New England Farm Weekly Archives

Crop Comments: Sustainable Soil Seminar, in Syracuse

Lee Newspapers2019-03-19T08:58:33-05:00March 19, 2019|Eastern Edition, Mid Atlantic, New England Farm Weekly, Western Edition|

On March 6, approximately 175 people attended the all-day 2019 NOFA-NY Dairy and Field Crops Conference. This Conference, held at the Holiday Inn of Syracuse/Liverpool, also served as the annual membership meeting of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY). In addition to attendees absorbing the lectures presented by the keynote speakers, the guests were able to visit with any of the 24 vendors sponsoring this program.

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West Branch Farm

Lee Newspapers2019-03-19T08:41:54-05:00March 19, 2019|New England Farm Weekly|

by Laura Rodley

Inside the 24-stanchion milking barn at West Branch Farm, the smell of warm milk was intoxicating in the middle of a late winter snowstorm. The vacuum pump infused the air with a continuous heartbeat of pumping milk that was deeply soothing. It was evening milking time.

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Fine-tuning colostrum for long-term benefits – Part 1: Numbers matter

Lee Newspapers2019-03-19T09:57:56-05:00March 19, 2019|Eastern Edition, Mid Atlantic, New England Farm Weekly, Western Edition|

by Sally Colby

Dr. Billy Smith of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine tells dairy farmers what they already know – colostrum is important. Well-managed dairy farms ensure newborns receive a gallon (or four liters) of colostrum shortly after birth.

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Dairy operation management: Cultivating culture

Lee Newspapers2019-03-19T07:53:25-05:00March 19, 2019|Mid Atlantic, New England Farm Weekly|

by Tamara Scully

The recent Cornell Pro-Dairy and Northeast Dairy Producers Association Operations Managers Conference featured a full agenda, with a focus on developing the dairy farm workplace culture on three levels: people, crops and cows.

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It’s always something…

Lee Newspapers2019-03-19T09:58:35-05:00March 19, 2019|Mid Atlantic, New England Farm Weekly, Western Edition|

by George Looby

Dairy farmers have a long history of dealing with a wide variety of problems that have made their already difficult jobs a little more challenging. When one problem has been addressed, another surfaces to take its place. As Gilda Radner was fond of saying, “It’s always something.”

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SEO for farmers

Lee Newspapers2019-03-19T07:29:24-05:00March 19, 2019|New England Farm Weekly|

by Troy Bishopp

FAIRLEE, VT – “Have you Googled your farm lately?” was the opening question by Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund’s Communication Manager Kelly “The Optimizer” Nottermann. The query was a homework assignment for farmers attending her SEO (search engine optimization) workshop at the 2019 Vermont Grazing and Livestock Conference. The mission for savvy farm marketers: Be on page #1.

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Continuing the history of Fort Morrison Farms

Lee Newspapers2019-03-18T15:32:11-05:00March 18, 2019|New England Farm Weekly|

by Laura Rodley

Fort Morrison Farms is named after the fort that was built on the property during the French and Indian War fought from 1754 to 1763. All that remains of the fort is a landmark granite boulder with a brief inscription of the fort’s history by a lone flagpole. The main farmhouse was built just yards away from the site where the fort once protected Colrain, MA, which became a town in 1745 and was officially incorporated in 1761.

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Crop Comments: Growing season factor we do control

Lee Newspapers2019-03-18T11:00:49-05:00March 18, 2019|Eastern Edition, Mid Atlantic, New England Farm Weekly, Western Edition|

Most U.S. agronomists agree on one major cause of global warming (or climate change if you prefer that term). That is the reduction of organic matter (OM) on U.S. cropland, arguably a greater issue than lost OM at any other farmed location on our planet. [Brazil may be a close second, as this equatorial nation keeps plowing up and/or burning more tropical rain forest]. The lower the OM level in our nation’s summer annual cropland (non-sod, basically corn and soybean), the lower the amount of carbon sequestered in our soils — and the lower the total plant biomass.

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Dairy done right with Jersey Girls

Lee Newspapers2019-03-01T16:52:37-05:00March 1, 2019|New England Farm Weekly|

by Karen Van Wyk

Lisa Kaiman, the owner of Jersey Girls Dairy, went to the University of Vermont to study animal science. She wanted to be a veterinarian and had been interested in food consumption and food animals since grade school.

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Grading maple syrup discussed at 2019 New York State Maple Conference

Lee Newspapers2019-03-18T15:48:46-05:00March 1, 2019|Mid Atlantic, New England Farm Weekly, Western Edition|

by Elizabeth A. Tomlin

“Has your syrup ever been disqualified?” asked Les Ober, CCA, maple syrup production specialist at Ohio State University Extension.

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Cover crop application in row crops

Lee Newspapers2019-03-19T09:56:49-05:00March 1, 2019|Mid Atlantic, New England Farm Weekly, Western Edition|

by Tamara Scully

For the growing number of farmers utilizing cover crops in their operations, a key challenge has been getting cover crop seeds planted in a timely fashion without disturbing or encroaching upon the main crop. There are variety of cover crop application methods – all with pros and cons –which can be utilized to get the seed to soil contact needed for successful cover cropping.

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Small farms, big piles

Lee Newspapers2019-03-01T16:47:14-05:00March 1, 2019|Mid Atlantic, New England Farm Weekly|

by Sally Colby

It doesn’t take long for manure to accumulate on a farm, even with small numbers of livestock. It also doesn’t take long for water to become contaminated if manure isn’t properly stored, hauled and applied.

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