A major activity of the society is running the annual New York State Fair.

[3][4] The second was held in Albany, with Auburn, Buffalo, Elmira, New York City, Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Saratoga Springs, Watertown and Utica all hosting fairs between 1842 and 1889.

[3] For the 1855 fair in Elmira, several railroads put on extra trains to bring fairgoers from neighboring villages.

[7] The society supports research into ways to make farms more productive, such as the best type of grass to grow for feeding dairy cows, and whether grass fields should grow naturally or be plowed and reseeded periodically.

[14] The society's annual dinner is traditionally attended by the governor of New York State,[15] hosting dignitaries such as US Department of Agriculture secretary Arthur Hyde, newspaper publisher Frank Gannett, and University of Maryland president Raymond Pearson.