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In Case You Missed It:

Had a great time at Thursday’s pasture walk in Nelson. Thanks to Troy Bishopp The grass whisperer and Daniel Hudson for making it happen and to all those who made it out! Fay with Sod Fay with Trailer - On Pasture Shirt

2016 events

 

Changing Markets for Organic Grain and Dairy: March 8 NYCO Meeting

Geneva, NY. New and changing global markets for organic grain and dairy producers, flax grain production and uses, and a session entitled What Do You Want to Make Per Acre on Your Farm are all on the agenda of the March 8 and final New York Certified Organic Winter Meeting for 2016. The meeting begins at 10 am in Jordan Hall, 630 West North Street, at the New York State Agricultural Experimental Station in Geneva, NY.

One of the featured presenters at the NYCO meeting is Bob Quinn of Big Sandy, Montana, talking about developing new markets for organic grain. Quinn considered several options before settling on the ancient grain of kamut as a good fit for his 2,400-acre organic farm in an area that can receive 13 inches of rain in one season. He will talk about the importance of research, dedication to establishing a strong market, and what farmers can do to develop their own niche.

Mary-Howell Martens, who operates Lakeview Organic Grain and co-owns an organic grain farm with her husband Klaas Martens in Penn Yan, NY, will cover changes in the world grain market. The Martens are highly respected agricultural innovators who willingly share their knowledge to encourage other farmers to be successful. New York Organic Certified started in their farmhouse kitchen 21 years ago and grew into the Jordan Hall auditorium to accommodate increasing attendance.

Luke Gianforte of Gianforte Farm, Cazenovia, NY, will help audience members answer the question of what each wants to make per acre with their farming enterprise. He will share how he tracks costs and returns for 500 acres of up to 10 different organic grains and row crops he and his dad grow in any given year. The Ginafortes also operate their own small mill and package whole and milled grains in bulk and for restaurant, retail and farmers’ market sale, largely serving the Central NY and Mohawk Valley regions.

Ed Schefler of Groton, NY, will be among the growers on the after-lunch panel discussing alternative grains production. Schefler will show slides about growing flax and pressing the seed for oil and cake, which he feeds to his cows.

New York Crop Insurance Education Team and Cornell Cooperative Extension provided support for the 2016 NYCO meetings. There will be a brief description of how crop insurance can benefit organic farmers at the March 8 meeting.

There is no cost or need to register to attend the program. Participants are asked to bring a dish to pass at the potluck lunch. For more information, contact Fay Benson at 607.745.3807, afb3@cornell.edu

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Mary-Howell Martens is one of the featured speakers at the March 8 New York Organic Certified meeting in Geneva, NY. The meeting is free to attend and begins at 10 am. Photo: Spencer Tulis

Now Available: Consultation Grants for Organic Dairy Farms

Funding available to participate in Cornell’s Dairy Farm Business Summary and modified Profit Teams

Cortland, NY. The New York Organic Dairy Program (NYODP) has partnered with the New York Farm Viability Institute to make grant funding available for organic dairy producers to participate in the Cornell Organic Dairy Farm Business Summary (DFBS) program and select a project for immediate attention through a modified Dairy Profit Team approach.
Farms currently participating in the Dairy Farm Business Summary and those that have not completed a DFBS before are both eligible for funding. Priority for grants will be given to certified organic dairies, however, farms in transition to become organic are encouraged to apply.

Farmers may first apply for funds to:
. work with a qualified farm business consultant to upload the operating and financial information for the individual farm into the Cornell Organic Dairy Farm Business Summary,
. or, if the farmer has completed a 2016 Summary, to work with the consultant to review the data to select a short-term project that will benefit the farm. Varying levels of funding are available for this initial step.
Funding is also available for farmers to work with a consultant on a project that will help the business better meet its goals. Applicants for a project grant must first complete a 2016 DFBS.

Farmers requesting project funds will be required to work with NYODP to document their desired goal and projects must be achievable within 18 months of the formation of the consultant ‘team.’ Examples of projects include, but are not limited to, developing a business plan, enhancing transitioning practices, and constructing facilities. NYODP will provide up to $1,500 for the consultant and team to complete its project work.

The Cornell Organic Dairy Farm Business Summary is a confidential program that collects operating and financial information from an individual farm to produce a report that the farm operator can use to identify areas where the farm is doing well and areas that need improvement. The Summary also helps analyze if the farm is meeting the financial and long-term goals of the farm business. If enough similar farms participate, the Cornell Organic Dairy Farm Business Summary will create benchmarks against which the owners of farms of similar size can measure their performance.

NYODP Manager Fay Benson will assist farmers in identifying a qualified farm business consultant for each of the two levels of funding. Consultants who have already agreed to work with this modified Organic Dairy Profit Team approach are:
. Klaas Martens, Penn Yan, NY; a well-known pioneer in organic field crop production, a founder of New York Organic Certified, and an advisor on general organic dairy management;
. Tom Kilcer, Advanced Ag Systems, Kinderhook NY, with a specialty in crop rotations specifically fit to an individual farm to provide the best possible forage for dairy animals and livestock;
. Sarah Flack, Sarah Flack Consulting, Enosburg Falls, VT, working with grazers to improve the
performance of farm pastures and livestock production; and
. consultants in the existing Dairy Farm Business Summary network.

For the guidelines and application form for the NYODP consultant and project grants CLICK HERE.

Grants will be awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis until funding is spent. For more information, contact Fay Benson at 607-391-2669 or afb3@cornell.edu.

This grants opportunity is funded by the New York Farm Viability Institute through its Dairy Profit Team program.

NY Certified Organic Feb. 9 Meeting: Four Soil Health Presentations: Geneva Site Hosting Speakers; Four CCE Offices to Broadcast Locally

Geneva, NY.  New York Organic Certified has announced three presentations and a farmer panel on managing soil health with crop rotations and forage production to be offered February 9 with speakers on site at the New York State Agricultural Experimental Station in Geneva, NY.  Cornell Cooperative Extension offices will broadcast the program via web connection in Canton, Morrisville, Warsaw and Westport.

The February 9 meeting is the second of three New York Certified Organic winter meetings.  Rick Pederson of Pederson Farms, Seneca Castle, NY, will present on Putting Soil Health Knowledge into Practice. Pederson manages 600 certified organic acres and an additional 900 acres under conventional production. He grows a diversified crop mix for wholesaling to buyers throughout the Northeast. He will talk about the crop rotations he has developed to provide income and at the same time build resilience in his soil.

Tom Kilcer of Advanced Ag Systems, Kinderhook, NY, will present his research on Alternative Forage Rotations to Protect the Soil on Marginal Land. Kilcer will share his data on double cropping with winter grains and summer annuals to keep the soil covered and allow fieldwork to be done when soils are more likely dry. He will also cover solutions to storing nitrogen for such a system in organic production.

In the Reducing Pasture Compaction with Daikon Radish session, NY Organic Dairy Initiative Project Manager and Cornell University South Central NY Regional Team Small Dairy Support Educator Fay Benson will share the results of planting brassicas in compacted areas of pastures after a very wet grazing season.

A farmer panel on How to Decide Whether to Sell Forages to Dairy Farmers or Plow Them In for Green Manure includes Thor Oechsner of Oechsner Farms, a 600-acre certified organic enterprise growing diversified grains in Newfield, NY. Oechsner is also a partner in Farmer Ground, a small cooperatively owned grain milling business in Trumansburg, NY.

The New York Crop Insurance Education Team, and Cornell Cooperative Extension provide support for these meetings. There will be a brief description of how crop insurance can benefit organic farmers at the February 9 and March 8 NYCO meetings.

The NYCO meetings begin at 10 AM in Jordan Hall at 630 West North Street at the New York State Agricultural Experimental Station in Geneva, NY. There is no cost or need to register to attend the program in Geneva that features presentations by and discussions with farmers from across New York State, crop and dairy consultants, Cornell University researchers, and Cornell Cooperative Extension educators. Participants are asked to bring a dish to pass at the potluck lunch.

Those interested in attending the February 9 NYCO program via website at an Extension office should contact that office directly as follows:

.  Canton: CCE of St. Lawrence County, 2043B State Highway 68, Kitty O’Neil, 315.379.9192 x253,

. Morrisville: CCE of Madison County, 100 Eaton Street, Katherine Brosnan, 315.684.3001,

. Warsaw: CCE of Wyoming County, 401 North Main Street, Zach Amey, 585.786.2251 x123, and

. Westport: CCE of Essex County, 3 Sisco Street, Anita Deming, 518.982.4180 x409.

For more information on New York Certified Organic, contact Fay Benson at 607.745.3807, afb3@cornell.edu.

New York Certified Organic sets 2016 winter programs in Geneva

New York Certified Organic, a group of grain and dairy farmers meeting together since 1994 to increase their practical knowledge and expertise with the organic production of crops and milk, has announced its winter 2016 programs, all beginning at 10 a.m. on various dates in Jordan Hall at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, 630 W. North St., Geneva.

The 2016 NYCO winter meetings are as follows: Three sessions on “Organic Crop Management Through Good Years and Bad” will cover “What to Do When the Cultivating Window Does Not Open Very Wide,” “The Effects of Long-Term Management on Weed Competition in Organic Soybean” and “Using Crimped Cover Crops for Soybean or Squash Production” on Jan. 12; four sessions on “Managing Soil Health with Crop Rotations and Forage Production” will cover “Putting Soil Health Knowledge and Crop Rotations into Practice,” “Alternative Forage Rotations to Protect Soil on Marginal Land” and “Reducing Pasture Compaction with Daikon Radish” and a farmer panel will discuss “How to Decide Whether to Sell Forages to Dairy Farmers or Plow Them in for Green Manure” on Feb. 9; and four sessions on “Changing Markets for Organic Grain and Dairy Sessions” will cover “Developing New Markets for Organic Grain,” “What is Transpiring in the World Market of Organic Grain,” “What Do You Want to Make Per Acre on Your Farm” and “Flax Grain Production and Uses” on March 8.

The New York Crop Insurance Education Team and Cornell Cooperative Extension provide support for these meetings. There will be a brief description of how crop insurance can benefit organic farmers at each of the 2016 meetings. Participants are asked to bring a dish to pass at the potluck lunch.

For more information, contact Fay Benson at 607-745-3807 or afb3@cornell.edu.

See this article in Morning Ag Clips!

 

Healthy Soils for Dairy Grazers Workshops Set on Three NY Farms in August

The New York Grazing Coalition, Organic Valley Cooperative, and Cornell CooperativeExtension are hosting three free on-farm healthy soils workshops for dairy operators who graze their cows. The workshops in Groton, Lisbon and Little Falls, NY, will feature hand-on learning opportunities with the National Grazinglands Coalition Soil Health Trailer and soil health presenters. The National Grazinglands Coalition Soil Health Trailer is equipped to measure and demonstrate vital physical, chemical, and biological components of soil health. Workshop participants will use penetrometers to measure soil compaction, and see a demonstration of the Active Carbon test that measures how much food the soil contains for the biological organisms that support soil health.

NY Organic Dairy Initiative Coordinator Fay Benson will compare soil management plots under a rainfall simulator to measure soil aggregate stability. Benson says, “Soil health is being identified as the limiting factor to productivity on many farms nationwide. While seed companies and agronomists have done an excellent job of improving seed selection and the nutrient or chemical composition of soils to support crop production, we now realize the need to also focus on the physical structure and biological life in the soil to maximize the value of our fields and pastures.”

Livestock concentration, soil compaction and erosion, living plant cover, dead plant residue on the surface, forage mass and height and soil organic matter are some workable aspects of grazing land management. At each workshop, Organic Valley Cooperative Soil Agronomist Mark Kopecky will present farm management factors that contribute to overall soil health and consequently the growth and productivity of grazing lands. He will cover the soil traits that affect rainwater runoff and infiltration.

The workshops also include a short presentation on USDA Risk Management Agency policies to address the types of farm risks that are more difficult to manage.

The 10am to 2:30 pm workshops are free and include a light lunch. Registration is requested with Ellen Fagan, Cornell Cooperative Extension, 607-753-5078, etf22@cornell.edu, for the program of your

August 24: Fay Benson’s Custom Grazing Farm, 546 Cobb Street, Groton NY

August 25: Bob Zufall’s No-Grain Dairy, 21 Campbell Road, Lisbon NY

August 26: Dan Casler’s Organic Dairy, 909 Paradise Road, Little Falls NY.

The National Grazinglands Coalition Soil Health Trailer is available to New York through a five-state Conservation Innovation Grant funded by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Where There’s No-Till, There’s A Way: Organic Cover Crop Based Rotational No-Till

June 2013 was a wet one, at least in Central NY. This fact was especially pertinent to Jeff Liebert, a graduate student in the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences at Cornell University. At the Musgrave Research Farm in Aurora, NY, topsoil was washed out from under an organic crop of tilled soybeans while its neighbor, another organic crop of soybeans, stood securely in place. The difference between these soybeans? A thick mat of cereal rye cover crop, bent at the base by a roller-crimper, kept the soil in place and the weeds at bay in the erosion-resistant no-till soybean plots.

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(Soybean Crop at Musgrave Research Farm in Aurora, NY. Photo Credit: Jeff Liebert)

Traditionally, no-till has been limited to conventional crop production. Although reducing tillage can improve soil quality, this approach has largely been dependent on synthetic herbicides to control weeds. In organic systems, continuous no-till is generally impractical due to the proliferation of perennial weeds in the absence of synthetic herbicides. Fortunately, researchers at Cornell University are developing a cover crop-based, rotational no-till system as an alternative approach to weed management for organic farmers that are interested in reducing tillage.

Organic farmers growing corn-soybean-wheat in rotation can easily use over 20 tillage and cultivation operations over a 3-year period. For example, an organic soybean crop might require moldboard plowing, disking, and cultimulching to prepare the seedbed for planting, as well as 2-3 passes with an inter-row cultivator to control weeds while the crop is growing. In contrast, it is possible to produce the same three crops with less than 10 tillage events in a cover crop-based, organic, rotational no-till system by replacing the cultivation events with a rolled-crimped cover crop mulch for weed control. According to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service’s ‘2014 Machinery Custom Rates,’ farmers could save an average of $15.80 an acre by reducing cultivation through a no-till system. In addition to saving money by reducing labor and fuel, this cover crop-based, rotational no-till system can also protect and improve soil health.

In Geneva, NY, Liebert was a guest speaker at the NY Certified Organic meeting in March 2015. Focusing on the cover crop-based, organic, rotational no-till system, he highlighted important cover crop and soybean management practices to increase the likelihood of success for farmers who are new to this method of soybean production.

Cover Crop Management:

  1. Fitting organic no-till soybean into your crop rotation. This will likely mean thinking ahead about your crop rotation and fitting cover crop-based no-till soybean in when you can harvest the preceding crop in the summer or early fall. In the Northeast, winter wheat or short-season corn silage would work well as preceding crops since they are harvested in late summer, allowing you to sow a cereal rye cover crop in early- to mid-September.
  2. Sow cereal rye early in the fall. As mentioned, your crop rotation and the preceding crop (along with the weather) will determine when you can establish your cover crop. Although cereal rye can be established later than any other cover crop, sowing it early in the fall is strongly recommended. This will increase the weed suppression potential through greater biomass production and earlier ground cover.
  3. Choose a regionally adapted cereal rye variety. Although VNS or “bin-run” seed might be cheaper, it is important to use high quality, locally adapted seed to ensure good winter survival, productivity, and weed suppression. Find link to “Cover Crop Decision Tool”
  4. Drill the seed to improve stand uniformity. Drilling the cover crop into a clean seedbed in the fall will result in a much more uniform stand compared with broadcasting the seed, which tends to produce an uneven, patchy stand. As this cover crop will serve as your main form of weed control, uniformity is key. When a patchy stand is rolled, weeds are more likely to break through the cover crop mulch in areas where it was thin. A combination of drilling and broadcasting the seed can be effective, especially in long narrow fields when perpendicular planting is not convenient (see 7 below).
  5. Increase the seeding rate (and use narrower row spacing). Though it will not necessarily increase cereal rye biomass, a higher seeding rate of 3 bushels/acre should be used to increase ground cover, and thus weed suppression, earlier in the season. Similarly, using a drill with narrower row spacing will allow the cereal rye to cover the ground faster and gain an upper hand on weeds.
  6. Base termination on cover crop phenology. You will have the most success terminating the cover crop if you roll it at anthesis, when the plant is shedding pollen and anthers are visible. Cereal rye tends to bounce back up if it is rolled prior to this growth stage.
  7. Roll cover crops perpendicular to the direction they were drilled. This will maximize ground cover and create a more uniform mulch layer, increasing weed suppression. If this is not possible, the rolled cover crop stand will still provide adequate weed suppression if the other recommended management practices have been followed.

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(Photo Credit: Jeff Liebert)

Soybean Management:

  1. Plant, rather than drill, your soybean seed. Planting your soybeans at 15- or 30-inch rows is generally recommended over drilling. It is more difficult to penetrate the mulch and pull many drill units through a field of rolled cover crop residue than it is to pull fewer, more widely-spaced planter units. Also, if additional weight is required (see next tip), it is more difficult to evenly apply enough down-pressure across many drill units compared with adding weight to a few planter units.
  2. Optimize seed-to-soil contact with planter adjustments and extra weight. Using a no-till planter with coulters, double-disk openers, and closing wheels, adjust the depth setting to ensure you are minimizing soil exposure and obtaining adequate seed placement at around 1.5 inches deep. If the soil is dry or your cover crop stand was particularly vigorous, you might need to add weight on the planter units to penetrate the mulch and achieve good seed-to-soil contact.
  3. Increase the seeding rate. That’s right, you just read this. A higher soybean seeding rate serves two main purposes: enhancing weed control and improving yields. A soybean crop will attain canopy closure more quickly when planted at a higher rate, which is useful for shading out late-season weeds and reducing the seed production of any early-season weeds that may have broken through the mulch. Also, since seed germination tends to be a bit lower in this cover crop-based system, a higher seeding rate will result in a higher final stand population and greater yields. The sweet spot is about 300,000 seeds/acre; much higher and soybean-to-soybean competition begins to decrease yield. Thus, a higher seeding rate can be considered a low-cost insurance for achieving high yields and enhanced weed suppression.

Research conducted by Cornell University agroecologist, Matt Ryan, in collaboration with USDA research ecologist, Steven Mirsky, compared seeding rates of 150,000 and 300,000 seeds/acre in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Despite higher seed costs upfront, Liebert’s economic analysis of these trials showed there was approximately a 30% ($240/acre) increase in partial profitability with the higher seeding rate due to increased yields and the high market value for organic soybeans. Preliminary results of Liebert’s own work in NY support these findings.

The cover crop-based, organic, rotational no-till system is applicable to other crops. However, it is very important to consider the compatibility between the no-till cash crop and the cover crop. For example, cereal rye depletes soil nitrogen (N). This characteristic gives soybeans a competitive advantage because it starves weeds of N, whereas soybeans are able to flourish by fixing their own N. In contrast, corn is a heavy feeder and therefore needs to be paired with a N-fixing cover crop, such as hairy vetch. No-till planting corn into cereal rye will result in severely stunted, N-deficient corn.

Find out more about organic no-till soybean and results from 2015 at the Cornell Sustainable Cropping Systems Lab website: https://scslabcu.wordpress.com/.

 

Tools For Transitioning to Organic Dairy Webinar

The Organic Dairy Initiative hosted a webinar on May 19th to explore the resources available to dairy farmers considering organic transition. The following videos are recordings of segments of the whole webinar. Transition information can be found on the ODI website here.

Lisa Engelbert works for NOFA NY Certified Organic, LLC, the main USDA-accredited certification agency in New York State. She shared the process of becoming certified by NOFA NY:

 

Fay Benson, from Cornell Cooperative Extension and Organic Dairy Initiative Project Leader, hosts a webinar highlighting the programs and resources available for dairy farmers considering organic certification:

 

Noreen Atkins, a Federal Loan Officer for Farm Service Agency, shares information about FSA’s loan programs:

 

Dale Gates, the TSP coordinator for NRCS shares NRCS’s conservation program opportunities for organic and transitioning farmers:

Tom Kilcer Speaks at NYCO on Double Cropping

Tom Kilcer spoke at the NY Certified Organic meeting on February 2nd, 2015 in Geneva, NY. If you’d like to learn more about NYCO, click here.

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