First Cutting Monitoring – May 11th, 2021 SCNY Report

This is the SCNY Team’s second full week of monitoring alfalfa heights for first cutting quality in 2021.  A full report for the six-county region can be found in the following link:  Alfalfa Height ...
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May 12, 2021Cropsalfalfa, first cutting, growing degree days

First Cutting Monitoring – May 4th, 2021 SCNY Report

This is the SCNY Team’s first full week of monitoring alfalfa heights for first cutting quality in 2021.  A full report for the six-county region can be found in the following link: Alfalfa Height ...
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May 5, 2021Cropsalfalfa, first cutting, growing degree days

Managing Forage Digestibility to Combat High Commodity Prices

By Joe Lawrence, Cornell PRO-DAIRY Forage quality is important, it is hard to attend a meeting or read an agricultural publication without hearing this point and while there is a risk of becoming numb ...
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May 3, 2021Cropscorn silage, forage quality, nutrition

Spring Green-up & Harvest Outlook – April 30th, 2021

Location Updates As predicted, locations around the SCNY region gained around 100 GDD (B32) in the last week.  The two images below show the cumulative Growing Degree Days (B32) for locations throughout the SCNY ...
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April 30, 2021Cropscover crops, forage quality, growing degree days

Disease Prevention to Reduce Antibiotic Usage: On-Farm Perspectives from CNY Dairy Producers

By Betsy Hicks & Christine Georgakakos Disease Prevention Many dairy farmers know the truth in the saying, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, and manage their herds in such a ...
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April 26, 2021Herd Managementantibiotics, cow comfort, herd health, nutrition

Spring Green-up & Harvest Outlook – Friday, April 23, 2021

This past week gave us a little respite from field work, and bought us some time with the cooler (cold?) weather.  The two images below show the cumulative Growing Degree Days (B32) for locations ...
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April 23, 2021Cropscover crops, forage quality, growing degree days

How to talk about COVID-19 vaccination with your employees

By Mary Kate MacKenzie, Farm Business Management Specialist; Richard Stup, Agricultural Workforce Specialist; and Mary Jo Dudley, Director of the Cornell Farmworker Program The decision to receive the COVID-19 vaccine is a highly personal ...
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April 20, 2021Farm Business, Risk ManagementCOVID-19, human resources, safety

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

Updates to the PPP Loan Program make forgivable loans available to small farms with little or no hired labor expense – act fast to meet the NEW May 31, 2021 application deadline

This article was updated on April 12, 2021 with the new May 31 PPP application deadline. If your farm business did not apply for an earlier round of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), you ...
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March 15, 2021Farm Business, Risk ManagementCOVID-19

Dairy Forward Grant Guidelines from American Farmland Trust

Dairy farm families across America are facing tremendous challenges due to many factors including a weak dairy economy, disruptions from severe weather, and an aging farming population. American Farmland Trust is joining Chobani with ...
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March 1, 2021Farm Business, Risk Managementbusiness development, family farming, farm transition