Adaptability traits are becoming more of a focal point in the cattle industry, according to Dr. Bob Weaber, a professor specializing in beef breeding and genetics at Kansas State University. Weaber, who also works as an Extension specialist at KSU, said that identifying desirable adaptability traits...

SENECA FALLS, NY – As the soybean cyst nematode (SCN) has made inroads in New York State and other parts of the Northeast, farmers should remain vigilant for its appearance – and make plans to address it before it proliferates. Dr. Kathryn Bushley with USDA-Agricultural Research Services in Ithaca p...

Haying, moving grain, welding, drilling, cutting wood and metal, working with animals and working with chemicals are only some of the everyday farm tasks that the USDA lists as activities that put farmers at risk for eye injuries. According to the National Ag Safety Database , most cases of eye inju...

Ben Franklin said, “Tell me and I forget; teach me and I may remember; involve me and I learn.” Involvement with natural systems is a hallmark of folks working in local conservation efforts. So is sharing hands-on learning with the next generation of conservationists. Education is as close as one’s ...

About four years ago UC-Davis conducted a study, the purpose of which was to help a national fast food corporation find a way to reduce methane/natural gas emissions produced by beef cattle destined to become their hamburgers. Researchers determined that 60% of the methane was emitted from the mouth...

Although Corinne and Bill Banker started dairy farming in Connecticut in 1988, they made a move to New York. The Bankers kept some youngstock but sold the cows they owned and purchased the cows and equipment already on the Morrisville, NY, farm. With the addition of their 30 heifers and a group of h...

SENECA FALLS, NY – Cover crops are multitaskers, helping maintain healthy soil through a variety of means. Matt Ryan, associate professor at Cornell’s School of Integrative Plant Science Soil & Crop Sciences Section, presented “Cover Crops for Sustainable Agriculture” as part of a New York Soil Heal...

It’s summertime – the time of year we look forward to! However, this summer we have been hit with so many extremes, from record-breaking heat to smoke from out-of-control wildfires in Canada to flash flooding, that it’s easy to come down with the summertime blues. On days when we feel the heat, it’s...

If you realized that half the effort you were putting into your work was going to waste, wouldn’t you want to do something about it? That’s the question that Dr. David Stark, a molecular biologist, biochemist and president of Holganix Agriculture, wants farmers to ask themselves when it comes to the...

Several years elapsed since I had last seen Tom Kilcer. His first year as a field crops Cooperative Extension (CE) agent (1977-78) overlapped with my last year in that profession. He had just been assigned to Columbia County, NY, while I was finishing my 63 months in Otsego County CE. In the interve...

Generational dairy farms with purebred cattle play an important role in preserving and promoting good genetics. In the case of the Ferry family’s Dreamroad Jerseys, paying close attention to superior genetics has paid off. Today, sisters and generational dairy farmers Becky Ferry and Sandra Scott ar...

July seems to have a fireworks show every night. If it isn’t the New York City mayor denigrating beef and dairy farmers or the hens and cows getting scaled for their cells, we now have an animal-free, precision fermentation-derived whey protein that calls itself real milk by a New York City-based co...

The Chicago Board of Trade (CBoT) is a commodity exchange established in 1848. CBoT originally traded only agricultural commodities such as wheat, corn and soybeans. Now it offers options and futures contracts on a wide range of commodities, including gold, silver, U.S. Treasury bonds and energy. In...

Farmers are known for their tinkering and coming up with frugal ways to address an opportunity or challenge. When Luke Gianforte wanted to try interseeding a cover crop into his 2023 organic corn and soybean crops, it seemed natural to build something in the shop over winter. Now the enterprising yo...

The widespread use of popular sires can lead to genetic defects in offspring, but the defects aren’t always obvious until generations later. When several New York dairy farmers noticed newborn calves that couldn’t rise and stand after birth, they were facing a mystery. The farms’ veterinarians had d...