by Michael Wren
LANSING, NY — Steve Patt is no stranger to working on a farm. Growing up on his parents’ farm in Fultonville, NY, and later in Sherburne, NY, Patt has always been around dairy farms. After graduating from SUNY Cobleskill and later Cornell University Patt began working on large dairy farms in the Scipio Center area. After a few years he and a friend from school decided to try farming for themselves on a rented farm in Scipio. [Read more…]
These days of autumn leading up to winter are precious; we are enjoying the weather and spending as much time outdoors with our horses as is possible. Since the late spring, they have been turned out on pasture for as many hours as they choose. Although our pasture grass is not rich and a bit thin, the 15 or so acres are more than adequate for our two small Morgan horses. By the end of November and the start of the Big Game (Deer) hunting season, they’ll be ‘home’ for good — in the barn at night, and in the barnyard during the day, and depending on the amount of ice and snow we receive, probably for the rest of the winter. [Read more…]
by Elizabeth A. Tomlin
Montgomery County Agriculture Society Fonda Fair celebrated its 175th anniversary with this year’s event.
“Fonda Fair has increased it agricultural focus,” said Elma Phillips, of Dellavale Farm, where four generations have been dairying. “Some people are going into the niche markets with smaller animals; goats, sheep, pigs, and showing in those events.” [Read more…]
by Sally Colby
Dairy farmers who have adopted grazing as part of a feeding system know that grazing isn’t a simple matter of opening a gate to a pasture. Grazing that’s part of a feed program takes a lot of planning and effort throughout the year to maintain successful production. [Read more…]
State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball on Sept. 6 joined Senator Pattie Ritchie, other state leaders, Farm Bureau President Dean Norton, members of the United States Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency (USDA FSA), and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County to tour several farms in Jefferson and Oswego Counties impacted by this summer’s drought. The group visited three dairy farms and a Christmas tree farm to assess the drought damage in the region and better understand the outlook and plan for recovery. [Read more…]
by Daniel Baldwin
Peter, Suzie and the rest of the Jones family used to live in Massachusetts. But Peter and Suzie wanted to move to the country and become farmers.
“We wanted to get back to farming,” Suzie said. “It skipped a generation for both of us. My parents didn’t farm, his parents didn’t farm, but our grandparents did. It’s something we both felt the need to go back to.” [Read more…]
by Elizabeth A. Tomlin
Autumn is the time of year many farms and orchards open their doors for farm tours, pick your own apples and pumpkins, farm days and other events.
A recent webinar provided by the University of California Small Farm Program in partnership with FarmsReach featured speakers Scottie Jones, Director of the U.S. Farm Stay Association, and Meghan Bishop-Sanderson of Bishop’s Pumpkin Farm, advising producers on how to get that coveted five-star rating. [Read more…]
by William and Mary Weaver
A new revision of the Worker Protection Standard (WPS) will be enforced starting Jan. 1, 2017. “The revision of the Worker Protection Standard covers farmers, foresters, and other growers using pesticides on production agriculture crops.” Although there has typically been an exemption for immediate family members, “Even the owner and immediate family must comply with the new Personal Protective Equipment requirements,” stated Jim Harvey, PSU Farm Safety Extension. [Read more…]