by Richard Smith, former extension agent Now that took care of the 2013, Saratoga County Fair and Caitlyn had the time of her life working with all the farms that exhibited show cows and surrounding herself with all the 4-Hers, even if she couldn’t show as a 4-Her. Caitlyn took everything in at the ...

There is not a road in Columbia County, New York that 82 year-old George Atkinson of Livingston, NY, hasn’t delivered a horse, picked up a cow or transported sheep and pigs to or from. Dubbed the “Critter Carrier”, Atkinson transported livestock, mostly cattle, sheep and hogs, for Empire Livestock M...

by Jay Girvin, Esq., Girvin & Ferlazzo. P.C., Albany, NY Q. I’ve allowed my neighbor to farm a portion of my property for the last 15 years. My neighbor now claims that he owns the land through “adverse possession.” Have I lost the land? A. Based on the facts you described, you can rest easy knowing...

CAZENOVIA, NY — The Critz Farms produces maple syrup, grows blueberries, apples and pumpkins. It boasts a corn maze, a cider mill, a variety of farm animals, an annual music festival, a gift shop and even two enclosed playgrounds. It’s easy to forget that raising Christmas trees is the farm’s bread-...

Herb Stacy of Lowville has worked with oxen for more than 50 years. He learned how to train them in a “five-minute lesson from my father,” he says. “We were on the farm in Denmark, NY, and I told him I needed to move manure but could not afford a tractor or horses, so he said, ‘Use oxen.’ He told me...

Hidden down an old dirt road, Aspen Ridge Farm is home to Meredith and Bucky Acly, their two young children, and the assorted livestock they raise in rural Warren County, New Jersey. The 25-acre farm, located in Oxford, is home to pastured broilers, laying hens, pigs, dairy cow, veal calves, and Ice...

There are many benefits to farming in urban areas. Most urban farmers enjoy being close to their markets and customers. They also spend less time and money transporting goods to customers than rural growers. Urban sites generally offer easy access to potable water. Most urban farmers have fewer wild...

MORRISVILLE, NY — Aldo Leopold once said, “When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” This sentiment was an overarching theme at the three-day Grasstravaganza 2014 event that brought 150 farmers, ag educators and conservation professionals toge...

Cover crops should be a part of every vegetable farmer’s toolbox. That’s the message that Thomas Björkman, Associate Professor of Vegetable Crop Physiology with Cornell University explained to attendees of a vegetable grower’s meeting and workshop that took place near Fort Plain, NY. Since vegetable...

Rich Brown says five generations on all sides of his family tree have been in some kind of livestock business, so it’s natural that he’d continue the tradition. Brown’s involvement with beef cattle began at his parents’ farm in Antwerp, NY. “I was working off the farm,” he said. “My parents were no ...

Maximizing productivity and profitability by managing for soil health can help livestock producers with perennial grazing lands just as it helps crop producers, said North Carolina State Extension Beef Specialist Dr. Matt Poore, in a recent NRCS-hosted webinar. That’s particularly true in the Piedmo...

Despite thunderstorms with continuous lightning and torrential downpours, nearly 40 people traveled to Bob and Andy Crowe’s Inverness Farm near Ames, NY, to take part in a Malting Barley Field Day and Workshop presented by Cornell University and CCE of Central New York. The workshop featured speaker...

Neil Conklin, President of Farm Foundation, NFP, introduced a new movement in today’s agriculture, one which is inclusive of all types of production systems, philosophies, farm sizes, and crops. It’s a movement with one key component — soil. This movement is called the Soil Renaissance, and it is co...

The New York State Agricultural Society improves our state’s agriculture through education, leadership development, and recognition programs. The deadline for awards is nearing and the Ag Society wants your inputs: • Does your farm have a planned and meaningful Farm Safety program to prevent injurie...

Scores of family, friends, neighbors and well-wishers gathered at the O’Dell Dairy/Back To The Future Farm just off County Route 6 near Middletown, NY on Sunday, July 13, to celebrate the ribbon-cutting and grand opening of the “Ole Mother Hubbert Creamline Milk” on-site creamery. The gathering bega...