Cloning High Sugar Maple Trees the Focus of Northern NY Research Project

Northern N.Y.; February 2018.  The farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program has posted the first results of a project evaluating the opportunity to clone high sugar maple trees. The long-term goal is to produce rooted “sweet tree” clones that maple producers can plant to enhance their sugarmaking operations. The report is available at www.nnyagdev.org.

Cornell University plant pathologist Keith L. Perry conducted the research in collaboration with Joe Orefice, director of the Cornell Uilhein Maple Research Forest in Lake Placid, NY.

“If producers can plant and harvest from trees with naturally higher sugar sap concentrations, productivity would increase and costs would decrease. If we can clonally propagate what are known as ‘sweet trees,’ there would be an opportunity to establish a nursery crop industry as well,” says Perry.

The concentration of sugar in the sap of maple trees varies year-to-year, by environment, planting site, and the genetics of individual trees. Research by the U.S. Forest Service and Cornell University has identified high sugar-producing trees in New York and Pennsylvania; the University of Guelph has done likewise in Ontario, Canada.

In 2016, Perry visited the University of Guelph laboratory that successfully established buds from a high sugar-producing mother tree in vitro in sterile media. This is the first step toward clonally propagating maple trees with any desired trait, including high sugar concentration.

In April 2017, Perry and Orefice measured late season sugar concentrations in maple trees tapped at the Uihlein Maple Research Station and took cuttings from the higher sugar trees. A total of 433 buds were removed from the cuttings, surface-sterilized, and put onto sterile tissue culture media in the laboratory at the Cornell Uihlein Foundation Seed Potato Farm, directed by Perry.

As of December 31, 2017, three buds, representing three separate clonal lines, were alive and growing well. The researchers divided them into a total of seven plants.

The lessons learned so far about how to improve bud collection to enhance survivability have been identified for use in 2018 to establish additional plant lines from other high sugar trees.

“As an outcome of the investment of the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program in this innovative research, support to continue the work in 2018 is being made available through the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University,” Perry noted.

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. Project results are posted online at www.nnyagdev.org.

Northern N.Y.  Two farm tours and a workshop in March will showcase season extension vegetable production, including the results of research funded by the farmer-driven with funding support from the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program serving Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties. The tours, organized by Cornell Cooperative Extension, will visit growers known for their success with winter season production of fresh produce.

A Monday, March 5 tour at Pleasant Valley Farm, owned by Paul and Sandy Arnold in Argyle, NY, will be available by pre-registration only. Paul, Sandy and Kim Arnold will talk with tour visitors about how they grow winter vegetables with little to no heat in their high tunnels. The Arnolds have been selling winter-grown produce at markets since 2006. They have used low tunnels since 1993. Visitors will see tunnels in full production. Tour organizer Amy Ivy, a regional vegetable specialist with the Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture Program, says, “The Arnolds run one of the best known winter growing operations in New York State.”

Space is limited for the free March 5 tour; preference will be given to commercial growers and would-be growers in Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties. Register at https://enych.cce.cornell.edu/event.php?id=904 or contact Amy Ivy at adi2@cornell.edu, 518-570-5991.

On Saturday, March 24, Ivy will lead a “Growing Vegetables to Sell in Northern New York” workshop for those already commercially growing vegetables and those considering expanding their vegetable production to commercial scale. She will focus on growing vegetables in the spring and fall seasons in spite of the cold climate of Northern New York. The discussion will include using high and low tunnels and row covers.

This free 10 am to 12 pm workshop will be held at Colwell’s Farm Market and Garden Center in Glenfield, NY. Registration is required by March 21. Signup online at https://reg.cce.cornell.edu/GrowingVegetables_223 or contact Mellissa Spence at Cornell Cooperative Extension Lewis County at mms427@cornell.edu, 315-376-5270.

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.

Find NNY horticultural research projects information under the Horticulture tab on this website.

Northern N.Y.  The farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program has posted its annual report at www.nnyagdev.org. The four-page report notes how recent research is helping regional farmers respond to hot and cold climate extremes impacting dairy calves and cows, field crops, and wine grapes. Also highlighted are projects addressing:
. the first-ever Northern New York bee colony health survey

. recently emerging crop pests, such as Western bean cutworm

. season extension and new product opportunities for the NNY maple industry, and

. field trials demonstrating how tomato growers can save time.

Farmer comments in the report indicate how applying the results of the research funded by the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program benefitted their business from reducing costs and making it easier to plant and harvest crops to identifying ways to develop extra income using existing resources.

Cornell University Nutrient Management Program Director Dr. Quirine M. Ketterings is cited in the report crediting the farmers and farm advisers in Northern New York as “the frontrunners” prompting re-evaluation of the Cornell corn production guidelines. The farmers who prioritize and select projects for Northern New York Agricultural Development Program funding requested research into how advances in corn breeding and production practices are impacting crop yield and whether it was time to update the associated nitrogen application guidelines for agronomic and economic efficiency.

The report notes that over a three-year study, completed in 2017, one-third of NNY fields tested in the project yielded less than 90 percent of their expected potential while 26 percent yielded more than 110 percent of their expected yield. This research enters Phase 2 in 2018.

A brief section in the report points to multi-state interest in the biocontrol crop pest solution built by the long-term commitment of the farmers of the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program to developing the science needed to manage the devastating alfalfa snout beetle.

A one-application treatment with native NY nematodes, combined with successively-bred, increasingly alfalfa snout beetle-resistant varieties of alfalfa, has restored production of the important dairy forage crop. This biocontrol has shown promise for controlling pests in other field crops and berries and is now being evaluated in field trials in elsewhere in New York State and in New Mexico, Texas, Ohio, and Michigan.

Posted with the annual report are summaries of maple, horticultural, and dairy and field crops-related projects funded by the NNYADP.

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.

Link to NNYADP Annual Report

Click here to see the December 12, 2017 Spectrum News report by Katelynn Ulrich who visited Five Mile Farm in St. Lawrence County to talk with NNYADP Winter Calf Respiratory Health project leader Dr. Kimberley Morrill and farmer Ryan Akins. Thank you, all!

Click here to read the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program-funded project report on ways to enhance calf health through the cold winter months in Northern NY.

Northern N.Y.; December 12, 2017.  Research funded by the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is helping regional dairies reduce the risk of winter-related mastitis.

The results of a study evaluating the use of two types of dairy cow udder applications for mastitis prevention are posted at www.nnyagdev.org.

Udder care on dairy farms includes the antiseptic practice of teat dipping prior to and after milking. During winter months, some farms modify teat dipping practices to reduce chapping and teat injury. The practices include blotting the teat end after post dipping to reduce excess moisture, switching to a different formulation of dip intended for winter use, or switching to a powder-based dip.

From early January to mid-February 2016, Cornell Cooperative Extension Regional Dairy Specialist Dr. Kimberley Morrill in collaboration with Cornell Quality Milk Production Services in Canton, NY, evaluated the use of a powdered chlorhexidine acetate teat dip vs. a traditional 1 percent iodine foam post-milking application.

The study was conducted with 331 Holstein milking cows in the dairy herd at Miner Institute in Chazy, NY.

Studies conducted on dairy farms in Idaho and Iowa respectively indicated that the powdered teat dip was as effective as iodine dip at controlling environmentally-based infections but increased the risk of contagious mastitis due to Staph aureus, a common mastitis pathogen.

Only 13 cases of clinical mastitis were seen among the 331 cows in the Northern New York study. Evaluation revealed no difference in clinical mastitis between the cows receiving the iodine teat dip and those treated with the powdered dip. The post-dip treatment with the powder did significantly increase the risk of a positive culture for Staph aureus and minor organisms and even more so the risk for a Streptococcus spp. or coliform-based infection.

Morrill notes that the research was conducted during a temperate winter, with temperatures ranging from 23 to 62.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

“This research suggests that powdered teat dip increases the risk of subclinical mastitis as compared to using a traditional iodine-based dip. To form a definitive recommendation, more trials are needed under the harsher winter conditions that are more typical of a Northern New York winter and might have produced different results,” Morrill said.

To reduce the risk of cold weather-related mastitis regardless of pre and post-milking application, Morrill advises dairy operators to make sure hygienic milking protocols are being used, equipment is well maintained, and teats are dry before the cows leave the milking parlor.

The results of this Northern New York Agricultural Development Program–funded dairy research were shared at the 2017 National Mastitis Council meeting.

The farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program provides research and technical assistance to farmers in Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties. 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.