The Northern New York Agricultural Development Program recently welcomed a group of Russian farmers representing Ekoniva, the largest dairy producing company in Europe.

The group which farms 500,000 acres across six regions in Russia came to Northern New York on a tour organized by global seed provider Pioneer to meet Dr. Elson Shields and learn about his 28 years of research conducted on Northern NY farms that led to a solution for alfalfa snout beetle, a highly destructive crop pest.

The Russians farmers are experiencing a problem with the pest that is native to their country. The insect exists in two of their six regions; they lost approx. 14,000 acres to snout beetle in 2014.

In the photo are, third from left, Yuliya Kretinina, head of International Projects for Ekoniva, a large Russian agriholding company, presents Northern New York Agricultural Development Program Coordinator Michele Ledoux and NNYADP alfalfa snout beetle expert Dr. Elson Shields, far left, of Cornell University with a gift on behalf of Ramon Schenk, Ekoniva Deputy General Director of Livestock Production; Kirill Adkin, Ekoniva Chief Agronomist: Kursk Region; Roman Ratnikov, Ekoniva Deputy General Director of Crop Production; and Valerii Palamarchuk, EkonivaAgro Chief Agronomist.

Thanks go to Pioneer Russia and Pioneer USA for organizing the trip and to NNY farmers John Peck, Ron Robbins, Dave and Lisa Magos, and Doug Shelmidine for hosting the Russian visitors.

Thanks also to New York State Senate Agriculture Committee Chair Senator Patty Ritchie who shared these words with the group: “The effects of the alfalfa snout beetle (ASB) can be devastating, destroying entire fields and costing farmers thousands of dollars. Cornell University and the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program have been at the forefront of researching this issue and making sure farmers are armed with the tools and information necessary to fight the ASB.  I welcome our international friends to our region, and hope that they’re able to take some of the knowledge shared during their visit back to Russia to help them combat ASB on their own turf.”

The Russian farmers acknowledged that the information they gained from Dr. Shields, considered a leading expert on alfalfa snout beetle, and from the farmers they met will be used to develop a crop protection strategy for their growers in Russia.

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

NNYADP Farm Research Evaluating Why Some Corn Fields Exceed Yield Expectations

With research in the past 10 years showing notable exceptions in how well predictions of corn yield potential matched actual yields on North Country farms, the farmers of the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program wanted to learn more about the factors influencing the beyond-expectations success.

For science-based, real-time, on-farm data, the NNYADP provided grant funding to Dr. Quirine M. Ketterings, director of the Cornell University Nutrient Management Spear Program, NMSP, for evaluation of corn yield and nitrogen management in 2013-2015.

Click here to read more

Click here to read the complete report: see first item at top of the page

Funding from the farmer-led Northern New York Agricultural Development Program has established one of the world’s largest Juneberry research nurseries at the Cornell Willsboro Research Farm in Willsboro, NY.

Research leaders Michael B. Burgess, an Amelanchier biologist with the Department of Biological Sciences at SUNY Plattsburgh, and Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station Willsboro Research Farm Manager Michael H. Davis started with and are continuing to build a living collection of Amelanchier that includes all commercially available cultivars, wild-collected novel fruit cultivars, and North American diploid Amelanchier species.

Seeds from 8 Amelanchier species: A. alnifolia, A. arborea, A. canadensis, A. gaspensis, A. humilis, A. laevis, A. sanguinea, and A. spicata, collected from across the Northeast, the Gaspe Peninsula and southern Quebec, were cold stratified for 2-3 months and successfully germinated in the SUNY Plattsburgh greenhouse. Seedlings were transplanted to the Willsboro Research Farm nursery. The first substantive crop of fruit is expected in 2017.

The Cornell Willsboro Research Farm will have the most taxonomically diverse living collection of North American Amelanchier species and fruit cultivars in the world. Replicated trials at the nursery will support development of a vibrant juneberry fruit industry.

To support grower entry into the Juneberry market, the Cornell Willsboro Research Farm Amelanchier nursery will provide evidence-based resources and best management practices for Juneberry production, including plant establishment techniques, fertility requirements, planting densities, organic production, and weed, insect, and disease control strategies.

Burgess and Davis have partnered with Jim Ochterski, a leading Juneberry proponent and educator in NY’s Finger Lakes region. They offer resources and workshops for growers and those interested in producing and marketing juneberries.

Ochterski will be the featured speaker at a June 12 Juneberry Production Workshop in Ovid, NY. The workshop is organized by Seneca County Cornell Cooperative Extension. Click here for details on this in-depth introduction to juneberry cultivation. The workshop also includes a field tour to Juneberry Farm, owned by Guy Lister, in Willard, NY.

Click here for the NNYADP Juneberry Nursery flier that Seneca County CCE is including in the workshop packets. Thank you, all!

Winter survival is important for a perennial crop like alfalfa. The harsh winters typical of Northern New York make winter hardiness an essential trait for alfalfa production. Loss of a high quality perennial crop to winterkill is an economic blow to producers with both time and money lost to crop rotation and reestablishment costs.

Some alfalfa varieties have better winter hardiness than others and are thus better suited to survive a truly harsh NNY winter. However, alfalfa decline due to poor drainage and waterlogged soils will not be remedied by superior winter hardy varieties.

So what should cold climate alfalfa growers do? Click here to read the 2014 season results of the Testing Alfalfa Varieties & Germplasm for Winter Survival in NNY project funded by the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program. The project leaders Julie L. Hansen, Donald Viands, and Jamie Crawford of the School of Integrative Plant Science at Cornell University; collaborators are CCE NNY Field Crops and Soils Specialist Kitty O’Neil and Cornell Willsboro Research Farm Manager Michael Davis.

The NNYADP has posted the results of the  “Additional Innovations in Parasite Management in Northern NY Sheep and Goat Farms project conducted by Cornell Animal Science educators Michael L. Thonney and tatiana Stanton and NNY CCE Livestock Team Leader Betsy Hodge with assistance from NNY CCE Field Crops and Soils Specialist Kitty O’Neil. Learn more via the link that follows:

Additional Innovations in Parasite Management in Northern New York Sheep and Goat Farms, NNYADP, 2013-14 Report