Your Participation is requested in our new Beef x Dairy in New York State Survey

Attention Dairy Producers and Beef Farmers in NYS, and those advisors who work with them! Your insight is requested to help maintain the viability of the Beef x Dairy Industry in New York State.  ...
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October 25, 2023Applied Research, Herd Managementbeef on dairy, beef x dairy, bxd

Characteristics of the Beef x Dairy Industry in New York State – White Paper

By Margaret Quaassdorff & Betsy Hicks Click to read: Characteristics of the Beef x Dairy Industry in NYS-White Paper The usage of beef sires on dairy farms more than doubled from 2015 to 2019. ...
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July 27, 2023Applied Research, Herd Managementbeef on dairy, beef x dairy, bxd, white paper

Lean Management: Practical applications and challenges on dairy farms

By Barry Putnam and Mary Kate MacKenzie Lean Management is a systematic approach to analyze and continuously improve the flow of information, materials, and work in a manufacturing environment. Lean systems maximize production efficiency ...
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September 19, 2022Applied Research, Farm Businesshuman resources, Lean Management

Pasture Regrowth Project Helps Farms Keep Pace with Grazing

By Betsy Hicks, CCE Dairy Management Specialist & Troy Bishopp, Upper Susquehanna Coalition/ Madison County SWCD  From May to November 2021, several farms participated in a pasture regrowth monitoring project.  Troy Bishopp of the ...
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May 30, 2022Applied Research, Grazingforage quality, growing degree days, nutrition, pasture

The Slow and Furtive Nature of Pasture Soil Compaction: Project Develops Ratio to Monitor Impact

In my work, first as a grazing dairy farmer and now as a Cornell University Cooperative Extension educator working with graziers across New York State, I have been aware of pasture soil compaction but ...
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March 28, 2022Applied Research, Grazingcompaction, pasture, soil health

Labor Research! What’s Happening in Your Farm?

By Richard Stup, Cornell Ag Workforce Development An important research project is gearing up in the next few weeks to understand what is happening with New York farm labor during this time of great ...
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August 3, 2021Applied Research, Farm Businesshuman resources

2021 Pasture Regrowth Monitoring Project

Project Objective:  Graziers who participate will fine tune their grazing skills to help improve pasture output by learning how weather conditions (rainfall, temperature) interact with management decisions (residue height, rest) to affect regrowth in ...
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May 14, 2021Applied Research, Grazingforage quality, pasture

Pasture Soil Compaction: A Slow, but Stealthy Thief of Pasture Productivity

I had a pasture soil compaction epiphany while working in a St. Lawrence County pasture on a NE SARE-supported project. The project was to plant radishes and other brassicas into established pasture swards. The ...
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May 14, 2021Applied Research, Grazingcompaction, pasture, soil health

Spring Green-Up and Harvest Outlook: Growing Degree Days, Cover Crops and First Cutting

So far this season, we’ve been blessed with an actual feeling of nice spring weather.  If you’re like me, though, you’re watching forage inventory with last year’s drought on your mind, and itching for ...
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April 16, 2021Applied Research, Cropscover crops, first cutting, forage quality

Antibiotic Usage & Pathways: On-Farm Perspectives from CNY Dairy Producers

By Christine Georgakakos & Betsy Hicks. Contaminants of emerging concern Pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and other emerging contaminants have been gaining attention across agricultural, environmental, and public health sectors.  Slowly, we have expanded our understanding of ...
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February 22, 2021Applied Research, Herd Management, Risk Managementantibiotics, public relations, soil health