In mid-August, Pecos Bill (aka Wild Bill), a fellow Cornell ag graduate, sought my advice for a particular cropping situation on his Chenango County dairy farm. He said they usually harvest two cuttings of sorghum, in mid-July and late August. But this year, starting wet, then turning dry most of su...

National Farm Safety and Health Week (NFSHW) is taking place this year Sept. 21 – 27. NFSHW is a time to increase awareness of the high risk of accidents and injuries in agriculture and to promote the adoption of life-saving health and safety practices. Despite a slight decrease in total fatal occup...

Oechsner Farms of Newfield has been selected for the New York AEM-Leopold Conservation Award. The award honors farmers and forestland owners who go above and beyond in the management of soil health, water quality and wildlife habitat on working land. Thor Oechsner and his wife Rachel Lodder, who own...

Quimby Farm is nestled among the rolling hills of the Hudson Valley. The barn, over a century old, overlooks the lush acreage of the heritage farm, beloved for its berries, grapes and beef. The business, run by the Quimby family for 85 years and counting, is modest but self-sustaining; a way of life...

When a barnyard is partially in concrete and the pasture is little more than holes left by the hooves of beef cattle, what’s the answer? In Craig Alleman’s case, the best solution was more concrete. Alleman’s farm was a mess, with mud and pugging throughout the pastures. Pasture vegetation didn’t st...

Improving soil health starts with analyzing the soil, according to Aaron Breimer, owner of Moose Ag, a private consulting firm in Chatham, Ontario, who works with farmers on increasing profitability through soil health initiatives. Breimer, whose background is in cash crops, has worked in sales, agr...

Summertime is county fair time! All across the region, local folks and youngsters have been hard at work preparing their animals, crops, agricultural goods, baked goods and arts and crafts for the big weekend. The Little World’s Fair takes place the third weekend of August each year in Grahamsville,...

There’s been a lot of discussion around biosecurity, especially around the ever-changing situation with foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) around the world. Lisa Pederson, livestock specialist at the Central Grasslands Research Extension Center in Streeter, ND, describes biosecurity as the combination of ...

Over the last 15 years, I have become a super believer in winter forages. Winter forages – small grains planted during late summer or early autumn – have been selectively bred to go dormant over winter, then spring to life as soon as prolonged cold weather loosens its icy grip in March or April. Wha...