioner of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets in 2014. A native New Yorker, Mr. Ball has made a living in agriculture his entire life. His inspiration to become a farmer came from his grandparents, who were lifelong dairy farmers. At 18 years old, Mr. Ball began his own career in agriculture as a farm worker on a vegetable farm. He later became operations manager of that same farm. After 20 years there, in 1993 the opportunity arose to be a farm owner and for the past 30 years, he has been the owner and operator of Schoharie Valley Farms in Schoharie, NY, which consists of 200 acres and produces a wide range of vegetable crops, small fruits and greenhouse crops. The farm serves both retail and wholesale consumers through an onsite farm market and ships to brokers and restaurants in the local area as well as New York City. Mr. Ball has held a number of positions within agriculture and community organizations at the local, state and national level, including the New York State Vegetable Growers Association, the New York Farm Bureau, the American Farm Bureau and the Schoharie County Chamber of Commerce. He served as the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) 2021-2022 President, where he helped guide the implementation of NASDA’s priorities and additional policies adopted at NASDA’s 2021 annual meeting. He is also the former President of Food Export Northeast. Mr. Ball along with his wife, Shirley, reside on the farm in Schoharie and appreciate having three generations engaged in the farm operation.
More than 75 persons arrived on Friday, August 2 at the Harry Parow Cattle Show Ring on the Gouverneur Fairgrounds to hear from NYS Ag Commissioner Ball and other dignitaries including Village of Gouverneur Mayor Ron McDougall, NYS Assemblyman (AD 116) Scott Gray (R-Watertown), NYS Senator Mark Walczyk’s Office (Mike Schenk).
“Thank you so much, everyone, for the warm welcome,” Commissioner Ball said, extending gratitude to the Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fair Association for the fairgrounds tour. “I have to tell you that you have good leadership in this county – the Assemblyman, fair director, and your mayor here. I don’t have to stop and explain agriculture… It’s great to be here on behalf of the governor, and on behalf of the rest of our agricultural community. The governor’s been to my farm, and we’ve talked quite a bit about agriculture. And we’ve talked an awful lot about the fairs. At the Department in the last few years, we’ve really made an effort to try to communicate better with Albany about what’s important to our farmers, and to let our farmers know what is going on in Albany. The governor and I have talked many times about the fairs. This year, we’ve got some pretty good initiatives. We want to make sure that agriculture remains the center of our fairs – our fair system, all our county fairs and our state fair together. We need more young people that think with their head and their hands in our farm communities, in our manufacturing facilities across the state. This is an opportunity to connect dots with young people and consumers on what you do every day in agriculture.”
Commissioner Ball added, “It is very fun for me to be here. Thank you for what you do. The North Country is an important part of New York. Rural America is an important part of it too… We live, we work, we farm a couple hours away from the most amazing, most diverse and biggest marketplace anywhere in the world. I can’t think of a better time, even though it is a challenging time, to be involved in agriculture… There’s no place in the country that I would rather farm than New York State. Thank you for what you do in agriculture. Thank you for what you are doing at the fair here. Let’s grow our fairs, and help keep agriculture as a viable life for the next generation. Thank you very much. It is great to be with you.”
Thunderous applause sounded in appreciation of Commissioner Ball’s address to farmers in St. Lawrence County.
For more information on the Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fair, visit www.gouverneurfair.net.