by Jay Girvin, Esq., Girvin & Ferlazzo. P.C.,Albany, New York Q. What are the basic steps involved in the litigation of a civil case? The New York State court system provides an orderly process for the adjudication of civil disputes between parties. All sorts of civil claims may be the subject of li...

Tell your story. Build a community. Send traffic to your website. Social media of all types helps businesses spread the word about the products and services offered. Using social media sites to promote farm products, farmers markets and onsite events can be a cost effective way to increase sales. Fa...

Late blight was confirmed in a commercial tomato field in Mercer Co., NJ around the end of June. Other reports on tomato in the Mid-Atlantic region this season include a commercial field in Montgomery Co., MD and a greenhouse in Morgan Co., WV (US-23). There have been no confirmed reports on potato....

During baling season, time is at a premium and it’s easy for farmers to skip safety measures. But handling large round bales that weigh 700 to 800 pounds can be a dangerous and potentially deadly task. Jim Carrabba, agricultural safety specialist with NYCAMH (New York Center for Agricultural Medicin...

Has Congress failed the dairy farmer once again? Certainly Congress has the American Dairy Farmer in their crosshairs! (Or maybe in shackles!) It’s time that Congress pulls the trigger and does something realistic for the dairy farmers; and we don’t mean any fiscal handouts for the dairymen. The pas...

Submitted by Ruth Strong, Committee Chairman The 50th Tioga County Dairy Princess Coronation was held on June 1, at the Countryside Community Center in Owego, NY. One-hundred-ten dinner guests were present for the delicious dinner as the three candidates presented their milk promotion speeches with ...

“Today’s (June 27) passage of comprehensive immigration reform is a major milestone for New York’s farmers. It addresses critical short and long term needs that will better provide a stable workforce on our farms. Those needs include allowing employees who are already skilled and working in this sta...

On June 27, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made the following statement on the Senate passage of the Immigration Bill: “Today’s strong bipartisan vote in the U.S. Senate to fix America’s broken immigration system is good news for farmers and ranchers, good news for farm workers, and good news for...

Dear Editor, Who really needs who? One may ask this question. If all the U.S. Senators and Congressmen were to take a one year vacation, what would the consequences be? Some may say that the country may be better off, less damage! Life would go on. What would happen if every Farmer (dairy; grain; li...

Dear Editor, Dairy farmers across the nation are once again left without effective farm bill legislation. Another year of hard work by dairy farm groups to develop and promote their policy ideas has been ignored by Congress. There can be no excuse for the way Congress is treating our nation’s dairy ...

On Thursday, June 20th, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on the House version of the 2013 Farm Bill, HR-1947. It received a solid trouncing, going down in defeat, 195 to 234. Obviously, the House leadership is challenged with a House majority that defies being led, compounded by an inherent i...

By working with the Recycling Agricultural Plastics Project this season, Chenango County has successfully recycled 4,000 pounds of plastic that would otherwise have been sent to the landfill. Since February RAPP and CCE have been encouraging farms that wish to participate to put “plastics best manag...

Nearly 70 members and guests attended the Mohawk Valley FFA’s 75th Annual Banquet, which was held on June 14 at the Oppenheim-Ephratah School. Retiring Chapter President Kaitlyn Isaac, who has been recently installed as District 5 President in May, welcomed the guests and addressed her colleagues. “...

A cluster of people — the curious, the meticulous, those who were ‘just wondering’ and, of course, farmers — gathered on the edge of the field at Penn State’s Research Station in Landisville, Lancaster County PA. A PSU Extension Educator, agronomist Jeff Graybill, is preparing a test flight of a dro...

Grazing livestock have the potential to maximize or exceed their daily intake requirements ultimately leading to increased production than if fed stored forages. “Well-managed pastures are generally higher in quality than any other forage,” Karen Hoffman, Resource Conversationalist with the USDA Nat...