Photo, left: Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) livestock specialist Betsy Hodge leads the 2021 NNYADP project evaluating indoor-outdoor summer feeding options to enhance lamb health.  Photo, right: The CCE St. Lawrence County Extension Learning Farm in Canton, New York, is hosting Northern New York Agricultural Development Program-funded research evaluating indoor-outdoor summer feeding options for lambs. Photo courtesy of Betsy Hodge.

NOTE: Cornell University Animal Science Extension Associate tatiana Stanton, Ph.D. spells first name with lower case t

Canton, N.Y.; May 26, 2021.   Can the health of young lambs be enhanced by raising them in a barn or on summer pasture?  The Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is funding research investigating if the protective environment of a barn, away from the risk of infection and death caused by the parasites that buildup on summer pastureland, will enhance lamb health.

The project, funded by the farmer-driven research program, will evaluate whether weaning lambs at 8 to 10 weeks old, bringing them into the barn, and feeding them a completely balanced diet will help the young sheep grow faster than lambs that are raised on pasture.

“As summer progresses, hot, dry weather can cause a decline in the quantity and quality of pasture available for lambs and sheep. Sheep on pasture can experience a buildup of parasites as well as increased risk from predators. Additionally, mother ewe milk production tends to drop off after 10 weeks after lambing. Sheep owners need more strategies for protecting their animals,” Betsy Hodge, a livestock specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County, explains.

Hodge manages the sheep flock at the Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County Extension Learning Farm in Canton, New York.  This NNYADP 2021 project will wean one group of lambs at 60 days of age and feed them a complete dietary ration in a barn. A second group of lambs will remain on pasture with mother ewes for 95 to 105 days.

A preliminary study in the summer of 2020 favored leaving the lambs on pasture. This second year of data will help identify and evaluate year-to-year variables before any recommendations are developed.

“We are interested to see if this new research will provide different insights into whether the lambs in the barn will take off on the grain and grow faster than their pastured counterparts. Will they require less de-wormer treatment because they are inside? How will the heat of summer impact each group? Will the ewes be in better body condition and therefore easier to breed back?” says Hodge.

The project data sets will include lamb growth, weight gain, health scoring, and parasite loads for each group of lambs. Analysis of the complete feed ration, forages, and pasture diet will evaluate the role of different nutritional sources. Body condition scoring will also be recorded for both groups of ewes. A cost comparison is also part of the project objectives.

Cornell University Animal Science Department Chair Thomas R. Overton, Ph.D. and Animal Science Extension Associate tatiana Stanton, Ph.D. will provide project oversight and analysis. A Cornell University undergraduate student will assist with the project through the Cornell Cooperative Extension Summer Internship program.

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. Learn more at https://nnyagdev.org.

May 13, 2021.  The farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) is investigating the influence of soil compaction on corn crop yield and yield stability. Severely compacted soils limit plant root development and can reduce soil function, particularly in wet seasons. A new research project funded by the NNYADP aims to address the question of whether wide variation in soil compaction severity across a field is directly proportional to variable crop yield within that field.

This soil compaction research project, led by Kitty O’Neil, Ph.D., a Soils and Crops Specialist with Cornell University Cooperative Extension’s North Country Regional Ag Team, has begun collecting data on two farms in northern New York.

“Soil health influences crop yield, farm economics, and ecological functions on farms. Quantifiable data on the role of soil compaction in soil health and crop performance is missing. This project is designed to fill that knowledge gap,” notes O’Neil.

Cornell University Nutrient Management Spear Program Director Quirine M. Ketterings, Ph.D., will provide data analysis. Dr. Ketterings’ earlier research has informed the design of this new project.

In a 2019 study of nine conventionally-tilled dairy farm corn fields in northern New York, compaction was found at the surface and at depths of six to 18 inches in all nine fields with consistent and highly variable levels of compaction within each field and among the fields.

The New York State Legislature established the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program in 1961 in recognition of the opportunity for agriculture in the northern region of the state to become a major economic engine locally and for the state.

Funding for the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is administered by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. Learn more at https://nnyagdev.org.

May 5, 2021   The New York State Senate and Assembly unanimously passed legislation re: the production, sale, branding, and labeling of birch syrup and birch sugar (read more about this legislation at Morning Ag Clips, 05/04/21). The NNYADP funded a 2018 season comparison of birch and maple sap yields per the timing of tapping schedules for birch syrup production at the Uihlein Maple Research Forest in Lake Placid. To read the results, see the final report at https://nnyagdev.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/NNYADP19Maple2018Final-18.pdf.

At left above, birch trees with tapping lines. Photo: Uihlein Maple Research Forest, Lake Placid, NY.

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.

 

Apple growers in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia have taken an interest in precision apple thinning research funded by the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP). Project leader Michael Basedow who has worked with commercial apple growers in the northeastern NNY region, spoke about the use of pollen tube growth modeling with Michelle Cortens of  The Orchard Outlook produced by Perennia Food and Agriculture, Inc., a development agency focused on Nova Scotia’s food sector. He presents a mini how-to lesson on how the modeling work. This link will take you to an Orchard Outlook page with a “play” button under the photo for the “E4 S2. Don’t sneeze at blossom thinning” episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e4-s2-dont-sneeze-at-blossom-thinning/id1476334530?i=1000506961027. Michael is a tree fruit specialist with the Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture Program that includes the northeastern region of NNY in its service area.

To read reports on NNYADP-funded precision apple research: https://nnyagdev.org/index.php/horticulture/nny-horticultural-research/

 

The 2021-2022 New York State budget includes $300,000 in support of the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP). State funding of the NNYADP provides for high priority agricultural research projects related to environmental and water quality conservation, local foods production, and climate adaptability for the farming sector. Seventeen projects are currently underway in 2021 focused on maximizing opportunities for the dairy, crops, horticulture, maple, and livestock production sectors.

Joseph Giroux, a Co-Chair of the farmer-driven program that provides farm-based research for the dairy, field crops, horticultural, maple and livestock sectors, said, “On behalf of our farmers, families, and farm-fed communities, we thank the New York State Legislature, including our local representatives and members of the Senate and Assembly Ag Committees, for the State funding that supports critical research related to local food production, natural resource conservation, climate adaptability for the agricultural sector, and the economic sustainability of our rural communities. We especially recognize Assemblyman Billy Jones for leading the effort to secure this critical funding,” said Joseph Giroux, Co-Chair of the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program.

Giroux of Plattsburgh, Jon Greenwood of Canton, and Jon Rulfs of Keeseville serve as NNYADP Co-Chairs with nearly 100 farmers who evaluate and select research for NNYADP grants funding.

The New York State Legislature established the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program in 1961 in recognition of the opportunity for agriculture in the northern region of the state to become a major economic engine locally and for the state. The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets administers the funding for the NNYADP. Learn more under any of the tabs in the menu bar and the News section at https://nnyagdev.org.