by Laura Rodley
The brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) was highlighted by Dr. Jennifer Forman Orth of the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) during the Invasive Insect Certification Program for Landscape, Nursery, and Urban Forest Pests provided by UMass Extension. [Read more…]
by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
You may think skim milk tastes “watery” but water comprises approximately 87 percent of the milk right out of the teat. That’s why Curt A. Gooch, dairy environmental systems engineer with Cornell University’s PRO-DAIRY program, feels it’s so important to ensure herds receive sufficient water to stay healthy and produce at their optimal level. [Read more…]
by Laura Rodley
Dr. Joseph Elkinton of the University of Massachusetts and the Department of Environmental Conservation has extensively studied the non-native insect, the gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar). He was one of the guest speakers at the Invasive Insect Certification Program for Landscape, Nursery, and Urban Forest Pests provided by UMass Extension in late February. [Read more…]
by Laura Rodley
The entire state of Massachusetts is quarantined for Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) in an effort to stop its spread, pursuant to USDA-APHIS Federal Regulation -7 CFR, 301.53. The full state quarantine regulation took effect on Feb. 9, 2015. [Read more…]
by Tamara Scully
Air emissions from livestock farms can cause animal and human health concerns which typically impact the immediate farm surrounds, but do not occur in high enough concentration to be of health concerns off-farm. But when emissions, such as particulate matter and ammonia, settle out of the air, impact to the soil and water occurs. [Read more…]
by Jane Primerano
Jack Kitteridge, policy director of Northeast Organic Farming Association/Massachusetts, works hard to keep carbon in the soil on his New England farm.
He was a panel speaker at the NOFA-NJ Winter Conference in late January. His expertise in the field was illustrated by a monograph on carbon sequestration in 2015. [Read more…]
by Jane Primerano
Among the most important employees on livestock farms are traditionally the herding dogs.
The bumper sticker that reads “My Border Collie is smarter than your honor student,” is popular and, according to farmers, true. [Read more…]
by Laura Rodley
Trade growth and enhanced commerce have aided many invasive organisms in their spread to new ecosystems.
Human mediated introduction is the way invasive insects and pathogens have entered and continue to enter the U.S. Ninety percent of the recent wood-boring insects arrived in the U.S. via solid wood packaging, or dunnage, and 70 percent of all damaging invasive insects have entered through agricultural shipments. Larvae can survive for months or years inside wooden dunnage or spools. [Read more…]