What do you do when a federal or state inspector comes to your farm regarding labor laws? At the recent Labor Roadshow hosted by Cornell Agricultural Workforce Development (CAWD), Emma Swarthout of American Dairy Association North East and Lucas Smith and Richard Stup with CAWD presented two skits o...

‘Tis the season for winter’s cold and chill! Indoors, we’re able to throw another log on the fire, cozy up with some hot cocoa or tea and wear warm layers. When we go out and brave the frigid temperatures, we add a warm coat, hat, scarf, mittens and boots. But what about our horses? Many people use ...

Of the three main fertilizer nutrients – nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium – P is doing the poorest job of returning to lower pre-pandemic price levels. A number of global factors influences P price (which I’ll evaluate in a later column). P is also the most limiting crop nutrient in Northeast soil...

A little over a week has passed since the 28th annual Keystone Farm Show wrapped in York, PA, and all involved walked away with smiles, sales – it was a “buying show” for equipment dealers and product vendors alike – leads for the year ahead and excitement for the 2027 show. The Keystone Farm Show h...

Manure management can be as tricky as managing livestock. Responsible producers pay close attention to manure storage and application throughout the year and avoid land application during winter. Chryseis Modderman, Extension educator, soil and manure management, University of Minnesota, explained s...

January 1 not only marks a new year but another season of real Christmas trees put to the curbs of suburbia for pickup by town and village maintenance crews. For an ol’ farmer, with granddaughter goats, there’s opportunity among the snowbanks like picking fruit off the vine. Yes, it’s a bit weird to...

Farmers need to handle their laborers unionizing in a way that’s both respectful and legal. Timothy Connick, chair of the New York State Public Employment Relations Board, led “Farm Laborers’ Fair Labor Practices Act Development,” a session at Cornell Agricultural Workforce Development’s recent Labo...

Awhile ago, my friend Tom Kilcer (a certified crop advisor, whose wisdom I seek frequently) was giving a lecture at a Midwest crop growers’ conference. He explained how corn populations can be reduced without hurting yields – in fact, possibly increasing yields, if plant crowding had been an issue. ...

Dr. Elizabeth Homerosky, DVM, recalls learning as a 4-H’er that young heifers should be developed to as much as 80% of their mature body weight at breeding. The result was heifers that looked good, but the program was too aggressive and not financially worthwhile. “Research out of the U.S. and Canad...