New England Farm Weekly Archives

Why heifer maturity matters – the Peter Pan problem

Lee Newspapers2020-05-29T15:18:26-05:00May 29, 2020|New England Farm Weekly, Western Edition|

by Katie Navarra

Immature heifers leave a long shadow over a herd that cannot be remedied. Early calving may get milk faster, but over time total volume is comprised. During the Dairy Calf & Heifer Association (DCHA) Virtual Conference in April, Gavin Staley, technical services specialist, Diamond V, shared his evaluation of DairyComp305 production records, which sheds insight into the significant impact of heifer immaturity on whole herd production. (more…)

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NH Gov. Sununu earmarks $10 million for farmers

Lee Newspapers2020-05-27T19:11:30-05:00May 27, 2020|New England Farm Weekly|

by Edith Tucker

Governor Chris Sununu announced his plans for allocating nearly half the total federal CARES Act coronavirus relief fund (“flex funds”) that New Hampshire has received on May 15. (more…)

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Dosing less can benefit dung beetles

Lee Newspapers2020-05-29T15:17:45-05:00May 27, 2020|Eastern Edition, Mid Atlantic, New England Farm Weekly, Western Edition|

by Enrico Villamaino

A newly published academic paper has outlined the potential dangers of using endectocides (veterinary parasiticides) in cattle. (more…)

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Full throttle at Sunderland Farm Collaborative

Lee Newspapers2020-05-14T15:10:42-05:00May 14, 2020|New England Farm Weekly|

by Laura Rodley

The owners of Warner Farm, Kitchen Garden Farm and Riverland Farm are all friends. They had been tossing the idea around of combining forces and becoming a collaborative (or cooperative). (more…)

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COVID-19 forces Contoocook Creamery to be nimble

Lee Newspapers2020-05-14T14:55:31-05:00May 14, 2020|New England Farm Weekly|

by Edith Tucker

HOPKINTON, NH – Members of the Robertson family on the 440-acre Bohanan Farm, only 10 miles from the State House in Concord, worked for nearly a decade to raise the money to develop the Contoocook Creamery, a small business where they pasteurize, bottle and market the milk made exclusively from their own cows. (more…)

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Colostrum management for future performance

Lee Newspapers2020-05-29T15:40:26-05:00May 14, 2020|Eastern Edition, Mid Atlantic, New England Farm Weekly|

Part 2: Clean colostrum and feeding goals

by Sally Colby

The long-term goal of a colostrum management program on any farm should be raising healthy and well-grown heifers that calve between 22 and 24 months of age and at 85% of mature body weight. (more…)

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Develop a marketing strategy to target the right customers

Lee Newspapers2020-05-29T14:42:45-05:00May 14, 2020|Eastern Edition, Mid Atlantic, New England Farm Weekly, Western Edition|

by Catie Joyce-Bulay

“I like to think of it as ‘the smell of the flower will draw in the bee,’” said Matt LeRoux, describing the importance of creating an identity for your farm business. “We’re not going to survive, especially small farms, if we don’t have an identity. This identity will draw in your target customer.” (more…)

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Dairy boom or bust

Lee Newspapers2020-05-14T14:36:03-05:00May 14, 2020|Eastern Edition, New England Farm Weekly|

by Enrico Villamaino

The current worldwide pandemic and its consequent economic shutdown are having dire effects on the dairy industry. (more…)

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USDA milk donation program for dairy processors

Lee Newspapers2020-05-29T14:47:32-05:00May 14, 2020|Eastern Edition, Mid Atlantic, New England Farm Weekly, Western Edition|

by Tamara Scully

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, dairy farmers are facing the hardship and heartbreak of seeing their milk dumped into manure pits and onto fields as processors are caught with excess supplies. Food service demand for fluid milk and milk products has plummeted amid mass closures of schools, restaurants and corporate cafeterias. The International Dairy Foods Association and the National Milk Producers Federation estimate that supply currently outpaces demand by about 10%. (more…)

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USDA releases info for producers interested in applying for CFAP

Lee Newspapers2020-05-14T12:43:31-05:00May 14, 2020|Country Folks Article, Eastern Edition, Mid Atlantic, New England Farm Weekly, Western Edition|

by Courtney Llewellyn

The USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and Farm Service Agency (FSA) hosted a short webinar on May 14 for farmers, ranchers and other producers interested in applying for direct payments through the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program (CFAP). (more…)

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New Hampshire recognizes Tensen Farms

Lee Newspapers2020-05-08T11:20:22-05:00May 8, 2020|New England Farm Weekly|

by Edith Tucker
LYME, NH – Arend Tensen and his son Arend Jacob “AJ” Tensen happily accepted a plaque from U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan that designates Tensen Farms as a “New Hampshire Farm of Distinction.” (more…)

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High demand at Diemand Farm – and 30 years of making turkey pot pies

Lee Newspapers2020-05-08T11:14:17-05:00May 8, 2020|New England Farm Weekly|

by Laura Rodley
When Anne Diemand Bucci of Diemand Farm in Wendell, MA, makes a batch of TV dinners made of their farm-raised turkeys and chickens to sell at their farm store, it usually lasts six weeks.
Since the COVID-19 crisis news began hitting the airwaves, “things have been going like crazy,” she said. “Two weeks ago, my daughter posted a picture of a turkey TV dinner on the Facebook page and they were gone in less than two days. People kept coming, saying ‘We saw the picture’” – but they were already sold out. (more…)

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