New England Farm Weekly

Wolfe’s Neck Farm secures major grant from the USDA

FREEPORT, ME – The Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Tom Vilsack, recently announced that Wolfe’s Neck Farm Foundation, Inc. (WNF) has been awarded a three-year grant totaling $573,256 to support expansion of its Organic Dairy Farmer Training Program to other farms throughout the region. This grant is coming from the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program of the USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. [Read more…]

The Century Farm Award

by George Looby

Each year in early August the Connecticut Agricultural Station Lockwood Farm located in Hamden, CT holds an open house at which time the station has the opportunity to display its many trials, experiments, investigations and other activities to the general public. One of the highlights of the program is the recognition of a CT farm that has been operated by members of the same family for one hundred years or more. Eligible farms are selected by the CT Agricultural Information Council. This group is also responsible for annually choosing the states outstanding young farmer who is recognized at AG Day at the State Capitol in early March. [Read more…]

DPH and CAES: Residents should take precautions to prevent mosquito bites

New Haven, CT – The State Mosquito Management Program reminds residents to take steps to prevent mosquito bites as West Nile virus (WNV) is present in Connecticut. So far this season, the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES) has identified WNV infected mosquitoes in two communities in Fairfield County, Stamford and Bridgeport. [Read more…]

NECAS Grain bin safety demonstration

by Michael Wren

Anyone that has ever been in a grain bin knows how dangerous it can be. With the lack of light, possibility of fumes or foul air and the confinement of the space, grain bins can be a nightmare. With more and more grain bins springing up and being used, it is becoming important to prepare both those working in the bins as well as those that will be called when something goes wrong. [Read more…]

PhD student focuses on sheep research

by Sally Colby

Sheep producers are accustomed to having a species that isn’t well-funded when it comes to research. Producers are pretty much on their own when it comes to learning anything new about sheep health, reproduction or other aspects of husbandry. [Read more…]

Wright’s Dairy Farm: Serving customers for 100 years and counting

by Kristen M. Castrataro

Walking into the farm store at Wright’s Dairy Farm in North Smithfield, RI, you might think success comes easily. Gorgeously decorated cakes beckon, surrounded by shiny floor-to-ceiling glass refrigerators. A visit with sisters Ellen Wright Puccetti and Elizabeth Wright Dulude would quickly dissuade you of that illusion. [Read more…]

Water for livestock

by Tamara Scully

Summer weather is hot. What’s a better way to cool down than to wade in the stream, or jump in the pond? Just like people, cattle are inclined to access water sources on hot days. And just like people, this loitering around the watering hole can often decrease their productivity. After all, who wants to stand around and do the work of grazing when a nice cool dip in the pool with friends is on tap? [Read more…]

Sweet and sassy

by Laura Rodley

You have to start somewhere and be given a chance. That is what Gary Gaylord of Rensselaer Falls, NY did for his team Sweet and Sassy, a pair of 10 month-old-Chianina breed oxen. He travelled the six hours from his home to the Massachusetts Ox Teamsters Association Ox Pull this past June to let them pull for the first time, competing against other teams. [Read more…]

Country Folks

Highlighting Agriculture