Category Archives: Western Edition

by Troy Bishopp
SKANEATELES, NY — President Barack Obama arrived in the Syracuse area and spoke about a new agenda for higher education which is more affordable, encourages and embraces innovation and becomes a good investment because it pays off over time.
At the same time, just south of Orangeman country adjacent to the Owasco Lake Watershed, there was a different kind of meeting. Gathered in the middle of a wheat field were over 80 farmers, extension educators, agri-business service providers and conservation professionals learning about a new agenda and demonstrations to improve soil health which also embraced innovation and was a good investment over time. As Cayuga County farmer, Steve Nemec said, “We need to do the right thing by our soils.”
The theme of the gathering was to inspire the ‘biologicals’, according to farmer hosts, Steve and Jason Cuddeback, who’s lineage goes back three generations on their 800 acres of land. After practicing with diverse rotations, conservation tillage and no-till cropping with cover crops for years and seeing the production increase while expenses decrease, they have become true advocates. “Being that we are in a sensitive watershed and with the high prices for nitrogen and fuel, we must do everything we can to enhance our biology in the soil. Give them the right environment and they do all the work. It just makes good economic and environmental sense,” said Steve. Continue reading→

by Pat Malin
HUBBARDSVILLE,  NY — When asked about Congress’s handling — or lack thereof, of the Farm Bill, New York State Farm Bureau director Darrell Griff let out a deep sigh.
“How can you get politics figured out?” Griff replied during a visit to neighboring Endless Trails Farm in August.
Griff was visiting Endless Trails for two reasons: to get an update on the Farm Bill directly from U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and to promote the new Side Hill Farmer’s Cooperative Market in Manlius.
It’s been exasperating, he admitted, to follow the snail-like pace of the bill. A five-year Farm Bill was passed by the U.S. Senate in June, but the House of Representatives came up with its own watered-down counterpart which has only complicated passage of the new legislation.
Now Congress is in summer recess, so the two sides will try to negotiate a compromise measure when the representatives return to their desks in September.
Griff, who raises pigs and beef cattle on a 70-acre farm in Hamilton, Madison County, wonders how long it will take Congress to reach an agreement. “A lot of farmers are concerned about next year. How can you operate when you don’t know the rules of the game?” Continue reading→

by Paul Salon
More than 250 people came together to see firsthand the importance of soil health at three events in Cayuga County, NY, on Aug. 21-22. The events were a collaboration between the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) the New York Soil and Water Conservation Committee, the Cayuga County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County. The meetings came about as part of a national soil health campaign initiated by conservation farmers, NRCS and SWCD’s. Farmers from North Dakota to North Carolina and beyond — who after years of no-till farming followed by cover cropping — are recognizing lower production costs and improved soil function. After the meeting, NRCS-NY State Conservationist, Don Pettit said, “Soil Health is the ability of the soil to perform at its full potential to grow crops. NRCS is proud to partner with farmers and organizations dedicated to sharing the technologies, management and programs available to improve soil health to all those involved in agriculture.” Continue reading→