by Stacey Johnston
The Niagara County Fair in Lockport, NY, has been postponed until 2021, but that isn’t stopping Niagara County 4-H youth from pressing forward with market animal projects. The Niagara County Fairgrounds will look emptier than usual come August, but the 4-H’ers barns and hearts are still full. (more…)
by Enrico Villamaino
A joint county government initiative in New York recently hosted an online workshop for those looking to get their start in the beef farming business. (more…)
by Enrico Villamaino
A state program dedicated to recognizing the very best in New York’s milk producers has reached a milestone in 2020.
For the 30th year, the Empire State Milk Quality Council (ESMQC) has conferred its “Super Milk” award to dairies both large and small across the state. The award was created in 1990 and first presented in 1991 to acknowledge those producers who consistently go above and beyond New York’s quality standards for dairy herds. (more…)
by Courtney Llewellyn
More than 500 New York Farm Bureau members participated in a survey in mid-June that asked how the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent shutdown of the New York economy affected both their bottom lines and their mental health. The survey found that 65% of the respondents’ farms and businesses were negatively impacted financially by COVID-19. (more…)
Mid-spring 1977, in my role as agronomy cooperative extension agent for Otsego County, I attended a field crop demonstration at one of Cornell’s off-campus research facilities. Several agronomy professors were stationed at their own demonstration sites. These educators would explain the details of their experiments to guests, mostly farmers. The presentation that I remember best was given by Robert Seaney, PhD. (more…)
by Robert Groom
The third of some quickly-arranged junior shows took place on Saturday, July 18 at Carl Hinkle’s New Penn Farm in Truxton, NY. Jeanetta and Kevin Laudermilk organized the site into beautiful condition and set up for the event. (more…)
by Evelyn Leubner
The average person is more than four generations removed from the family farm. This means the majority of the public has never stepped foot on an operating farm. This poses a threat to farmers everywhere, as consumers grow confused about how their food is grown and raised. It is especially an issue in the dairy industry because there are so many groups that push untrue information out to the public as a way to scare them away from consuming dairy products. The good news is that there are people in the industry working hard to share the reality of dairy farming. One of those agvocates is Dairy Princess Kailey Kuhn of Marion, NY. (more…)
by Katie Navarra
Wet, cool temperatures and the unpredictability created by the coronavirus pandemic are challenging farms on planting timely silage crops. The full impact of the weather on the 2020 growing season is still unknown; however, there are opportunities to implement strategies to improve the chances of a successful outcome regardless of what the season brings. (more…)
The Veterans Administration Medical Service is very concerned about the physical (as well as mental) well being of former Armed Forces personnel. As a member of this distinguished group, I qualify for many medical benefits. One such benefit is the counseling service of a licensed dietician. The VA believes that a healthy diet helps veterans avoid becoming inpatients at their hospitals. In a tele-health visit this past February (before COVID-19 made such medical regimen part of the “new normal”), I met with such a dietician: she at the VA Hospital in Albany — myself at the VA clinic in Bainbridge, NY. I explained my diet to her, mentioning that every other day my breakfast consists of a blend of oatmeal and grits… both organic (she liked that). (more…)
by Evelyn Leubner
Just off of Route 20 lies a farm that goes by the name of Fesko Farms. Nestled in between Skaneateles and Otisco Lake you can find this dairy and crop farm. Kim and Eric Brayman are the brains behind this 4th generation operation. Along with raising around 730 milking cows, they have 3 young kids who also take interest in the farm life. They utilize a double 11 herringbone to milk their primarily holstein herd. Along with livestock, they crop 2,300 acres of corn, hay, wheat, oats, and soybeans, allowing them to have all of their cow chow grown in-house. They work alongside 12 full-time employees and a handful of part time employees as a way to keep the farm running smoothly, and take some stress off their shoulders! (more…)
by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
In a time when dairy farmers struggle to stay solvent, finding new ways to market and sell their milk – including making value-added products – can make all the difference. That’s how Craigs Creamery in Linwood, NY, started. Eight family-owned dairy farms banded together to offer a means of processing and selling milk that keeps more of the profits with the farms. (more…)
by Sally Colby
After growing up on an organic grazing dairy farm in Vermont, Lewis Fox pursued a degree in animal science at Cornell University. He graduated in 2014, worked on a dairy farm in western New York and then moved to central New York to work at a goat and sheep dairy. (more…)
We at Empire Farm Days management are incredibly upset with the decision of the Seneca County Board of Supervisors to not allow Empire Farm Days to take place at the Rodman Lott Farm on State Route 414, Seneca Falls, NY, this year. They cited the fact that there was not enough time for the various agencies to review the permits we applied for, even though we are still more than 30 days out from the show dates. In their defense, the directives from Gov. Andrew Cuomo tied their hands through lack of any clear guidance for an event like this. (more…)
Early this month, the weather reporter on the Utica TV station announced that the official precipitation total for May was a little less than 0.5 inch. Normal rainfall for that location and period is about three inches. Throughout most of the Northeast this statistic is not unusual. Folks receiving more rain than that have been fortunate, and acknowledge that their water blessing has been sporadic: many of their neighbors were totally by-passed by heavenly spigots’ generosity. One farmer, whom I advise (about 15 miles north of my home) received one inch of fairly hard rain last Friday. Most of his cropland is in sod, and his fields in corn and soybean have healthy soils. So he experienced no visible soil loss — even on what the Soil and Water people call HEL (highly erodible land). From the same thunderstorm system, downtown Hartwick (my home) received about 0.01 inch of rain. (more…)
by Sally Colby
It’s too easy to spot a group of farmers in a crowd: they’re often bent over or stand lopsided to compensate for back pain. Dan Neenan, paramedic director at the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety, shares some tips to help farmers maintain healthy backs. (more…)
