Miner Institute facts for kids
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| Founded | 1951 |
|---|---|
| Founder | William H. Miner (posthumous) |
| Focus | Dairy nutrition research and Education |
| Location | |
| Method | Laboratories, Dairy Herd, Demonstration, Research Funding |
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Key people
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Rick Grant (President) |
| Website | [1] |
The William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute is a special place in Chazy, New York. It's a private, non-profit organization that does important research and education. This institute has a working dairy farm and a herd of Morgan horses. It's located on the Adirondack Coast of Lake Champlain.
Miner Institute covers over 8,600 acres of forests and farmland. It gets its money from a special fund, research grants, and by selling milk from its dairy farm. The Institute was started in 1951. Its main goal is to provide great research, education, and programs. These programs help farmers in Northern New York, Vermont, and Quebec. They also address important environmental issues.
Contents
A Look Back: The History of Miner Institute
The land that became Miner Institute was once called Heart's Delight Farm. William Henry Miner started developing it in 1903. He began with his family's 144-acre homestead.
Miner became very rich as a railroad inventor. He created special parts for train cars called draft gears. After becoming a successful businessman in Chicago, he returned to Chazy. He then focused on farming and helping others.
He founded the Chazy Central Rural School. He also started Physician's Hospital, which is now CVPH Medical Center. Miner expanded Heart's Delight Farm to include all kinds of farming.
He also built hydroelectric dams and powerhouses in Chazy and Altona. The biggest dam was finished in 1915 and cost a million dollars. It held one billion gallons of water. This dam powered the area for seven years.
Between 1910 and 1920, Miner bought over 5,000 acres of land. At its largest, the farm had 4,000 acres for crops. It also had 2,000 acres for animals to graze. There were 6,000 acres of woodland too.
The farm raised many different animals and crops. These included fruits, vegetables, beef and dairy cattle, mules, sheep, pigs, chickens, turkeys, pheasants, and brook trout. Miner had 800 regular workers. He also hired about 100 families to pick berries. At its busiest, Miner shipped 16,000 quarts of berries every day. These berries went to big cities across the country.
Heart's Delight food products were sold all over the United States. The farm had its own dairy and a factory for making boxes. It also had an ice house and greenhouses. There was even a gristmill for grinding grain.
Miner built a large guesthouse with 20 bedrooms. He also created an entertainment center called Harmony Hall. This hall had an auditorium with a stage big enough for 300 people. William H. Miner's will created the school and farm. This farm became The William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute.
Discovering New Things: Research at Miner Institute
Miner Institute does important research. This research looks at how crops, animals, and the environment interact. They also study how comfortable cows are and their behavior. Another area of study is managing horse reproduction.
The Institute has special herds for research. These include Holstein dairy cows and Morgan horses. The dairy area at Miner has four barns. One barn, built in 1970, now houses pregnant young cows and dry cows. A new barn for dry cows was built in 1999. It has special pens for cows giving birth.
There is also a greenhouse barn for young calves. This barn is for calves from when they stop drinking milk until they are four months old. The newest building is an insulated dairy barn. It is designed for both milking cows and doing research.
The current herd has about 300 registered Holstein dairy cows. They are milked three times a day. They use a special milking system that identifies each cow. It also tracks how much they walk. The research part of the barn has special areas for feeding cows for studies.
Sharing Knowledge: Community Outreach
Miner Institute is also a "demonstration farm." This means they show new ways of growing crops and raising dairy cows and horses. They share these new ideas with farmers and related businesses in the region.
The Institute publishes a monthly newsletter for dairy farmers called The Farm Report. They also have a quarterly newsletter for horse owners called The Stable Sheet. In 2003, a special exhibit opened at the Institute. It tells the story of William H. Miner and Heart's Delight Farm. It also shows the current work of the Miner Institute.
Learning and Growing: Education Programs
Miner Institute offers educational programs all year long. They work with SUNY Plattsburgh, the University of Vermont, and Vermont Technical College.
The Applied Environmental Science Program (AESP) has been running for 30 years. It's a semester-long program for students studying Environmental Science and Geology. Students live at the Institute during the program. Miner staff and professors from Plattsburgh State University teach the classes.
The Advanced Dairy Management (ADM) program is for students from the University of Vermont (UVM) and Vermont Technical College (VTC). Students spend two years at VTC and two years at UVM. One semester is spent living and studying at Miner. The ADM program teaches students about running a dairy farm. They also learn how to analyze research. This program helps future farmers learn about related industries.
Working Together: Affiliations
Miner Institute also works with other universities. For example, they cooperate with Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania. They help develop computer software for planning animal feed.
