Results from the latest Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) maple research projects will be presented at the Making the Most of Maple workshop on Saturday, December 3, 2022, in Lowville, New York. Northern New York Maple Specialist Adam Wild, director of the Uihlein Maple Research Forest at Lake Placid, will be joined by Cornell University’s Statewide Maple Specialist Aaron Wightman and Cornell Maple Program Product Development Food Scientist Catherine Belisle, Ph.D., as workshop presenters. The 9:00 a.m. to 12 p.m. workshop will be held at the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Lewis County Learning Center, 7395 East Road, Lowville. Contact CCE at 315-376-5270 to reserve your space by November 30.

During the workshop, Wild will preview the results of his 2022 NNYADP project investigation the feasibility of producing sap from American beech trees for syrup production. Sugarmakers want to know if tapping beech trees can be economically worthwhile, while land managers and biodiversity advocates are interested to learn if beech syrup production might give northern forest owners an incentive to keep the beech trees despite issues with beech bark disease and a root system that threatens to crowd out more marketable species.

Wild will also present follow-up results of NNYADP-funded trials of 1/4-inch sap collection tubing and fixtures. Data has shown that sap in 3/16s’ diameter tubing systems can drop off due to clogging as soon as the second year after installation.

NNYADP-prioritized maple research has supported the growth of the northern New York maple industry from a documented $3.25 million annual valuation in 2008 to now more than $20 millin per year with room yet to grow.

NNYADP maple research has included:
. 2008 study of the growth potential of the regional maple industry
. climate adaptation trials
. how to build producer-landowner collaborations
. a cost-benefit analysis of leasing trees for tapping versus lumber harvest
. the cloning of NNY sweet maple trees, and
. ways to increase sap yield and profitability for both gravity-fed and vacuum-pressure systems. Learn more under the Research: Maple, Birch and Honey tab on this website.

Funding for the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is supported by the New York State Legislature through the New York State Assembly and is administered by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

DECEMBER 1, 2022, 12 pm-1 pm Webinar
Economic Feasibility Case Study of Co-Digestion of Manure and Food Waste on a NNY Dairy Farm: A Project Funded by the NNYADP
Register at https://cals.cornell.edu/co-digestion-webinar

Speakers with Cornell PRO-DAIRY: Agricultural Sustainability & Energy Engineer Lauren Ray, Agricultural Engineer Peter Wright; moderators: CCE NCRAT Regional Dairy Specialist Lindsay Ferlito, Cornell PRO-DAIRY Dairy Environmental Systems Specialist Angela George.
Presentation: Food waste sources and tipping fees, biogas generation and utilization for energy, and digested effluent storage and nutrient management planning will be covered. Q & A session included. Scenario 1:  Addition of food waste (20% by volume) to existing manure anaerobic digester to electricity system. Scenario 2: New construction anaerobic digester to renewable natural gas (RNG) system taking in food waste (up to 50% by volume) with manure.

Final NNYADP project report: Economic Feasibility Case Study of Co-Digestion of Manure and Food Waste on a NNY Dairy Farm will be posted in the spring on this website.

Willsboro, NY; August 2, 2022.  “Super fruits” research funded by the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) in 2021 produced “firsts” for all four fruits studied: juneberry, honeyberry, aronia, and elderberry. Data on first fruit, earliest flowerings, and a first planting are reported in the NNYADP “Establishing New Commercial Fruit Crops for Northern NY” report for 2021 posted under the Research: Horticultural and Local Foods tab at https://www.nnyagdev.org.

“Our goal with this research is to identify specialty fruits that will successfully, sustainably, and profitably grow under northern New York’s unique growing conditions to provide growers with additional income opportunities,” says project co-leader Michael H. Davis, Ph.D.

JUNEBERRY
Davis manages the Willsboro Research Farm in Willsboro, New York, where this high-antioxidant, high-phytonutrient “super fruits” research began in 2013 with the establishment of wild-cut and commercial varieties of juneberry, with the help of project co-leader Michael B. Burgess, Ph.D., a SUNY Plattsburgh biologist and noted juneberry researcher. There are now 24 commercial, ornamental or wild varieties of juneberry in the NNYADP trials.

“In 2021, for the first time, we had ripe juneberry fruit by the end of June. The fruit was available the earliest it has ever been here with yield comparable to 2020,” Davis says.

HONEYBERRY
Blue honeyberry research at Willsboro was started in 2018 to evaluate how well this perennial that is well-adapted to cold climates could fit into northern New York growers’ cropping plans.

“In 2021, all 15 varieties of honeyberries here flowered much earlier and for a  longer time period than in 2020,with flowering taking place from the second week of April through the second week of May. Additionally,  we recorded our first honeyberry fruit yields in 2021,” Davis points out.

Although the honeyberry plants in the NNYADP trial are still young and the yields are not indicative of mature plant production potential, this early flowering data establishes a baseline for tracking the plants’ maturation as they grow. 

ARONIA
Production of Aronia in North America has grown to support a multi-million dollar industry offering more than 60 unique value-added products. Aronia plantings were established in the NNYADP trials at the Willsboro farm in 2017.

“In 2021, our four fruiting varieties and two ornamental varieties of Aronia all began flowering on May 14, fifteen days earlier than in 2020, and had excellent fruit yields with one exception for which there was not obvious explanation for the dropoff,” Davis notes.

ELDERBERRY
With 95 percent of the elderberries consumed in the U.S. originating from plants imported from Europe, this fruit is not only a high-phytonutrient value crop, but also has the potential to become a cash crop, supporting the continued growth of elderberry production in the U.S.

“In 2021, we established our elderberry research plot with five American varieties and two European varieties. The plants are doing nicely without any disease or insect problems in their first year here,” Davis says.

Commercial fruit growers and family farms across the northern New York region are applying the NNYADP research results, making their own on-farm “super fruit” plantings and providing input from their personal growing experiences to help characterize how well the fruits will fit into different cropping plans, soils, and conditions.

New York farms supporting the research in 2021 include Bush Gardens, Carthage; Cedar Knoll Farm, Lowville; Cross Island Farms, Wellesley Island; Essex Farm CSA, Essex; Northern Orchards, Peru; and Strong Roots Community Farm, Akwesasne.

“Interest in this Northern New York Agricultural Development Program-funded northern climate fruits research continues to grow,” Davis says. “In 2021, we answered numerous requests for information from growers across New York State; welcomed visiting groups of farmers, gardeners, and students to tour the fruit trials; and, in January of 2022, presented an ‘Introduction to Juneberry Production’ at the New York State Fruit and Vegetable Expo.”

Cornell University Horticulture Professor Dr. Marvin Pritts served as a project collaborator in 2021.

Funding for the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is supported by the New York State Legislature through the New York State Assembly and administered by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Canton, New York; July 27, 2022.  The results of a Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) research project in 2021 demonstrate how fluctuating grain costs may impact sheep enterprises differently from year to year. Research comparing the growth of barn-fed versus pasture-raised summer lambs was designed to answer sheep producers’ questions on whether they could gain any income advantage with a feeding program that would make lambs ready for market more quickly. An informal trial in 2020 that favored pasture feeding but highlighted many data variables prompted this second trial that produced data favoring barn-fed lambs, demonstrating the annual variability.

The results of the summer lambs feeding trial conducted at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Learning Farm in Canton, New York, are posted on the NNYADP website under the About: Projects tab at https://www.nnyagdev.org.

Forty-one lambs were split into two groups in the spring of 2021 with one group left on pasture with mother ewes and one group weaned at eight weeks into a barn environment and eased into a full-grain diet. The lambs in each group were periodically weighed, monitored for parasites, and treated when warranted.

At the end of the eight-week study period, the barn-fed lambs weighed 19.24 pounds more than the pasture-fed lambs. Based on this weight and the per-pound sale price for lambs in the fall of 2021 at the New Holland, Pennsylvania, sale barn, the weight difference in the barn-fed lambs represented a gross income potential for $52 more per lamb. This number less the extra cost for 161 pounds of grain fed per lamb represented a net income of $15.40 per lamb over the cost of grain in 2021.

The final project report also details other costs and management factors that need to be considered in planning a summer lamb feeding strategy. These considerations include the costs of mineral supplementation, for parasite prevention and treatment of lambs and ewes, and for lamb losses to predators, as well as fuel and labor costs associated with clipping pastures and moving fences to rotate grazing areas.

Over the eight-week study period, the average daily weight gain (ADG) of the barn-fed lambs ranged from 0.70 to 1.04 pounds per day; the ADG of the pastured lambs ranged from 0.13 to 0.83 pounds per day.

In a two-week extended trial period, the ADG for the barn-fed lambs was 0.58 pounds per day compared to 0.92 pounds per day for the pastured lambs that had been weaned and brought into the barn and fed approximately one pound per day of the barn-fed lambs’ grain diet and all the hay they could eat.

Cornell University graduate student Hannah Braun of Lisbon, New York, handled data collection and management of the barn-fed lambs as part of her honors thesis development.

Funding for the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is supported by the New York State Legislature through the New York State Assembly and administered by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. NNYADP project results are publicly accessible at https://www.nnyagdev.org.