Happy four days after Thanksgiving (which is when most subscribers are reading my column). Let’s mentally return to the first Thanksgiving Day – celebrated, according to New England historians, on Sept. 29, 1621. Edward Winslow, the Plymouth Pilgrim community’s first historian, recorded that Squanto...

“Ideally, business decisions are made on profitability, not on cash flow,” Jon Winsten, an agricultural economist, said, addressing dairy farmers via a University of Vermont Extension webinar. Those words of wisdom are the impetus behind the Large-Herd, Low-Overhead Dairy Grazing model (LODG) Winste...

Cattle producers often ask Penn State extension veterinarian Dr. Hayley Springer what to include in a vaccination protocol. Since farms have a variety of management challenges and different vaccine protocols, the answer is “It depends.” Springer said the definition of the word vaccinate is “to admin...

Branching out, wearing different hats, having a finger in every pie, putting a lot of irons in the fire – whatever euphemism you use, farmers these days are almost required to do more than simply grow food and harvest it. Value-added products are one way of diversifying and increasing revenue stream...

Most farmers want their land to stay in agriculture, but very few have plans in place that dictate how the land, business and other assets will be divided among their heirs. Over 30% of farmers in New England have reached retirement age. The majority of this population has not named a successor. Wit...

Nutrients that can be applied to the soils (with or without winter forages) include mined and/or unrefined amendments, such as ground limestone, rock phosphates, bone meal and some forms of potash. The items are feeding the soil rather than feeding growing plants directly. They also benefit greatly ...

Not only do the customers that buy their fresh turkeys from Esbenshade Turkey Farm celebrate the traditional Thanksgiving, but generations of repeat customers have made the trip of picking up their turkeys at the farm a tradition. “It’s an experience,” said Barbara (Esbenshade) Zerbe, fifth generati...

Proper understanding of mineral supplementation can prove pivotal to herd health. Laurentia van Rensburg, a technical mineral supplementation specialist and guest speaker for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association’s “Cattlemen’s College,” advised farmers on how to evaluate and compare different m...

Some farmers make organic farming look easy, including Edwin Shank and his family. A closer look at the Shanks’ farm, the Family Cow in Chambersburg, PA, reveals a well-run family operation with clear goals and strict standards for high quality certified organic and organically-produced products. Ed...