Pennsylvania/Washington, D.C. Post Conference Tour
21-23 June
$649 (Double Occupancy)
$959 (Single Occupancy)
(Tour ends late in day. Plan departure for home from Washington, D.C., on 24 June)

This tour provides another outstanding opportunity to build your knowledge about U.S. farming practices, technology applications and management methods. The state of Pennsylvania offers plenty of diversity among its dairy producers – from Amish using more basic technologies to freestall/milking parlor dairy operations to a large dairy using several robotic milkers.

Enjoy a picnic lunch, while enjoying the breathtaking views at Pennsylvania’s “Grand Canyon. Experience a “home-cooked” meal like never before – prepared and served by an Amish family.

Stay at the Hampton Inn, near Manheim, Pennsylvania, and eat breakfast Sunday morning at a local “country” restaurant. Next, visit the Kredier family’s diverse farming business, which includes 1,500 dairy cows and 3.5 million chickens that supply the family’s dairy store and local restaurants and wholesale markets. Tour participants will visit Kreiders’ dairy farm.

A private tour guide will provide insight to the Battle of Gettysburg, where the turning point in the U.S. Civil War took place. It was the war’s bloodiest battle with 51,000 casualties. Gettysburg also provided President Abraham Lincoln with the setting for his most famous address.

Not very common in the United States, robotic milkers are typically found on “small” to “midsize” dairies. However, Mason Dixon Farms, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, installed 10 voluntary milking system (VMS) units and 90 gates to accommodate 500 cows. The family, which is currently bringing the ninth generation of Waybright family members into the business, chose a VMS system with cows’ behavior in mind. Robotic milkers allow the Waybrights to create an environment that is low stress for cows and improves cow performance.

Spend Sunday and Monday night at Hamilton Crowne Plaza in Washington, D.C., and tour this magnificent city on Monday. This all-day tour of monuments and museums highlights the famous Smithsonian Institution. Step off the coach and visit:

• The White House Visitors Center
• Ford’s Theatre
• Peterson House
• World War II Memorial
• National Archives
• U.S. Capitol
• National Air and Space Museum

From the coach bus, view the Federal Bureau of Investigation Building, Federal Triangle, Ellipse, Tidal Basin, Washington Monument, House and Senate Office buildings, American Indian Museum, Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, Supreme Court, Jefferson Memorial, Library of Congress, Legislative and Judicial Branches of the U.S. Government buildings, U.S. Botanical Gardens, National Gallery of Art, Natural History Museum, Hirshhorn Museum, The Castle, National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial, U.S. Navy Memorial and Grant Memorial.

New York City Tour
21-23 June
$994 (Double Occupancy)
$1459 (Single Occupancy)
(Tour ends late in day. Plan departure for home from New York City on 24 June)

Take a short flight from Buffalo, New York, to New York City, to experience the nation’s largest city. On Saturday afternoon, take a three-hour sightseeing cruise to see Manhattan Island. Tour highlights include a close-up view of the Statue of Liberty, three rivers, seven major bridges, five boroughs and more than 25 world-renowned landmarks. Finish out the evening with a family-style dinner.

On Sunday, enjoy brunch near Central Park and take in a Broadway show that afternoon. Those participating in the tour will eat dinner at a restaurant located in New York City’s Theater District.

Monday’s nine-hour tour, accompanied by a professional tour guide, takes you to Manhattan – from Uptown to Downtown. See the new Times Square, Madison Square Garden, Flatiron building, Greenwich Village, SoHo, Little Italy, Battery Park, Central Park, Cathedral St. John the Divine, Grant’s Tomb, Harlem, Museum Mile, Fifth Avenue and Rockefeller Center. Board Lady Liberty to view and get photos of the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge and Ellis Island.

Tour participants will spend three nights at the Flatotel hotel, located at 135 West 52nd Street, New York, New York 10019. Phone: 212-887-9400. Web site: www.flatotel.com