Country Folks
Posted on March 4, 2026
Influenza A virus continues to challenge pork production. It mutates. It reassorts. It exploits management gaps and thrives on opportunity. New field data now show that everyday barn level decisions directly influence how genetically diverse and complex this virus becomes inside a herd. The data cit...
Country Folks
by Enrico Villamaino 
Posted on March 4, 2026
Sweet sap seasons are sacred in the sugarbush. Yet a speckled sapsucker is stirring stress among syrup producers. The spotted lanternfly (SLF), first detected in Pennsylvania in 2014, has spread swiftly and is now established in at least 19 other states. This invasive Asian planthopper prefers tree-...
Country Folks, Crop Comments
Crop Comments
Crop Comments B3 
Posted on March 4, 2026
Corn was originally a tropical grass from high elevation areas of central Mexico (about 7,400 feet above sea level). Today, corn still prefers conditions typical of that area – warm daytime temperatures and cool nights. Areas that consistently produce high corn yields share some significant characte...
Country Folks
Posted on March 4, 2026
Hello, farm family! Have you noticed extra stress in your on- and off-farm relationships lately? Perhaps you find yourself: • Avoiding “hot topics” with customers (or even family and friends) • Feeling uncomfortable in family get-togethers • Wrestling over how “personal” or “political” to get in soc...
News
Courtney Llewellyn 
Posted on February 25, 2026
A recent shift toward more restrictive weed control measures along with new, mandatory pesticide application rules has been mandated by the EPA. Wesley Everman, Ph.D., Iowa State Extension weed specialist, began an explanation of the rule changes with a brief history of what brought the EPA to devel...
Country Folks
Beef industry B13 
Posted on February 25, 2026
The Eastern Regional Junior Angus Show’s (ERJAS) 2026 event, “Fallin’ for Angus in the Empire State,” will take place June 18 - 21 in Hamburg, NY, at the Erie County Fairgrounds. ERJAS is the second largest show of the National Junior Angus Shows. It rotates around the eastern U.S. annually to allow...
Country Folks
by Andy Haman 
Posted on February 25, 2026
Multiple streams of income can bring financial success for any business owner. Agriculture is no different. Evolution is important if you want to “stay in the game.” However, a game plan is vital for those who wish to do so. Diversification can be driven by several factors, says Penn State Extension...
Country Folks
by Sally Colby 
Posted on February 25, 2026
The largest rodent in North America is the beaver. It lives in nearly all 50 states, and it’s the official mammal of New York State. Their strong jaws allow them to decimate trees quickly, and just one animal can chew down several hundred trees every year. Beaver dams flood farmland, timber and road...
Country Folks
Crop Comments
Posted on February 25, 2026
Fertilizer burn is seedling injury caused by high concentrations of salt, nitrogen or ammonia in fertilizer applied too close to the seed or in-furrow. This causes dehydration, yellowing, stunted growth and delayed maturity. Nature boasts two ways for getting rid of surplus moisture. The most common...
Country Folks
by Sally Colby 
April 8, 2026
Manure safety might seem like a boring, overdone topic, but that isn’t the case when farmers continue to die in manure-related accidents. In many case...
Country Folks
by Edith Tucker 
April 8, 2026
Steam billowed from the open windows of the cupola of maple sugarmaker Cory Krieg’s sugarhouse on March 27, within sight of his home on Christian Hill...
Country Folks
by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant 
April 8, 2026
Are white mold and other soilborne diseases affecting your soybeans? Camilo Parada-Rojas, Ph.D., field crop pathologist with Cornell University, prese...
Country Folks
Courtney Llewellyn 
April 8, 2026
At a meeting of the Northeast Cover Crops Council, John Tooker, a Penn State entomologist, showed a photograph of a hay mower in southern Pennsylvania...