Agriculture and Veterinary Technology

Matt DiRado, Jeff Hellwig, and Andrea Williamson were named the recipients of the Advising Excellence award at Alfred State’s annual Recognition Celebration.

Given annually, the Advising Excellence award recognizes Alfred State college faculty advisors who have gone above and beyond to positively impact a student’s college experience. Students nominated the honorees and a professor from each of the college’s three schools were honored.

Alfred State’s Kathy Bliss and Debra Tomm have received Chancellor’s Award for Excellence. Bliss was honored with the award for Faculty Service while Tomm was honored for Classified Service.

Bliss has also been part of the Alfred State community for over two decades. She consistently goes above and beyond in her role as co-program director and assistant professor in the veterinary technician department. 

The Alfred State College (ASC) Agriculture and Veterinary Technology Department recently held a successful Showmanship Competition at the college farm. Students showcased horses, goats, and dairy cows.

The event started with competition in each of the three animal classes. Champions were named in each category and those competitors advanced to the grand championship. 

Anna Blessing (Schenectady, NY) was named the champion of the horse competition while Madison Harrington (Elba, NY) took the top spot in the goat division.

Alfred State College (ASC) students Emma Bower (Fillmore) and Halimat Akanbi (Ozone Park) have won the 2022 Vanguard Award. The NET (Nontraditional Employment & Training) program presents the Vanguard Award annually.

The Vanguard Award acknowledges and commends outstanding students enrolled in Tech Prep and other Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs that are not traditional for their gender.

ountry Folks, a weekly publication serving the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic agriculture industries featured Alfred State College’s Center for Organic Sustainable Agriculture (COSA).

The college farm and organic dairy herd received Dairy of Distinction Award in 2021 and has 55 milking cows and 70 replacements being raised. COSA features a DeLavalV300 robotic milking machine and the milk produced is marketed to Organic Valley in Batavia, NY. 

In recognition of outstanding achievement in the consistent production of high-quality milk, the Alfred State College Farm recently received a Special Gold Certificate Award from the Dairy Farmers of America (DFA).

In addition to its reputation as an excellent hands-on learning facility, the Alfred State College Farm is now also recognized for being attractive and well-maintained after earning a “Dairy of Distinction” award.

According to its website, the Dairy of Distinction program recognizes the hard work and dedication of dairy owners and operators “who have attractive, well-kept farms and promote a good dairy industry image.”