SENECA FALLS, NY – Farmers always have an eye on the sky, as weather impacts so much of what they do. But paying attention to long-term weather patterns can help farmers plan their long-term strategies, according to Matt Reardon, senior atmospheric scientist with Nutrien. He presented “Chasing Water...

September 5 is the International Day of Charity, and while many of us are struggling to take care of our own, sometimes giving just a little can mean a lot. Think of the bell ringers around the holidays – all that pocket change that goes into those red buckets really adds up. So, if you are so incli...

Many farmers preserve forage as dry hay, but for some, baleage is a good alternative. Depending on storage conditions, losses in baled dry hay stored outdoors is between 10% and 30%, while properly wrapped baleage should have almost no quality loss. Storage for baleage is less costly than a chopped ...

The Pennsylvania No-Till Alliance recently celebrated its 25th anniversary at the Jim Hershey farm in Elizabethtown, PA. One of the featured demonstrations was a soil pit, which was dug directly under recently planted sorghum-sudangrass. Lisa Blazure, soil health coordinator, Stroud Water Research C...

Once hailed as a green guardian of soil health, annual ryegrass has now gone rogue in New York State. A cover crop champion turned chemical-defying challenger, this fast-growing plant has morphed into a resistant renegade, surviving glyphosate sprays and turning heads in the worst way. Research titl...

When Melissa Cantor was raising calves at the University of Kentucky as an undergrad, she realized there was a need to identify animals that were getting sick. Cantor also speculated that machine learning might be a tool to help detect illness prior to animals showing clinical signs. Today, Cantor i...

So, what’s the difference between the United Soybean Board (USB) and the American Soybean Association (ASA)? Tracy Snider, senior manager of state relations with the ASA, explained how the organizations differ at the recent 2025 New York Corn & Soybean Summer Crop Tour hosted by Rodman Lott & Son Fa...

New York State’s Woodmen’s Field Days, held annually at the Boonville-Oneida County Fairgrounds, is a crown jewel of the Northeast’s logging industry and a fan-favorite of anyone who works in proximity to forestry and logging, farming or just enjoys the “buzz” of everything from the latest hand tool...

Beyond cow comfort, it’s important to reduce the effects of heat stress in a dairy herd. Heat stress causes direct financial losses – and not just from reduced milk production. “It affects reproduction substantially,” said Jon Mills, herd manager at Morrisville State College Dairy Complex. “Their in...

“My dream is to have a cell phone-based device that I can take to the farm and tell you exactly which bacteria are making your animal sick, and exactly which antibiotic at which dose is going to make it get healthy fast. But we’re a long way away,” Erika Ganda said during a recent interview on the “...

The official hurricane season for the Mid-Atlantic runs June 1 through the end of November. Some predictions say this tropical storm season might be bad, so there’s plenty of monitoring going on. The potential for dangerous flooding may increase if heavy rain falls on already soaked ground. Thankful...

American Dairy Association North East dropped the curtain on the 57th annual butter sculpture at the Great New York State Fair on Aug. 19, sponsored by Wegmans. Titled “Dairy for Good: Nourish. Grow. Thrive,” it celebrates the joy and nourishment dairy provides at every stage of life – and is inspir...

If routine corn field scouting results in the discovery of leaves with multiple black, unevenly shaped spots, it might be corn tar spot. In a recent presentation, Andrew Kness, University of Maryland Extension, discussed this relatively new corn disease. “Tar spot of corn is a disease caused by the ...

“Manure management is becoming more of a challenge,” said Peter Wright. “The issues of sustainability are becoming more real. The societal impacts of manure constrain some farms, and there is an economic component.” An ag engineer at Cornell University, Wright said the big picture for manure storage...

As the last of the harvest comes in and the fields begin to rest for winter, the energy shifts. The air feels heavier, the nights stretch longer. You can feel it – the turning of the year! Samhain (pronounced sOW-in) marks the end of the harvest season and the start of the darker half of the year. I...