HAMILTON – Hamilton Central School District’s Agriculture Teacher Johanna Bossard and her husband Bret have recently been named recipients of the 2016 New York State Achievement Award for excellence and leadership in the agriculture industry.

The Bossards are partners at Barbland Dairy, a 1,700-head farm in Fabius and, in addition to her full-time teaching position at Hamilton, Johanna serves as the operation’s public relations coordinator. Through that work, she manages the farm’s website and social media profiles, coordinates and leads tours for a variety of age groups, and writes and distributes 3,000 copies of a print newsletter.

“The average American is three to four generations removed from the farm and they don’t always know what goes on, where their food comes from, who is doing this work. I want to help bridge that gap and make farming more accessible to more people,” Johanna Bossard said. “I think it’s really important for us to share our stories and answer questions to change misperceptions people have about farming.”

At Hamilton, Johanna teaches seven classes in the Agriculture and Technology department, including veterinary science, horticulture, environmental science, agricultural mechanics, agriscience, welding and small animal care. She is also the school’s FFA adviser, helping students learn leadership, communication and civics through an agricultural lens.

The Bossards have a modern day agriculture fairy tale story. Johanna, a Camden native and current board member of the Madison County Farm Bureau, grew up with horses and went to Morrisville State College for equine studies. After spending a few years in that field, she earned her master’s in agriculture education from SUNY Oswego and has been teaching in Hamilton for seven years. Bret is a Western New York native who, along with two partners, works full-time on the 3,600-acre farm, which employs 42 people. He also attended Morrisville State College and, after meeting his future wife, went on to earn a dairy science degree from Cornell University. They married in 2008, four years after earning their respective bachelor’s degrees.

At Hamilton, Johanna teaches seven classes in the Agriculture and Technology department, including veterinary science, horticulture, environmental science, agricultural mechanics, agriscience, welding and small animal care. She is also the school’s FFA adviser, helping students learn leadership, communication and civics through an agricultural lens.