Although it has not made its way to the Northeast, New World screwworm (NWS) has made inroads in the U.S. with 15 confirmed cases as of June 24. The Northeast Dairy Producers Association and New York Farm Bureau recently presented a webinar on the parasite to help keep producers vigilant. Panelists ...

My favorite local honey is buckwheat-based. Honey consumers typically believe that the human health benefits of this food are greater if the beehives are situated near where that consumer lives. Bears appear to share this mindset. Honeybees are critical for the pollination of this plant species, whi...

Small ruminants have some challenging health issues. One problem occurs almost exclusively in males and can be deadly. In a recent presentation, Dr. Heather Glennon, North Carolina small ruminant Extension specialist, discussed urinary calculi. This is a serious issue in wethers and is also referred...

News outlets jump at a chance to film mysterious, celestial, crop circles and wax paranormal about their meaning. I wish they showed the same enthusiasm for “pasture circles” and their real benefit to feeding our biological systems. Maybe we can get cows to strategically poop as a cool art form inst...

“Workplace culture” seems like a term for boardrooms, not bunk silos and milking parlors. But the right atmosphere in agriculture can make a difference between farm success and failure. Adam Seybolt of Stewart’s Shops , Martha Hilton with Wegmans and Richard Stup with Cornell Agricultural Workforce ...

About a month after the Strait of Hormuz blockade began, a farmer named Ken called me, asking me to formulate fertilizers for his small cropping operation in southern Onondaga County. Ken grows corn for grain, soybeans and mixed mostly grass hay. He sent me soil test results for each of the three fi...

“We want to identify what are the top management practices that explain the best milk quality in organic dairy farms,” said Carlos Nino de Guzman, a doctoral student at the University of Florida. This is Nino de Guzman’s goal as a researcher with a multi-university grant funded by the National Insti...

Commercial dairy herds are increasing both in profitable milk components and in overall yields. Does this mean cows should be challenged with more nutrient-rich diets to determine their productivity per unit of energy? Mike Van Amburgh with the Department of Animal Science at Cornell University expl...

Mary, Javier and Lorrie handle moving cows and milking at Cool Beans Dairy. Mary attaches milking units immediately after wiping udders dry while Javier waits a few extra minutes. Lorrie whistles to move cows but Javier uses a rattle paddle. Although the herd has outstanding genetics and performance...