Country Folks
Posted on May 20, 2026
“Are the PFAS in pesticides contaminating our land and water? Unfortunately, there really isn’t enough research yet to give us a firm answer,” said Faith Cullens-Nobis, an Extension educator with Michigan State University. Despite the lack of a firm answer, Cullens-Nobis thinks farmers need more inf...
Country Folks, Dairy
by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant 
Posted on May 20, 2026
What you feed the herd affects both herd health and milk composition. Kevin Harvatine, Ph.D., professor of nutritional physiology and chair in Agricultural Sciences at Penn State, presented “Fatty Acids & Milk Components: Optimizing Milkfat Yield” as part of the recent Herd Health & Nutrition Confer...
Country Folks
by Cheryl Bruce, Senior Consultant, Agricultural Consulting Services 
Posted on May 20, 2026
The title above sounds like it could be the set-up for a joke: A farmer, a logger and a lobsterman walk into a bar… Instead, this was part of the conference schedule at the Northeast Dairy Management Conference, co-hosted by PRO-DAIRY and the Northeast Dairy Producers Association (NEDPA) , which too...
Country Folks, Dairy
by Andy Haman 
Posted on May 20, 2026
Change is inevitable in agriculture, but your operation can find success on the other side. The secret? Intentional strategy – not reactive moments. This was the key takeaway from a roundtable presentation at the 2026 Northeast Dairy Innovation Summit, reflected in the personal experiences of three ...
Country Folks
Horse Tales
Posted on May 20, 2026
Buying a horse is an exciting experience, but also requires caution, careful planning and research, especially when purchasing your first horse. First, determine what you can afford to pay and stay within that number. Horses are expensive to keep and will require money to be budgeted for daily upkee...
Country Folks, Crop Comments
Paris Reidhead 
Posted on May 20, 2026
Three years ago, Canadian wildfires were ramping up. The maximum impact was felt in the northern tier of the U.S. during the second week of June 2023. Firefighters scrambled to put out blazes in Quebec, where more than 160 forest fires were roaring. These fires were fueled by high temperatures and d...
Country Folks
by Sally Colby 
Posted on May 13, 2026
If a liquid manure system eliminated agitation, saved fuel, increased manure value and created safer working conditions by eliminating deadly gases, would farmers be willing to try it? Farmers in Ireland tried it and liked it, and now farmers in the U.S. can benefit from a manure management system b...
Country Folks
by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant 
Posted on May 13, 2026
Is your farm just surviving or thriving? Chris Wilson, business manager at Wilson Family Organic Farms , pondered that question when he began working on the farm in 2017; however, with some major changes, the family turned it around. Wilson presented “Practical Systems, Real Returns: Dairy-Cropping ...
Country Folks
by Sonja Heyck-Merlin 
Posted on May 13, 2026
Benjamin Clark, a former employee on a large Montana organic grain farm, now an organic farm inspector, provided perspective on organic grain certification at a Maine Grain Alliance meeting. Clark is a staff inspector for the Maine Organic Farmers & Gardeners Association (MOFGA) Certification Servic...
Country Folks
by Sally Colby 
June 24, 2026
Small ruminants have some challenging health issues. One problem occurs almost exclusively in males and can be deadly. In a recent presentation, Dr. H...
Country Folks, Events
by Troy Bishopp, Northeast NatGLC Regional Grazing Manager 
June 24, 2026
News outlets jump at a chance to film mysterious, celestial, crop circles and wax paranormal about their meaning. I wish they showed the same enthusia...
Country Folks
by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant 
June 24, 2026
“Workplace culture” seems like a term for boardrooms, not bunk silos and milking parlors. But the right atmosphere in agriculture can make a differenc...
Country Folks, Crop Comments
Crop Comments
Crop Comments A13 
June 24, 2026
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 opera...