“Coming down and kicking the tires” on something is a colloquial invitation for someone to come and inspect or test a product or service before buying it. For farmers and the folks who help them, this premise extends to the practice of bale grazing on the land. Whether in a checkerboard pattern, rol...

The Dec. 10, 2025 issue of Country Folks listed 11 advertisements for hay crops, one of which was for organic hay. This is relevant, because one year ago our paper posted approximately 30 hay crop ads, roughly 10 of which were for organic forages. I believe that these numbers provide a report card o...

This year’s Keystone Farm Show is one of the largest in its 28-year history. Started in 1998, the Keystone Farm Show carved out an important marketing niche for the agri-businesses in Pennsylvania. While the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg is a great show to educate the people about the importa...

"More than 70% of cyber attacks are aimed at businesses with less than 100 employees. "They’re not going for the big guys because the big guys can afford the big cybersecurity firms,” said IRS employee Sheba Gonzalez. At an event hosted by USDA, Gonzalez and her colleagues, all IRS specialists in ta...

When Dr. Jennie Ivey was doing graduate work at West Virginia University in 2008, she saw many emaciated horses and became interested in what happens in horses’ bodies during reduced nutrient intake. Today, Ivey, associate professor of animal science at the University Tennessee, helps teach horse ow...

Benjamin Barnett’s grandfather started a dairy farm in Pennsylvania in 1952 with $1,200 and 14 cows. Today the farm is 700 acres and 200 cows. “It still wasn’t big enough for me to stay when I graduated college,” said Barnett, who operates the farm today with his wife Kelsey. “I went to work as a ma...

In a forward-focused webinar presented by the International Dairy, Deli & Bakery Association (IDDBA), Dr. Armin Pearn delivered a resonant message about the future of dairy farming. As a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and the head of data science and strategic marketing for Dairy Data Warehouse (DDW)...

Pest management is one of the most pernicious problems faced by farmers, thanks to the fact that we are not alone in what we consider to be delicious and nutritious. Bugs, slugs and mice think our fields have been grown as an all-you-can-eat buffets just for them, and defending crops against their b...

As I’m writing this column on the first day of December, it’s about three weeks until days start lengthening in the northern hemisphere. Recently, most of the Northeast had been gathering just a few occasional snowflakes. But that changed the day after Thanksgiving, when the Mohawk Valley got about ...

There are several primary goals for a profitable beef cow/calf herd – the majority of herd females should achieve viable pregnancies and calves are born alive and healthy. The newborn calf's primary requirement is colostrum. While there isn't a lot of information on colostrum for beef cows, theres s...

Improving both profits and animal welfare was the theme of “Farm 5.0 and the Future of Dairy Care,” a webinar recently presented by Beverly Hampton Phifer, senior director with National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) program and hosted by the Dairy Cattle Welfare Council. FARM ...

It’s no secret that sugar maples are the preferred variety of trees for sugarmakers. But in the interest of making the most of what’s already growing on your property and diversifying your agricultural portfolio, should you consider tapping other trees? That was the question posed and studied by Dav...

“I wasn’t really a poultry guy,” Jacob Horst shared – but that’s all behind him now. He and his family, of St. Johnsville, NY, became a family farm partner with New Hampshire-based Pete & Gerry’s Organic Pasture Raised Eggs. Their impressive new facility, shown to the public during an early November...

As I wrote this column, the actual holiday was three days away. The happening should be considered more a season, not just a single square on a calendar page displaying the fourth Thursday of each November. A look at early colonial history in Massachusetts supports my reasoning. The first Thanksgivi...

On Oct. 21 the Oneida County Farm Bureau hosted their 70th anniversary annual dinner meeting at Franklin Hotel Restaurant in Rome. The dinner menu was made up of locally grown products from Twin Orchards Farm Stand, Jake’s Gouda Cheese, John Collins Farm & Creamery, Neil Collins Family Maple, Simmon...