by Courtney Llewellyn
Brenda Bippert is a fixture in the Great New York State Fair’s Beef Barn, helping to direct traffic through the series of shows that take place during the fair’s run. This year, however, some of the stars of the shows were her grandchildren. (more…)
by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
Showing is a family endeavor for cousins Paige Jacobson, 11, and Madelyn Reed, 6. The girls exhibited animals from Reedland Farms LLC in Clifton Springs, Jacobson’s grandfather’s farm. Their grandmother, Christine Reed, helped the girls at the Wayne County Fair. (more…)
by Sally Colby
Farmers are tasked with ensuring the health and well-being of their animals, and that sometimes involves the use of antibiotics. But farmers are also aware of growing concerns around antibiotic use. (more…)
by Courtney Llewellyn
SYRACUSE, NY – Five judges had the difficult task of evaluating nearly five dozen entries in the 2021 New York Beef Producers’ Association Supreme Show, in which a Supreme Champion Beef Heifer and a Supreme Champion Cow/Calf pair were named. (more…)
by Enrico Villamaino
As a co-owner of a family farm operating in Illinois for nearly 150 years, Martha King is very aware of how profound technological advancements can change farm operations. “Obviously,” she said, “our farm has seen extraordinary changes over the past century and a half.” (more…)
Farmers who were previously ineligible for the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program 2 (CFAP 2) can now apply for aid thanks to collaboration between the American Farm Bureau, lawmakers and USDA. Up to $1 billion will be made available through the Consolidated Appropriations Act to livestock and poultry producers who suffered financial losses from Jan. 1, 2020, through Dec. 27, 2020. The American Farm Bureau first raised concern about farmers being left out of the aid package in May 2020 and has been engaged on this issue for more than a year. (more…)
by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
Competing at the recent Wayne County Fair is one of the ways that the Schultz family of Marion, NY, can showcase their animals. Owned by Shannon and Shane Schultz, Ranway Farms LLC is a 400-acre operation raising 30 head of beef cattle and 20 head of pigs and milking 100. The farm recently added 15 Jerseys to their mostly Holstein dairy herd. Ranway also sells 5,000 small square bales of excess hay and grows corn, soybeans and wheat. (more…)
by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
CANANDAIGUA, NY – Farming has long been associated with environmental concerns, including an operation’s effect on carbon dioxide. Tristan Brown spoke on the topic at the 2021 New York Corn & Soybean Growers Summer Crop Tour hosted by Catalpa Farms. Brown is a SUNY associate professor of energy resource economics at the College of Environmental Science & Forestry. He presented “Biofuels and Bioproducts and Their Role in Decarbonizing New York State.” (more…)
by Sally Colby
When it comes to policy making in Washington, D.C., farmers are grateful to have someone on their side. Congressman Glenn “GT” Thompson, U.S. Representative for Pennsylvania’s 15th District and Republican leader of the House Committee on Agriculture, discussed current ag issues recently at Ag Progress Days. (more…)
by Lisa Kempisty, Extension Community Educator, CCE Chautauqua County
The 4-H Dairy Show took place July 23 at the Chautauqua County Fairgrounds with 33 4-H youth participating from Chautauqua County who received ribbons and other awards for their efforts showing five different breeds of dairy cattle. The official judge was Katie Coyne from Geneseo, NY. (more…)
by Lynn Bliven, Agriculture & Natural Resources Issue Leader
CCE Allegany County’s Agriculture Program announces the 2021 Allegany County Fair Youth Dairy Show results. (more…)
Appearing in a recent issue of the Guardian online newspaper was an article, “Planting Trees to Fight Climate Change Is Great. Then Again, So Is Eating,” written by Fiona Harvey. Harvey wrote that governments and businesses hoping to plant trees and restore forests in order to reach net-zero carbon emissions must sharply limit such efforts to avoid driving up food prices in the developing world, the charity Oxfam has warned. Oxfam is a confederation of 19 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty. Planting trees has been touted as one of the key ways of tackling the climate crisis, but the amount of land needed for such forests would be vast. Planting even a fraction of the area needed to offset global greenhouse gas emissions would usurp some of the land for crops needed to feed our planet’s growing population. (more…)
