The Technology Farm
The Technology Farm is a 72 acre green building in Geneva New York that provides production, office space and laboratory capabilities to niche agricultural and food based businesses. Young upstarts use the space to conduct research and development, production trials, and production. The Technology Farm’s proximity to the Food Venture Center and The Agricultural Experiment Station of Cornell University allows the businesses to access Cornell’s research and agricultural assets.
Among the agriculturally based businesses featured in the Technology Farm are the biofuel company Seneca BioEnergy, who recently completed a pilot trial that involved the processing of grape waste pomace and the production of grape seed oil; and Terrenew, a company that recycles manure into a pad-like product that is capable of soaking up large amounts of tractor and automobile oil. Top Quality Hay Processors has developed an alfalfa drying process that has consolidated the 2-3 day hay drying period to four hours.
There are several food-based companies operating in the Technology Farm that are developing innovative and promising products. Cherry Pharm is producing a cherry drink that boasts the juice of fifty cherries and two servings of fruit per each eight ounce bottle. The cherries are sourced locally and the juice is minimally pasteurized to preserve nutrients. The company continues to conduct research trials that examine the drink’s impact on osteo-arthritis and other positive health benefits of cherry juice. The nutritional benefits that the company promotes include the drink’s positive effects as a sleep regulator and an anti-inflammatory agent, and the high amount of antioxidants that are present in each serving of the cherry drink.
Stony Brook WholeHearted Foods began as a mail order cookie business known as Stony Brook Cookie Company. While delicious cookie varieties with long shelf lives was the initial business, the company ultimately gravitated towards a unique non-cookie based project with the help of local farmers and wineries. Stony Brook began collecting the discarded seeds leftover from the processing of winter squash and pressing them to create distinctly flavored vegetable oils. The company has continued to refine the pressing process and now sells its product line through high end food stores throughout New York and New York City. As the rebranded Stony Brook WholeHearted Foods, today the company no longer bakes cookies and focuses entirely on production of winter squash vegetable oil.