Northern New York — As the nation prepares to celebrate the first National Bioenergy Day on October 17, researchers funded by the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program are continuing their study of willow and grass crops as alternative energy sources for agricultural producers in New York’s six northernmost counties.
Cornell University Crop and Soil Sciences Professor Dr. Jerry Cherney is evaluating the potential for a closed-loop, regional renewable energy system that makes marginal farmland productive, creates local jobs, lowers greenhouse gas emissions, and helps reduce dependency on fossil fuels.
In a separate project, Cornell Associate Professor of Horticulture Larry Smart is establishing a shrub willow trial at the Cornell Willsboro Research Farm in Willsboro, NY, to evaluate varieties and to test new methods for more sustainable site conversion and crop establishment in typical NNY fields.
Read more about both NNYADP-funded projects.
