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Dairy Herd Management has posted a story on the NNYADP-funded dairy labor survey project. Click here to read that story by Maureen Hanson: https://www.dairyherd.com/article/dairy-labor-survey-shows-trends-vulnerabilities

Willsboro, N.Y.: July 2, 2019. Young specialty fruit trials funded by the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) will be among the many crop plots for touring during the Cornell University Willsboro Research Farm Open House event on Wednesday, July 10 from 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm. The tour of the farm facilities and research fields is free and open to the public. It will leave the main office at 48 Sayward Lane, Willsboro, N.Y., at 2:00 pm

NNYADP grants to the Willsboro farm support the research aimed at developing new specialty fruit crops suited to the Northern New York climate and growing conditions. Longer-term trials with Juneberry there and now on farms in the northern NY region have been joined by a newer investigation into Aronia and Honeyberry

“We think all of these new fruits will prove to be exciting new crops for Northern New York farmers for fresh market sales and value-added processing,” said Michael Davis, Ph.D., NNYADP new fruits project leader and Cornell University Willsboro Research Farm Manager.

The Juneberry nursery at the farm is a living collection of wild and commercial lines of the fruit considered to have tremendous potential to become a major fruit crop in Northern New York and the Northeast. Davis is collaborating with Juneberry expert and SUNY Plattsburgh botanist Michael Burgess, Ph.D., on Juneberry the trials.

This year marks the fourth full growing season for 11 commercial varieties and four ornamental varieties of Juneberry at the research farm, and the third season for nine wild-collected lines.

With numerous scientific studies documenting its high antioxidant and phytonutrient levels, Aronia has been labeled a “superfood” and has quickly blossomed into a multi-million dollar industry in North America. The Willsboro Aronia trial is focused on four fruit-producing varieties now in their third growing season

The blue Honeyberry is a perennial, fruit-producing shrub that is native to the cool temperate forest regions of North America, Asia and Europe. Fruit breeders in Oregon and at the University of Saskatchewan have prompted a surge in recent interest in this flavorful fruit in North America. The Honeyberry trial at the Willsboro Research Farm is evaluating 15 commercially-available cultivars.

Davis is also evaluating demonstration site plantings of the fruits with participating growers in Clinton, Franklin, Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties. The research has been featured by Mountain Lakes PBS television in Plattsburgh, NY, and WCAX-TV, Burlington, VT.

Research reports on the new fruit trials are posted on the NNYADP website at www.nnyagdev.org. Funding for the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is supported by the New York State Legislature and administered by the New York State Department of Agriculture.

On Wednesday, July 10, the NNYADP-funded new fruit research plots for Juneberry, aronia, and honeyberry will be on the free tour as past of the Cornell University Willsboro Research Farm Open House  from 1:30pm to 4:00pm.  A tour of the facilities and research plots will leave the main office at 48 Sayward Lane, Willsboro, NY, at 2:00pm.  Light refreshments will be provided.

Research topics featured at this year’s open house include industrial hemp trials, insect exclusion netting for cucumbers, corn silage variety evaluations, soil health plots, cover crops, warm season forage options, juneberry nursery and production trials, Aronia variety plantings, honeyberry variety trial, reduced tillage demonstration plots, and grain plots of winter triticale, winter rye, and winter barley.

In 1982 E. Vreeland Baker, a Willsboro farmer and entrepreneur, donated his 352 acre farm to Cornell University for agricultural research and demonstration.  The facility serves to connect Cornell faculty in Ithaca with the challenges and issues facing North Country farmers.  Willsboro Research Farm is part of the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station.

This event is free and open to the public.  For more information, call 518-963-7492.

NNYADP Research Prompts Request for Help from Farmers in Southwest: 23 Billion Biocontrol Nematodes Traveled to SW to Apply Protocol Pioneered in Northern NY

https://www.nnyagdev.org/index.php/2019/06/27/nnyadp-research-…t-for-biocontrol/June 27, 2019.  In May, Cornell University entomologist Elson Shields, Ph.D., and Research Support Specialist Antonio Testa transport 23 billion native New York nematodes to farms in Texas and New Mexico for field application against Western corn rootworm. Shields and Testa, who pioneered the use of biocontrol nematodes as a crop pest management protocol, built a generator-powered system to maintain a temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit to protect the nematodes under the cap of a pickup truck.

Researchers, crop consultants, and farmers in several U.S. states are now testing the nematode application, initially developed to beat alfalfa snout beetle back, against an increasing number of agricultural crop pests.

With long-term funding from the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program, Shields and Testa created the science and the nematode-rearing procotol behind the use of native nematodes for controlling alfalfa snout beetle, the most highly destructive crop pest of the alfalfa crops so critical to the regional dairy industry.

Over time, the biocontrol application has been field-tested and increasingly proven its value as a biocontrol for managing pests in corn, berries, potatoes, and potentially other crops.

“The science built and proven in Northern New York over the course of more than 30 years for using the native nematodes as a crop pest biocontrol has steadily expanded to help farmers across New York State and other states and to address pest issues in multiple crops,” said Shields. “The expansion of this cost-effective, easy-to-apply management practice would not be possible were it not for the long-term commitment the farmers of Northern New York needed to develop the science to support a solution for snout beetle.”

With local funding, Texas Agri-Life Extension entomologists and private ag consultants are jointly conducting large farm trials testing the NY nematodes as a biocontrol to manage corn rootworm in Dalhart, TX, and growers have completely funded trials in Riodoso, NM. Applications have been made to more than 900 acres using both ground application and through a center pivot irrigation system.

Having learned of the concept using persistent biocontrol nematodes while working in West Texas, a newly-hired Extension entmologist with Auburn University in Alabama recently contacted Shields about trying the biocontrol nematodes to manage billbugs, a type of beetle that impacts lawn, sod and grass crops.

In 2019 with a new grant from the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program, Cornell University Cooperative Extension Field Crops Specialist Mike Hunter is evaluating the application of the biocontrol nematodes in manure as a way to incorporate the pest management practice into an existing farm task. The research prompted the creation of a new business enterprise now raising the biocontrol nematodes locally for application by farmers and custom spraying services in the Northern New York region.

The number of acres treated with biocontrol nematodes in Northern New York has steadily grown to protect the alfalfa crops on more than 20,000 acres. Shields estimates that recent dairy prices have curbed applications expected to cover more than 100,000 acres with the biocontrol nematodes by this time.

The Shields Lab at Cornell University has also received a Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education grant to expand biocontrol nematode-corn rootworm applications throughout New York State and to assist similar start-up research in Vermont and Pennsylvania.

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

FOR MORE INFO:
https://www.nnyagdev.org/index.php/field-crops/research-projects/research-alfalfa-snout-beetle/

Northern N.Y.: June 5, 2019.   Alfalfa is an excellent source of protein in the dairy cow diet. Research funded by the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) is evaluating new opportunities to grow alfalfa in combination with grass species to provide dairy farmers the opportunity to enhance forage yield, quality and digestibility. The results of the most recent alfalfa-grass mix trials conducted by Cornell University researchers are posted on the NNYADP website at www.nnyagdev.org.

The field trials, which continue in 2019, rank the alfalfa-grass varieties and mixes for factors that influence milk production. Those factors include fiber digestibility, crude protein, and lignin. Lignin is a fiber component of alfalfa that helps the plant grow upright, but at higher levels decreases the digestibility of that alfalfa in a dairy ration.

Early indications show that a combination of reduced-lignin alfalfa planted with the right meadow fescue can result in a large increase in forage digestibility, which in turn encourages proper daily dry matter feed intake by cows to support milk production.

The on-farm trials in Jefferson and Lewis counties are focused on meadow fescue varieties that are winter-hardy and add the opportunity for higher fiber digestibility.

“Our results continue to show that meadow fescue has great potential to significantly improve forage quality when planted with a high quality alfalfa. These regionalized trials are especially important for analyzing the localized conditions that impact grass yield and quality,” said project leader Debbie J.R. Cherney, a Cornell University professor of Animal Science.

Cherney says climate naturally plays a key role in how each type of crop in the mix matures.

“Alfalfa growth is primarily controlled by heat units or growing degree days, while grass development in the spring is driven by day length. Depending on the conditions in any given year, one crop in the mix may mature at a normal rate, while the other can be significantly delayed,” Cherney explained.

The varieties under evaluation in the Northern New York trials include those grown from meadow fescue seed developed in European environments that are colder and with a shorter growing season than in Northern New York.

The research data indicates that while the grass percentage in the mix can impact yield and the crude protein content of the grass, it does not significantly impact other forage quality measurements for the alfalfa or grass in the mix.

The next objective for the alfalfa-grass research team is to evaluate opportunities to achieve a consistent 20-30 percent, high quality grass mixture from year-to-year under variable growing conditions. The research plan in 2019 includes assessing the impact of different seeding rates for meadow fescue planted with reduced-lignin alfalfa and testing a large group of meadow fescue varieties, many of which have not yet been grown in North America.

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