As I’m writing this column on the first day of December, it’s about three weeks until days start lengthening in the northern hemisphere. Recently, most of the Northeast had been gathering just a few occasional snowflakes. But that changed the day after Thanksgiving, when the Mohawk Valley got about ...

There are several primary goals for a profitable beef cow/calf herd – the majority of herd females should achieve viable pregnancies and calves are born alive and healthy. The newborn calf's primary requirement is colostrum. While there isn't a lot of information on colostrum for beef cows, theres s...

Improving both profits and animal welfare was the theme of “Farm 5.0 and the Future of Dairy Care,” a webinar recently presented by Beverly Hampton Phifer, senior director with National Dairy Farmers Assuring Responsible Management (FARM) program and hosted by the Dairy Cattle Welfare Council. FARM ...

It’s no secret that sugar maples are the preferred variety of trees for sugarmakers. But in the interest of making the most of what’s already growing on your property and diversifying your agricultural portfolio, should you consider tapping other trees? That was the question posed and studied by Dav...

“I wasn’t really a poultry guy,” Jacob Horst shared – but that’s all behind him now. He and his family, of St. Johnsville, NY, became a family farm partner with New Hampshire-based Pete & Gerry’s Organic Pasture Raised Eggs. Their impressive new facility, shown to the public during an early November...

As I wrote this column, the actual holiday was three days away. The happening should be considered more a season, not just a single square on a calendar page displaying the fourth Thursday of each November. A look at early colonial history in Massachusetts supports my reasoning. The first Thanksgivi...

On Oct. 21 the Oneida County Farm Bureau hosted their 70th anniversary annual dinner meeting at Franklin Hotel Restaurant in Rome. The dinner menu was made up of locally grown products from Twin Orchards Farm Stand, Jake’s Gouda Cheese, John Collins Farm & Creamery, Neil Collins Family Maple, Simmon...

Shelley Gray and her husband Roger have been raising turkeys for 30 years at Gray Family Farm in New Windsor, NY. First they raised chickens at the farm. “Since we did chickens, I thought I could do turkeys. You think you know chickens, so you think you know turkeys,” she said. Not so, she found. “F...

Receiving funding through a grant is a huge honor and success, but it takes a lot of work to earn it. Going through the process of applying for a grant can be really overwhelming, but the Tri-State Extension Dairy Team hosted a webinar to make the process easier to comprehend. UVM Extension Dairy Re...

Virtual fencing is a relatively new farming option in the Northeast, but it’s very effective and reduces labor when moving animals between pastures. Virtual fencing is a way to create boundaries in a pasture without putting up a physical fence. This technology allows farmers to create digital bounda...

The fertilizer market, both nationally and internationally, has been anything but boring since the new administration took over Washington 10 months ago. I keep my eyes on the seesaw economic behavior of fertilizer ingredients more than most people do. Expecting that change might be brewing in the c...

Allison Wilton is a market analyst for the National Milk Producers Federation and U.S. Dairy Export Council . In a recent episode of the “ Cow Convos ” podcast, Wilton discussed the current state of the dairy industry in the U.S. and New York State. The monthly podcast is hosted by Kaitlyn Lutz and ...

BERKSHIRE, NY – Pardon the tree pun, but it’s brilliant marketing that helps the Pennsylvania-based Trees for Graziers Company “branch out” to help farmers and conservation professionals add trees to perennial pastures, hayland, riparian areas and crop ground. Founder and CEO Austin Unruh is on a qu...

Many farmers rely on a variety of farm safety net programs to ensure protection for the investments they’ve made in crops and livestock. Jeremy Forrett, retail financial services leader, Farm Credit East, discussed changes in FSA programs and federal crop insurance resulting from the passage of One ...

Planting cover crops is like eating your vegetables – just because you know you should doesn’t mean you will. And like vegetables, the good news about cover crops is the same as the bad: they’re just too beneficial to pass up. While the last thing you probably want to do after an autumn harvest is p...