The Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is inviting North Country farmers to hear the results of its latest projects at its annual meetings in eastern NNY on February 27 in Chazy. The research reports sessions begin at 1pm at Miner Institute in Chazy. Registration is not required to attend.

The Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is a farmer-driven research and technical assistance program serving all sectors of the agricultural industry, from dairy and crops to livestock, maple and horticultural production, in Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties.

‘The Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is noted for producing real-world, practical results, and the 2014 project reports live up to that expectation,’ says Program Co-Chair Jon Greenwood, a dairy producer in St. Lawrence County.

‘Northern New York Agricultural Development Program small grants connect North Country farmers with faculty, researchers, and specialists with Cornell University, Cornell Cooperative Extension, the State University of New York, W.H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute, and other expertise to address critical needs and emerging opportunities,’ says NNYADP Co-Chair Joe Giroux, a Clinton County dairyman.

Reports at the meetings will cover:
. emerging corn and soybean diseases
. the identification of mastitis-causing pathogens
. corn grain variety trials under Northern New York growing conditions
. evaluating alfalfa-grass mixes for dairy and livestock forage
. production practices for the Juneberry superfruit
. health management for sheep and goats, and
. how the inexpensive biocontrol developed with long-term NNYADP funding to beat back the highly-destructive alfalfa snout beetle now holds promise for helping fruit and vegetable growers statewide.

One of the acclaimed Northern New York Agricultural Development Program successes came through long-term funding that provided the time needed for Cornell University researchers to develop an inexpensive, biocontrol treatment that is now substantially reducing the impact of the highly-destructive alfalfa snout beetle. The concept of using native nematodes that destroy the larvae of the beetle is now being applied in trials to reduce other types of pests in strawberry crops in Northern New York, in apple and grape crops elsewhere in the state, and at the Battle Island Golf Course in Fulton, NY.

As time allows, the meeting may also make note of recent NNYADP projects focused on winter forage crops production for the dairy and livestock industries; enhancing agricultural environmental stewardship through tile drainage, nutrient recycling, and on-farm water quality; adapting to climate change; enhancing market opportunities for North Country beef producers; and season extension for fruit and vegetable growers.

Complete research reports are posted on the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program website at www.nnyagdev.org. For more details on the annual meetings, call 315-376-5270.

According to the 2012 Census of Agriculture, 4,365 farms manage more than 1.1 million acres of farmland with a hired labor payroll of more than $67.2 million. Those numbers represent a gain of 97 farms, 64,487 acres, and $15 million in payroll since the 2007 Census.

Photo:
Northern New York Agricultural Development Program Co-Chair Jon Greenwood, a St. Lawrence County dairy owner, 2^nd from left, and NNYADP Coordinator Margaret E. Smith, a Cornell University professor of plant breeding and genetics, 2^nd from right, welcomed legislative representatives to the 2014 annual meeting of the farmer-driven NNYADP: left to right are Brian Peck with the office NYS Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush, NYS Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell, and Michael Schenk with the office of NYS Senator Patty Ritchie.

The December issue of Cornell’s What’s Cropping Up? newsletter includes an article by Jaime A. Cummings and Gary C. Bergstrom of the School of Integrative Plant Science.

The article: Resistance to Brown Stem Rot May Be Needed in Future Soybean Varieties for New York State notes the funding support of the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program for a survey of corn and soybean diseases in the NNY region in 2013-2014.

The opening paragraph follows. Please click on this link to read entire article

A potentially yield-reducing disease called ‘brown stem rot’ (BSR) was confirmed for the first time in New York soybean fields in 2013, and was found again in 2014. It showed up in some plants from soybean fields in Cayuga, Herkimer, Niagara, and Yates Counties collected by Cornell Cooperative Extension Educators Kevin Ganoe, Keith Severson, Michael Stanyard, and Bill Verbeten, with support from the New York Soybean Check-off Program. The disease was diagnosed in the Field Crops Pathology Laboratory at Cornell based on characteristic symptoms and the laboratory isolation of the causal fungus and confirmation of a portion of its signature DNA sequence. So far, BSR has not been detected outside of the four counties mentioned above. It is noteworthy that BSR was not detected in soybean fields in northern New York scouted in 2013 and 2014 by CCE Educators Michael Hunter and Kitty O’Neil, with support from the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program.

Click here for NNYADP-funded Creating a NNY Corn and Soybean Disease Diagnosis and Assessment Database Project and the discovery of Northern Stem Canker in 7 counties in New York State, including one in NNY

 

 

Winter has started early across Northern New York. Cornell Beef Extension Specialist Dr. Mike Baker shares some Do’s and Don’ts for Barn Snow Removal from Curt Gooch and Sam Steinberg of Cornell’s Biological and Environmental Engineering Department.

Click here for the details

Please see two recent media stories on the NNYADP-funded alfalfa snout beetle control project that developed the use of native NY nematodes to help manage the highly-destructive alfalfa pest, the alfalfa snout beetle.

Lowville Journal Republican article by Whitney Randolph

Malone Telegram article by Olivia Pepe