New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard A. Ball has announced the winners of the 2022 Dairy Products Competition in celebration of Dairy Day at The Great New York State Fair.

Stewart’s was honored with gold for the state’s top-scoring milk, and Dygert Farms earned silver. In addition, Cabot Creamery Cooperative was named Grand Champion for its Horseradish Cheddar. 

“My grandfather and his brother started this business as a dairy company over 100 years ago. We take great pride in the quality of our dairy products and providing fresh and local milk to our customers,” said Stewart’s Shops President Gary Dake. “This award would not be possible without our hard-working dairy farmers and experienced dairy team.”

The Annual Dairy Day awarded cheese processors and manufacturers from across the state, in addition to its fluid milk producers, with gold or silver honors, or an Award of Excellence.

This year there were 152 entries across all categories.

Other highlights from the competition include:

Weissman Farms also won gold in the Flavored Milk category. King Brothers Dairy took home gold in the Small Processors Fluid Milk category as well as the Chocolate Milk category and the Flavored Yogurt category.

HP Hood, with a manufacturing facility in Vernon, earned the most medals overall, with a total of 16. They received the gold in the Cottage Cheese Full-fat, Low-fat Cottage Cheese, and Fat-free Cottage Cheese categories, and silver in the Sour Cream, Dairy Dips and Plain Yogurt categories.

“New York is known for its fantastic dairy products—from its leading yogurts to its artisan cheeses and everything in between,” Ball said. “Our dairy farmers and processors are among the best in the country and take great pride in bringing their products to consumers across the country. Congratulations to our winners and all our participants; it’s truly an honor to take part in the Dairy Day ceremony at the Great New York State Fair and recognize the hard work and dedication of our dairy community.”

“Dairy Day is an unbelievably fun day that gives us an opportunity to discover the very best milkshake concoctions, try all kinds of cheeses and ice cream, and learn more about milk production,”said Interim Fair Director Sean Hennessey. “The Dairy Day awards ceremony gives us a platform to celebrate the dairy industry by recognizing the people who work so hard to bring us the very best dairy products around.”

Entries were submitted for 25 categories, including fluid milk, various types of cheeses, sour cream, yogurt, dips, and cottage cheese. Cheese classes were evaluated by eight expert judges. This year, the Chief Judge was Valerie Catlin from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets’ Division of Milk Control. Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Milk Quality Improvement Program judged the fluid milk portion of the competition. 

New York is a top producer of dairy products in the country, and dairy is the State’s number one agricultural sector. Currently, New York has nearly 3,600 dairy farms producing more than 15 billion pounds of milk, approximately seven percent of the country’s total milk supply. New York is also a leading producer in the country of yogurt, cottage cheese and creamed cheese. Total cheese production also continues to grow, accounting for more than one billion pounds last year.

The Fair continues through Monday, Sept. 5.