Northern New York Agriculture
By karalynn
Click below for the 2013 results of Cornell University’s Small Grains Performance Trials for New York state. Although there are no trial sites in Northern NY, the data may still be of interest to regional growers. The report includes data on soft white winter wheat, red winter wheat, winter malting barley, spring malting barley, winter hybrid rye, and spring oats.
By karalynn
Beef farmers planning commingled cattle pool to do business with big buyers
Read this story by Ted Booker of the Watertown Daily Times on how Northern New York beef producers are developing a new strategy for attracting business.
Northern New York Agricultural Development Program Farmer Committeeman Don Holman, a beef producer in Adams, NY; Cornell Beef EXtension Specialist Dr. Mike Baker; and Northern New York Regional Livestock Team Leader Betsy Hodge with Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County offer their comments.
By karalynn
The results of research conducted on three Northern New York farms to evaluate parasite control treatments for sheep and goats will be shared at programs organized by Cornell Cooperative Extension for December 3-5 in Watertown, Canton, Malone and Plattsburgh.
The research funded by the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program and conducted on NNY farms evaluated alternative methods for controlling barber pole worm, a widespread internal parasite of sheep and goats.
By karalynn
Seventy-three percent of 273 sheep and goat farmers responding to a Cornell survey indicated problems with barber pole worm, a major cause of death in small livestock.
To help small livestock producers, the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is funding research into alternative methods for controlling the widespread parasite of sheep and goats. Results of the research will be shared at a series of meetings across the region December 3-5.
The Cornell Sheep and Goat Program – Dr. Michael L. Thonney and Dr. tatiana Stanton, Cornell Veterinary Parasitology Lab – Dr. Dwight Bowman and Janice Liotta – are working in coordination with Northern New York Cornell Cooperative Extension Regional Livestock Team Leader Betsy Hodge and NNY small livestock producers to are evaluate promising alternative methods for controlling barber pole worm and other internal parasites in sheep and goats.
Haemonchus contortus is a stomach parasite commonly known as barber pole worm. The parasite has become increasingly resistant to traditional anthelmintic – anti-worming – treatments.
By karalynn
In 2013, a Cornell University research team funded by the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) is taking a proactive approach to brown root rot (BRR), a fungus that damages alfalfa crops. The disease was first discovered in the eastern U.S. in Northern New York in 2004 at Chazy.
Research leader Dr. Julie L. Hansen, with the Cornell University Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, says, “We have begun breeding BRR-resistant alfalfa to identify the most commercially-viable varieties under Northern New York field conditions.”
Hansen; Cornell plant breeder Dr. Donald Viands, and research support specialist Jamie Crawford are using cuttings of plants that survived significant 2011-2012 winter ice-sheeting and BRR at the Miner Institute in Chazy to breed a genetic capacity for BRR resistance into future generations of alfalfa.
“Based on data from western Canada where brown root rot has long been a problem for alfalfa producers, the breeding of BRR-resistant alfalfa varieties can help Northern New York growers stem stand losses and regain yield and profitability,” Hansen says.