Northern NY; February 28, 2017.  Delicate grape varieties do not do well under harsh winter weather in Northern New York, so the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program has funded research on cold-climate grape varieties to support increasing in interest in NNY-grown table grapes and wines. An update on the most recent work will be offered at the 2nd Northeast NY and Vermont Winter Grape School on March 9, 2017 at the Holiday Inn in Lake George, NY. Registration information is online at https://enych.cce.cornell.edu or call 518-410-6823.

The Northern New York Agricultural Development Program has posted the latest Evaluation of Cold-Hardy Grape Varieties for Production in Northern New York report at www.nnyagdev.org. The report summarizes work in 2016 to revitalize the cold-climate grape nursery at the Willsboro Research Farm in Willsboro, NY.

Input from regional growers, private grape breeders, and representatives of the Cornell-USDA and University of Minnesota grape breeding programs was collected and winnowed to a list of 20 potential new varieties for planting at the research nursery. The list includes varieties from the Cornell and Minnesota programs, one each from the USDA ARS grape breeding trials in California and at the University of Arkansas, and from Ontario, Canada, and private breeders.

Removal of old vines, soil testing, and replenishing the soil health at the nursery are among the preparatory work in anticipation of the new planting. The Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture Program plans to hire a grape specialist to oversee the research planting.

 

Outreach educational programs on cold-hardy grape production research in 2016 reached groups of more than 60 grape growers and winemakers.

The farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is a research and technical assistance program serving all agricultural sectors in Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis, and St. Lawrence counties. Funding for the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is supported by the New York State Senate and administered through the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Northern New York; February 20, 2017. Two soybean diseases not previously confirmed in Northern New York crops were identified in 2016 by the annual corn and soybean disease survey and assessment funded by the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program. The proactive disease assessment program helps protect the security and profitability of corn and soybean, two major agricultural crops for the Northern New York region.

Survey project leader and Cornell University plant pathologist Dr. Gary C. Bergstrom, Ithaca, NY, notes, “The unusually dry conditions of the 2016 growing season resulted in very low disease pressure for corn and soybeans in general across Northern New York, but provided a unique environment which favored the development of some soybean soil-borne diseases never before confirmed in the region.”

The soil-borne charcoal rot and Phythophthora root rot were confirmed in soybean in Northern New York for the first time in 2016. Fusarium root rot was first diagnosed in soybean in the region in 2015 and was present again in 2016. Northern stem canker was first identified in soybeans in Northern New York in 2014 and in 2015 and 2016.

Northern corn leaf blight was observed at relatively low levels in NNY cornfields in 2016. Bergstrom suggests regional growers plant corn hybrids with moderate resistance to the disease in 2017. Northern corn leaf blight has been identified as the most prevalent disease affecting corn production every year since this survey effort began in 2013. It occurred at its lowest levels, however, in 2016.

Prior to 2013 no systematic assessment of corn and soybean diseases had been made in the region for decades. Bergstrom is urging Northern New York growers to be alert to a potential resurgence of corn head smut which has not been a major concern in the region since the 1980s but was identified in crops in the western part of the area in 2014 and 2015.

Fifty-six farms located across the six-county Northern New York region participated in the 2016 survey. Cornell University Cooperative Extension Field Crop Specialists Mike Hunter and Kitty O’Neil noted disease symptoms and collected samples for analysis by the Bergstrom Lab at Cornell University and as needed by Wang Lab of the USDA at Cornell University.

The results of the regional work are being added to Cornell’s statewide mapping of the distribution of corn and soybean diseases to help growers make well-informed seed selection and crop management decisions.

The Northern New York corn and soybean disease survey work will continue in 2017 with new funding from the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program, a research and technical assistance program serving Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties. Funding for the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is supported by the New York State Senate and administered through the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Click here to go to the 2016 NNY Corn and Soybean Disease Survey Results Report

Northern NY; February 16, 2017. Representatives of the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program met with NYS Senate Agriculture Chair Senator Patty Ritchie recently to recognize her support of the regional research and technical assistance program serving Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties.

Program Co-Chair Jon Greenwood, Program Committee members Kevin Acres and David Fisher, and Program Coordinator Michele Ledoux provided the Senator a copy of the 2017 Northern New York Agricultural Development Program Economic Impact and Project Highlights Report.

Senator Ritchie commented on the value of the farmer involvement in directly selecting priority projects. More than 100 farmers serve on the committee that provides small grant funding for on-farm research and technical assistance projects in the six northernmost counties of New York State. Senator Ritchie has championed restoration of funding for the Program in recent State Budgets.

The discussion noted that the 2017 Crop Congresses in NNY featured five Northern New York Agricultural Development Program projects focused on dairy and crop production. The annual report highlights trials evaluating tile drainage as a critical agronomic practice for soil, manure and nutrient management, erosion and runoff control, crop production, and farm sustainability. The regional research states the use of tiles can return 7 to 12 percent on investment in five to 10 years for some farms.

Kevin Acres told the Senator that installing tiles on his farm in St. Lawrence County has saved him thousands of dollars in annual costs, improved his soil, reduced compaction, and made it easier to plant and harvest crops.

David Fisher noted how efficiently the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program manages the State funding. Jon Greenwood, who Co-Chairs the Program with Joe Giroux and Jon Rulfs, pointed out that while dairy and crops are major focus areas, projects address all facets of the regional agricultural industry, including local food production, grapes, maple, and livestock.

Michele Ledoux mentioned that, as a direct result of Northern New York Agricultural Development Program-funded trials in regional sugarbushes, NNY maple producers are changing to 3/16-inch tubing for more efficient sap collection. Cornell Northern NY Maple Specialist Michael Farrell estimates the region can grow to meet a $10 million maple industry potential.

Senator Ritchie invited the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program leaders to meet with the Senate Agriculture Committee in Albany, and recognized Senator Betty Little of the 45^th Senate District in eastern NNY as a stalwart supporter of the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program.

After the meeting Senator Ritchie presented David Fisher with a proclamation in recognition for his service to the agricultural industry in Northern New York and acknowledging his recent election as New York Farm Bureau President.

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

Northern New York; February 8, 2017. The farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program has posted the results of a project exploring opportunities for regional maple sugarmakers to produce birch syrup. Four sugarhouses participated in the 2015-2016 birch syrup project; one each in Clinton, Essex, Franklin and Jefferson counties.

“All species of birch trees produce sap that can be processed into syrup that sells at a high price point,” says project leader Dr. Michael L. Farrell, author of The Sugarmaker’s Companion: An Integrated Approach to Producing Syrup from Maple, Birch and Walnut Trees.

“In some areas a gallon of birch syrup can sell for $200 with gross revenues of $20 per tap, which is significantly higher than most maple syrup operations generate,” says Farrell, director of the Cornell University Uihlein Forest in Lake Placid, NY.

But, Farrell quickly points out that while birch syrup production has the potential to be a profitable enterprise for existing maple producers in Northern New York, several prerequisites are required, including a proper number of birch trees to produce a sufficient amount of sap to support efficient use of commercial-scale maple processing equipment.

One option for smaller sugarmakers that Farrell suggests in the Producing Syrup from Birch Trees in NNY report posted at www.nnyagdev.org is to pool their birch sap for processing by one larger commercial operation.

Paul Smith’s College Visitor Interpretive Center Maple Program transported the sap collected from 61 paper birch trees there 20 miles to the Uihlein Forest sugarhouse for processing into syrup.

Farrell notes that the research trial at Paul Smith’s produced conclusive evidence that using 5/16-inch spouts will provide significantly more sap than 3/16-inch spouts. (See graph below.)

In Ellenburg Center, Brandy Brook Maple Farm owner Joy Herfurth tapped 40 white and yellow birch trees and gathered data on sugar content and sap volume. She made about two gallons of birch syrup. A half-gallon sold for $80.

“I was interested to participate in this research as a way to develop an opportunity for extra income. We used a smaller boiling rig that typically helps extend our maple season when the sap volume and quality decrease,” Herfurth says.

“This type of regional research is part of helping landowners discover untapped resources they may not be aware of or may be cutting down for firewood,” Herfurth adds.

For now, producing birch syrup is on hold at Brandy Brook Maple Farm which has 10,000 maple taps and has opened a new maple-influenced winery, but Herfurth says if birch syrup catches on with consumers, specialty food stores, and restaurants to build market demand she will consider tapping the 150 or so birch trees she has in the future.

Birch syrup is produced on a commercial scale by sugarmakers in Alaska and Canada.

Farrell says, “More birch syrup production research and consumer awareness building could help North Country sugarmakers expand their use of the Northern New York landbase with this niche product.”

The farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is a research and technical assistance program serving Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties. Funding for the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is supported by the New York State Senate and administered through the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Producing Syrup from Birch Trees in Northern NY 2015-2016 Report

Smithville, NY.  A management solution developed with funding from the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program for controlling one field crop insect pest may also help corn growers protect their crop from another.

The protocol for applying biocontrol nematodes to manage alfalfa snout beetle shows potential for managing corn rootworm, says research leader Cornell University entomologist Elson Shields.

Biocontrol nematodes are microscopic worms that eat the larva of alfalfa snout beetle, thereby reducing beetle populations to less damaging levels in alfalfa crops. Shields says his research in Northern New York indicates the nematodes persist, even increase, at effective populations over multiple years even when the field is rotated to corn or soybeans for 4-5 years.

“We are seeing an increasing biocontrol nematode population when the field is rotated to corn, strongly suggesting the nematodes are reproducing in corn rootworm which is attacking the corn. An associated study initiated in 2014 at the Cornell Musgrave Research Farm demonstrated nematodes applied there persisted in continuous corn until 2016 at a level to completely protect non-BT rootworm corn at the same level as rootworm BT corn,” Shields notes.

The farmers who prioritize on-farm research for Northern New York Agricultural Development Program grant funding want to know if the impact of biocontrol nematodes on corn rootworm may be significant enough to eliminate the need for Bt-rootworm corn seed or soil insecticide.

Bt corn seed is genetically modified to express one or more proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis that is poisonous to certain insect pests and is used in organic production systems.

The potential for corn rootworm resistance to Bt corn is increasingly a concern for agricultural producers as is the cost of Bt corn seed, making the potential use of biocontrol nematodes to manage corn rootworm particularly timely.

Grant funding from the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program in 2016 established research plots to evaluate the effectiveness of biocontrol nematodes on corn rootworm at Morning Star Farms in Smithville, NY.

Results are not expected until the end of the 2017 growing season as corn rootworm becomes a pest of corn starting in year 2.

Farmers interested in applying biocontrol nematodes on alfalfa crops will find a how-to manual on the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program website at nnyagdev.org.

The farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is a research and technical assistance program serving Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties. Funding for the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is supported by the New York State Senate and administered through the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.