Preparing for winter It’s barely autumn — but we’re thinking that there might be a long, hard winter coming. These past few weeks we’ve remarked that we’ve never seen so many squirrels and chipmunks in the yard — there have been several chipmunks in the chickens’ fenced in run stealing chicken feed ...

Controlled grazing promotes healthy pastures, which in turn promotes healthy soil — and impacts the health and productivity of the cows grazing those pastures. This fact was shown at Red Gate Farms, Hamilton, NY, during an informative pasture walk and soil health demonstration in partnership with NY...

In an effort to ensure consumer confidence in the beef industry and instill best management practices in producing healthy cattle, Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) of Oneida County recently offered a level 1, Beef Quality Assurance (BQA) training program, led by Marylynn Collins, Oneida County CC...

ODESSA, NY — Naturalist Charles Darwin said, “In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed. Two years ago, during the extreme drought in the southern tier, the Wickham family of Maple Terrace Farm opened up the...

Will and Kelly Smith of Deep Roots Valley Farm in Berks County, PA, recently hosted a Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture (PASA) field day, focused on multispecies grazing techniques. With roughly four dozen attendees, the event highlighted the conservation strategies, grazing techn...

New York’s dairy industry celebrated their 42nd annual Dairy Day at the Great New York State Fair on Thursday, Aug. 30 with FFA members, 4-H youth and the NYS Dairy Princesses on hand answering questions and promoting the dairy industry. Herkimer County Dairy Princess Connie Louise Frasier attended ...

MUNNSVILLE, NY — “Keeping the rumen healthy makes the grazing dairy cow more productive,” emphasized Organic Valley’s Ruminant Nutritionist, Silvia Abel-Caines. Fine tuning management practices and learning about forages was the focus of dairy nutrition pasture walks throughout New York and Pennsylv...

Whether a dairy herd is large or small, ensuring milk quality is an important aspect of management. Dr. Frank Welcome, veterinarian with Quality Milk Production Services in Ithaca, NY, explained some of the factors that contribute to or hinder quality milk. “The regulatory agencies responsible for m...

The Cayuga County 4-H Youth Fair & Open Beef Cattle Show took place on July 28 during the Cayuga County Fair, 4-H Youth Fair & Big 6 events, which were held at the Ward O’Hara Agricultural Museum & Dr. Joseph Karpinski Educational Center on Route 38A, Auburn. Exhibitors received the following awards...

It is generally agreed, that the first trial occurred in 1873 in Wales. A few Welsh shepherds gather to show how well their dogs could carry out the herding tasks expected of them on a daily basis. Gathering, fetching, driving, penning and splitting off one or more sheep were part of this initial, i...

A diverse group of farmers met with NYS Commissioner of Agriculture Richard Ball and NY Farm Bureau President David Fisher and agriculture representatives, on Aug. 29 at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse to voice their frustration and outrage over the impact that newly imposed tariffs, that...

A presentation by Cornell professor Matt Ryan, and PhD student Ann Bybee-Finley, of the Sustainable Cropping Systems Laboratory, discussing an ongoing three-year forage resiliency experiment, was held recently in conjunction with a pasture walk at Larry and Denise Moore’s 270-acre certified-organic ...

Food, artwork and livestock weren’t the only things on display and being judged at the 2018 Great New York State Fair in Syracuse, NY. One of the quieter competitions is for the best hay in the state. This year’s entries were judged on Saturday, Aug. 25 and were kept on display until the end of the ...

In an effort to listen to farmers up close and personal, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, a former farmer and veterinarian, toured several farms in upstate New York on Aug. 23. Brabant Farm, a dairy in Verona, NY, was one of the farms he toured as part of the event coordinated by U.S. Rep...

Being able to go with the flow — be it adverse weather, changing market conditions, or changing family needs — has always been a part of farming. Today, with climate change, economic volatility, international trade wars and changing consumer perceptions of food and farming, resiliency to weather any...