Want healthy soil? Plan for it is Sarah Hirsh’s advice. As an Extension agent with University of Maryland, she presented “Growing Healthy Soil” as a webinar through MidAtlantic Women in Agriculture. “Soils tends to be an area that especially people not in agriculture or gardening tend to overlook,” ...

Social distancing and a virtual meeting platform didn’t keep Capital Region farmers from attending the annual Spring Turnout Grazier Meeting in late May. The two-hour meeting offered tips for strategizing about spending money, considerations for feeding minerals to livestock and calculating costs fo...

Your smartphone is with you all the time, but you likely ignore one of its functions that could really benefit your farm: recording videos. That’s why MidAtlantic Women In Agriculture presented “Smart Phone Movies,” led by Michele Walfred, communications specialist with University of Delaware. “Ther...

Virgina Tech has been hosting a series of livestock update webinars to keep producers appraised of information and strategies relevant to current market conditions. The hockey stick-like increase in the price of wholesale beef is, as producers know too well, not being reflected in feeder cattle pric...

If you don’t know your soil, you won’t know how to amend it – or what to expect for yield. That’s why Sieg Snapp, professor of Soils and Cropping System Ecology at Michigan State University, presented “Measuring Soil Health.” “I was part of the early discussions about soil health in the early ‘80s,”...

Immature heifers leave a long shadow over a herd that cannot be remedied. Early calving may get milk faster, but over time total volume is comprised. During the Dairy Calf & Heifer Association (DCHA) Virtual Conference in April, Gavin Staley, technical services specialist, Diamond V, shared his eval...

Today, maybe more than ever before in our country’s recent history, our supply chain is being tested. Agriculture advocates need to think about all the perspectives that need to be considered to ensure a bright future for American agriculture and all the people it represents. In recognition of Natio...

If there’s no contingency plan for your farm, it isn’t too late to develop one. If the farm has an outdated plan, now is a good time to review and revise. Dr. Ginger Fenton, Penn State Extension, said it’s normal to not think clearly during a crisis, but having a contingency plan can help when it co...

A newly published academic paper has outlined the potential dangers of using endectocides (veterinary parasiticides) in cattle. The lead researcher was Domhnall Finch, a doctoral candidate at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England. Finch has focused his studies on movement ecology. “I am inte...

Part 2: Clean colostrum and feeding goals The long-term goal of a colostrum management program on any farm should be raising healthy and well-grown heifers that calve between 22 and 24 months of age and at 85% of mature body weight. Achieving that goal begins with colostrum, but more importantly, th...

REMSEN, NY — “Sending my perfectly-good milk down the drain is one of the most demoralizing things I’ve ever had to do,” said Leon Atwell. Like hundreds of dairy farmers around the Northeast, Atwell struggles to survive during the COVID-19 outbreak that has caused ongoing interruptions of bulk milk ...

“I like to think of it as ‘the smell of the flower will draw in the bee,’” said Matt LeRoux, describing the importance of creating an identity for your farm business. “We’re not going to survive, especially small farms, if we don’t have an identity. This identity will draw in your target customer.” ...

The current worldwide pandemic and its consequent economic shutdown are having dire effects on the dairy industry. Unlike many other agricultural products, milk is perishable and cannot be stored for later sale and consumption. Some local dairy farmers have found the changes they’ve had to make deva...

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, dairy farmers are facing the hardship and heartbreak of seeing their milk dumped into manure pits and onto fields as processors are caught with excess supplies. Food service demand for fluid milk and milk products has plummeted amid mass closures of schools, restaurants...

The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and Farm Service Agency (FSA) hosted a short webinar on May 14 for farmers, ranchers and other producers interested in applying for direct payments through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue announced CFAP on Apri...