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 ...

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...

An article titled “Attack of the Superweeds” was written by H. Claire Brown in the New York Times four years ago. The sub-heading read “Herbicides are losing the war…and agriculture might never be the same again.” Brown began by explaining the concept of superweeds: “Weeds that have evolved characte...

Scientists define hydrology as “the scientific study of the movement, distribution and management of water on Earth, including the water cycle, water resources and drainage basin sustainability.” A common misconception is that drought’s impacts on society are limited to semi-arid regions, but drough...

Northeast corn silage growers are currently about three-quarters done with chopping. Corn grain growers are about one-quarter done with combining. This is a good time to conduct a small experiment while the person doing the chopping or combining waits for an empty forage wagon or gravity wagon to be...

Northeast corn silage growers are currently about three-quarters done with chopping. Corn grain growers are about one-quarter done with combining. This is a good time to conduct a small experiment while the person doing the chopping or combining waits for an empty forage wagon or gravity wagon to be...

On Sept. 8, much of Central New York received light frosts. Fearing that such might take place, I had covered my frost-sensitive crops with tarps. Doing so proved to be a wise idea, since, come dawn, the hood of our car showed a very thin layer of ice crystals. When those melted away, I removed the ...

The last few days of September, I saw early plantings of winter rye sprouting nicely in some Central New York counties. Happily, I see more corn growers planting autumn cover crops. The more productive title for these late season plantings is “winter forage,” a mindset which acknowledges that someth...