News – Page 10 – Country Folks

News

East Region conservationists receive positive praise

Troy Bishopp, NatGLC East

Posted on March 26, 2025

NORWICH, NY – “The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation,” said the Dalai Lama. After the last few weeks, it seems like praise for the soil soldiers might take the edge off the air of frustration. It certainly couldn’t hurt. For those who farm and graze in New York and the Northeast,...

News

Ben Wever Farm wins national conservation award

Greg Hitchcock

Posted on March 19, 2025

Ben Wever Farm in Willsboro, NY, was recently awarded the 2024 Hugh Hammond Bennett National Producer Award in Salt Lake City at the National Association of Conservation Districts annual conference. This award is given to farms that have exemplified outstanding service through development and implem...

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Handling compassion fatigue at dairy farms

Sonja Heyck-Merlin

Posted on March 19, 2025

According to Dr. Noa Román-Muñiz, the first step to understanding compassion fatigue is to have a shared understanding of compassion. In 2008, Román-Muñiz joined Colorado State University’s Department of Animal Sciences as an Extension dairy specialist. She currently serves as the interim department...

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Studying seedcorn maggot

jkarkwren

Posted on March 19, 2025

Unlike its name denotes, seedcorn maggot ( Delia platura ) attacks more than just corn seeds. It also affects legumes, cucurbits and more. Knowing when and where seedcorn maggot (SCM) will emerge can help producers combat it more effectively, especially in light of the DEC’s prohibition on treated s...

News

Strategic deworming to fight resistance, part 1

Sally Colby

Posted on March 19, 2025

Part 1: Using drugs effectively The parasite resistance issue in small ruminants isn’t new, but it’s still a struggle for many producers. Dr. Dahlia O’Brien, Virginia State University, promotes a multi-pronged approach to managing Haemonchus contortus (barber pole worm), the most economically signif...

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It’s the age-old question

jkarkwren

Posted on March 19, 2025

MORRISVILLE, NY – You might be wondering “What is the meaning of life?” – or whether to put milk in first or last when making tea. In an agricultural context, the number one question from customers, according to ag service providers like Cornell Cooperative Extension educators, is “What should I do ...

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Horse Tales: Spring shedding

Judy Van Put

Posted on March 19, 2025

Shedding and spring – two words that go together in the Northeast. Although different horses shed at different rates and times, generally, by March most horses are well into the act of shedding. Why do horses shed their coats and what causes this to happen during spring? As the hours of daylight inc...

News

Rebuilding and looking ahead

Andy Haman

Posted on March 14, 2025

Here at Country Folks , we love a happy ending just as much as the next – and though this outcome might be bittersweet, it is heartwarming to see one of our own back on their feet after getting knocked down. Recently, Country Folks covered the devastation experienced by Insight Dairy, located in Lit...

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Many questions, few answers

Sally Colby

Posted on March 12, 2025

Oscar Garrison, senior vice president of food safety and regulatory affairs for United Egg Producers (UEP), addressed the issue of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) recently at the USDA Ag Outlook Forum. What he expressed about the status of the current outbreak of was sobering. “This has bee...

News

Nutrient management, manureshed-style

Sally Colby

Posted on March 12, 2025

While “manureshed” may sound like a place to store manure prior to land application, Dr. Robb Meinen, Penn State Extension, described the term as a nutrient management concept. “A manureshed is the area where there are surplus manure nutrients because of the density of animals,” said Meinen, who spo...

News

Lake effect machine yields to green

Troy Bishopp

Posted on March 12, 2025

UTICA, NY – In design, shades of green bring balance, harmony, symbolize natural elements, growth, optimism, stability and good fortune. Green is also considered easy on the eyes, especially after the relentless blanket of white in Northern and Central New York. The “lake effect machine” was no matc...

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Better management means higher yield

jkarkwren

Posted on March 12, 2025

Want a bigger yield for your field crops? Consider joining the Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) – or at least learning from their discoveries. Peter Johnson, the agronomist behind the “ Wheat Pete’s Word ” podcast, shared information from YEN at the recent Soybean & Small Grains Congress ...

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You can’t raise cattle if you shoot the bull

Courtney Llewellyn

Posted on March 5, 2025

The phrase “You can’t raise cattle if you shoot the bull” is a double entendre with both metaphorical and very literal meanings. The first means that nothing gets done if you just stand around yapping. The second costs the beef industry millions of dollars annually. “Foreign material in cattle – why...

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Strategies for changing times

jkarkwren

Posted on March 5, 2025

Every type of farming has opportunities available. Some will work out and others won’t. “There’s never the right time, only the right risk,” said Jessica Pralle-Trimner of Miltrim Farms Inc ., as she began her presentation “Right People, Right Place, Right Tech” at the recent Operations Manager Conf...

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Not all carbon is equal

Sonja Heyck-Merlin

Posted on March 5, 2025

“If you have healthier soils, they have more soil carbon, but not all soil carbon is equal in terms of its long-term sequestration. Some of this soil is more vulnerable to being lost due to climate or even management changes,” said Caitlin Hicks Pries. “So, how can we know that the carbon that we’re...