This week started out with the preparation for Agri-palooza, an annual, educational farm event hosted by Wyoming County. The event has taken place for the past five years and has grown larger and larger each time. This year it was held at Breezy-Hill Dairy. Sixty local vendors and agricultural industry representatives from all over the county set up their booths. There were guided hay wagon rides around the farm to educate the public about what happens on a dairy farm and the importance of the dairy industry.

I spent the rest of the week doing various tasks all around western New York. One day was spent scouting for diseased malting barley to be sent to the lab at Cornell and analyzed. The six row winter barley was just beginning to flower in various counties, with the Alba winter malt variety doing the best so far. Later in the week I went to see an herbicide drift issue between a soybean field and an apple orchard and attend a corn tactical analysis meeting in Livingston County. There, we took populations, staged corn, and also examined seed that had not germinated or plants that seemed to have nutrient deficiencies or pest problems.

The week ended with learning a little more about dairy farming. I spent a morning at Noblehurst farms in Pavillion, Ny. There I was able to see a rotational milking parlor in action, learn the routine of the milking, tour the facilities and see a milking team meeting. Later that same day I got the opportunity to see how robotic milkers work on a different dairy in Canadaigua, NY and observe an employee meeting and safety training with Spanish speaking employees.