Throughout their lives, farmers inhale a lot of dust. Field work, feed handling, working in enclosed spaces and other routine farm tasks result in dust inhalation. The type of dust, length of exposure and other factors determine the degree of risk. Tara Nordgren, Ph.D., associate professor, Universi...

Today it may seem like there’s a stark contrast between town and countryside; however, there has never been a hard line where civilization begins and wilderness ends. A subtle line always connects the largest city to the deepest forest. Agroforestry enters this conversation not as nostalgia or radic...

Dietitians tell us that a person consuming an 8-oz. glass of cow’s milk is ingesting approximately 232 mg of phosphorus (P), a nutrient vital for bone health, energy metabolism and cellular function. Taking these numbers further, I calculate that approximately 1 lb. of elemental P departs the farm i...

Rob Goodling, business consultant for Farm Credit East, recently provided information on what the dairy industry can expect as producers passed the halfway mark in 2026. Goodling’s information was based on the 2025 Northeast Dairy Farm Summary and 2026 Mid-year Outlook. Summary input is based primar...

Anyone thinking about a manure digester might envision a massive unit on a large livestock farm. Matt Steiman, assistant farm manager at Dickinson College, explained that isn’t the case at the Carlisle, PA, farm. “This is a unique system,” Steiman said. “Most digesters are on large farms with 500 co...

What sort of taxes do you pay in your farm life? Chances are you’re familiar with the more common taxes: income, sales, payroll, property, self-employment, inheritance. But what about the switch tax? I only recently learned about the switch tax from one of my podcast guests, and it’s much more costl...

On July 23, I was invited by Uri to perform extensive soil sampling on his farm in eastern Chenango County, NY. I’ve been advising Uri in his organic crop program for a couple decades, taking lots of soil samples for him over the years. I met Uri in September 1964 at Cornell University. I was an ag ...

Employees gather for yet another safety talk, anticipating boredom. Safety talks can be sleeper events, but when there’s injury or death on the farm, safety suddenly becomes the main conversation – for a short time. Incidents can be prevented by familiarizing employees and family members with farm s...

Produced by Lee Trade Shows, the upcoming Small Scale Forestry Expo is specifically for the landowner that has woodlots and wants to utilize them in a way that’s beneficial to both the planet and their pockets. These are woodland owners who prefer cleaner, smaller-scale processing versus clear-cutti...