Hay & Forage Grower magazine recently (2/9/2021) featured an article by Editor Mike Rankin titled “Meadow fescue a star in alfalfa mixtures” about the NNYADP-funded alfalfa-grass mix quality research led by Cornell University Professor Debbie J.R. Cherney.

Cherney’s 2020 project report is posted at https://nnyagdev.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/NNYADPJan2021AlfGrassReportFINAL.pdf.

This April 2020 photo shows the fall 2019-seeded planting of an alfalfa-meadow fescue mix at Garden of Eden Farm in Philadelphia, New York.

Willsboro, New York; February 10, 2021.  Research on “super fruits” funded by the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) will add elderberry trials this spring. American and European varieties of elderberry will be planted alongside already-established juneberry, aronia, and honeyberry trials as part of the New Commercial Fruit Crops for Northern New York project at the Willsboro Research Farm in Willsboro, New York. The latest report on these trials is posted on the NNYADP website at https://nnyagdev.org.

Project leader and Willsboro Research Farm Manager Michael H. Davis, Ph.D., notes “Currently, ninety-five percent of the elderberries consumed in the U.S. are imported from Europe, so there is a great opportunity for American growers to build a substantial domestic market. This research funded by the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is increasing the number of specialty fruit crop options available to regional market farms.”

All four fruits in the NNYADP “Super Fruits” trials are valued for their high phytonutrtient and antioxidant content. In Europe, elderberry is an economically important fruit crop that outsells blueberries.

Davis says the juneberry, aronia, and honeyberry varieties planted in the Willsboro trial and on regional farms participating in the research have adapted well to the northern New York climate. On-farm trials are adding NNY growers’ experiences to the development best management practices for establishing, producing, and marketing these specialty fruits.

SUNY Plattsburgh Professor and noted juneberry research Michael B. Burgess, Ph.D. is assisting the NNYADP novel fruits project. He has been a part of the research since NNYADP funding initiated the establishment of a juneberry research nursery with both wild-collected and commercially-available varieties at Willsboro in 2013.

“The trials at Willsboro and on northern New York farms are providing critical agronomic performance data that include growth habits, flowering and fruiting times, disease susceptibility soil preferences, and fruit quality and yield to help growers select the varieties that will be best-suited to their individual farms,” says Burgess.

Based on the most recent juneberry testing that shows the larger fruits tend to be more flavorful, the research team would like to investigate if fruit size and flavor can be enhanced by adjusting pruning and fertility management practices.

In 2020, the NNYADP trial collected a third growing season of data on aronia plant growth, flowering, and fruit yields. Aronia production in North America has blossomed into a multi-million dollar industry that includes more than 60 unique aronia value-added products.

“Aronia appears exceptionally well-suited to our northern climate and is capable of producing fruit throughout the growing season here. That success coupled with a burgeoning market for fresh fruit and value-added aronia products makes this fruit an exciting new specialty opportunity for northern New York growers,” Davis says.

Honeyberry offers regional growers the opportunity to generate income earlier in the year as honeyberry produces mature fruit early in the season, even before the eagerly anticipated fresh strawberry crop. The NNYADP-funded research has begun building a comprehensive dataset of flowering dates for the honeyberry varieties being grown in northern New York.

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.

Click here to see August 2020 update on this “Super Fruits” research in NNY

Click to read the 2020 NNYADP fruit research results report

 

NNYADP Research Evaluates Opportunity to Meet NY’s Malting Barley Demand

Chazy, Canton, and Willsboro, NY; February 3, 2021.  The farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) has funded research investigating the opportunity for regional growers to meet the New York State requirement that all Farm Brewery-Licensed beer be made with 90 percent New York-grown ingredients by 2024. The results of the first two years of trials at three sites in northern New York are now posted on this website under Research: Field Crops (https://nnyagdev.org/index.php/field-crops/nnyadp-research-malting-barley/).

Cornell University Professor of Plant Breeding and Genetics Mark E. Sorrells, Ph.D., NNYADP malting barley project leader, noted, “Presently, not enough malting barley is being grown in New York State to meet brewer demand for New York-grown ingredients, which is driven by New York State law. Production of malting-grade and feed-grade barley could become a viable option for northern New York growers. We must learn whether today’s malting barley varieties will reliably overwinter in the northern regional climate.”

With funding from the NNYADP in 2019 and 2020, Sorrells established trials of winter and spring malting barley at Chazy, Canton, and Willsboro, New York. He is pleased with the early data.

“The winter survival rate was surprisingly good, particularly at one site, after one year of winter exposure for the 10 winter malting barley varieties planted at Canton and Willsboro in the fall of 2019. The varieties that had the best winter survival also produced the best grain yields. Four varieties produced yields of 50 or more bushels per acre with survival rates of 86 percent or higher,” Sorrells said.

Sorrells points out that the trials’ early data sets clearly make the case for multi-year and regional testing. The spring malting barley variety that had the lowest yield in 2019 produced the highest mean plot yield and test weight in 2020 for the combined Chazy-Canton evaluation of the 10 varieties planted at both sites. Additional years’ data will help determine the factors influencing that dramatic difference in results.

Sorrells estimates the market value of malting barley at $8 to $12 per bushel, and notes that the regional research also positions NNY growers to sell their crops to malt houses and brewers in neighboring states as well as to those in New York State.

A 2018 economic study by the New York State Brewers Association, Rochester, New York, reported that 26 breweries located throughout the six-county northern New York region employed 3339 workers receiving $34.589 million in wages, with a total industry output of more than $130.4 million in the regional economy.

The complete Malting Barley Variety Evaluations for Production in NNY report is posted under the Research: Field Crops tab at https://nnyagdev.org.

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.

NNYADP Crops Research Advances Opportunity for Maximum Alfalfa-Grass Mix Quality

January 26, 2021.  The latest results of research to help regional dairy farmers achieve high quality forage grown as alfalfa-grass mix are now posted on the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program website under the Research: Field Crops tab at www.nnyagdev.org. The research evaluates the use of perennial meadow fescue varieties developed by European grass breeders.

“Our results continue to show that meadow fescue has great potential in a mix with high quality alfalfa to significantly improve forage quality. However, our data reveals that the grass yield and quality are not consistent across growing environments, highlighting the need for regional testing,” says project leader and Cornell University Animal Science Professor Debbie J.R. Cherney.

More than 120 meadow fescue varieties are certified in Europe; most have not yet been evaluated for yield or quality opportunity in North America. Almost all alfalfa grown in northern New York is seeded with a companion cool-season grass.

To test the meadow fescue varieties in northern New York, Cherney has established trials on four regional farms. Trials at Graceway Farm in Lowville, New York, and at Pominville Farms in Croghan, New York, were planted in 2018 and 2019 respectively. Trials at Garden of Eden Farm in Philadelphia, New York, and Paluck Farm in Constableville, New York, were established in the spring of 2020.

In 2021, the ongoing trials are focused on a specific set of meadow fescue varieties that have shown high fiber digestibility and that are potentially less competitive in a mix with alfalfa. The research goal of these trials is to identify the optimal grass variety selection and grass seeding rate needed to achieve a mix of 20 to 30 percent grass in combination with alfalfa under regional growing conditions.

One farm site with sandy loam soil that was very dry in summer 2020 showed visible variation in forage growth in the trial plot. Plant height varied by more than 12 inches within a given plot, with sharp lines delineating differences in soil condition.

The forage quality factors being evaluated by this research include crude protein, neutral detergent fiber (NDF), invitro true digestibility, NDF digestibility, acid detergent fiber, and lignin.

Cherney notes, “With a consistently high crude protein content for alfalfa, the crude protein content of grasses in the mixture is always going to be sufficiently high enough for lactacting dairy cattle. Most of the crude protein variation in our test results is due to the range of grass percentages in the mixtures. The less grass in the mix, the higher the crude protein will be in the grass.”

The research team includes Cornell University soil and crop scientist J.H. Cherney, animal science specialist Rink Tacoma-Fogel, Cornell PRO-DAIRY dairy forage specialist Joe Lawrence, and Cornell Cooperative Extension regional field crops specialist Mike Hunter. A collateral study is underway at the University of Vermont; the results of that study will be noted in the final report for this NNYADP project.

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.

January 20, 2021.  The latest results of Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP)-funded research to help regional dairy farmers achieve high quality forage grown as alfalfa-grass mix are now posted on this NNYADP website under the Research: Field Crops tab at www.nnyagdev.org/index.php/2020-nnyadp-projects. The research is evaluating the use of perennial meadow fescue varieties developed by European grass breeders and grown in combination with alfalfa on participating NNY farms.

“Our results continue to show that meadow fescue has great potential in a mix with high quality alfalfa to significantly improve forage quality. However, our data reveals that the grass yield and quality are not consistent across growing environments, highlighting the need for regional testing,” says project leader and Cornell University Animal Science Professor Debbie J.R. Cherney.

 

At left, a grass percentage graph from the NNYADP-funded Maximizing Alfalfa and Grass Quality in Mixtures research project. Find more interesting details and graphs in the complete report (see link above).

 

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.