Farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program research and technical assistance projects focused on livestock production and marketing help regional farmers capitalize on increasing consumer interest in local foods. A 2014 survey documented that success, indicating 96% of responding NNY cow-calf, stocker & cattle feeder farmers would expand (60%) or maintain (36%) current operations.

Pasture Management: Rising Plate Meter Increases Grazing Efficiency
A Northern New York Agricultural Development Program grant has made two Rising Plate Meters (RPM) available to regional livestock and dairy farmers for measuring pasture growth and regrowth during grazing seasons to assist paddock sizing and pasture use for optimum feed value.

One beef stocker adjusted his pasture plan when the RPM showed less dry matter value than “eyeballed;” 3 cow-calf farms used the RPM to develop grazing wedges to reduce overgrazing and improve paddock sequencing.

Long-Term Project Value for North Country Communities
The Livestock Marketing Toolkit, developed with funding from the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program in 2006, continues to help North Country beef, sheep and goat producers price, promote and profit from their products. The updated edition online has
links to articles and resources.

 

 

Enhancing Sheep and Goat Health
Sheep numbers in Northern New York grew by nearly 36% per 2007-2012 U.S. Census of Agriculture data, while goat numbers remained fairly stable. To assist the sustainability and growth of the regional small livestock industry, farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program funding has focused on a variety of methods to increase parasite control for enhanced goat and sheep health.

Recent field trials hosted by Northern New York farms tested the use of birdsfoot trefoil pasturing for anthelmintic (deworming) effect. Technical assistance helped farmers properly establish plots of the perennial legume and measure its biomass dry matter value. Researchers, encouraged by preliminary results, continue to evaluate the impact of the pasturing strategy on wormload and the health of the pastured sheep and goats.

Research participant and farm owner Beth Downing of Downing Acres in Burke, NY, notes the role of the regionalized research in her farm business management strategy:  “Sheep farming is our livelihood and parasites can take a heavy toll on breeding ewes and on weight gain in lambs. We use a combination of strategies to keep our sheep healthy and control parasites, including . . . participating in research to learn new ways.”

 To receive notices of the real-world project results from the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program, text 315-408-2841 or send email with Subject Line: NNYADP Results to karalynn@gisco.net and add to your approved senders.

Northern New York; October 14, 2016.  As the 2016 apple harvest nears completion, researchers with funding from the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program are eager to see if growers have been able to reap a second year of benefits from application of a precision management protocol to reduce the impact and cost of orchard insect pests.

The IPM protocol provided excellent control of economically-significant apple pests, with an average of 96% clean fruit at harvest plus time and money saved by reducing the pest control applications required in 2015.

“Changes in the landscape of northern New York apple orchards over the past decade have influenced which insects have become the key economically-significant pests of the apple industry in the region that includes Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties,” says Anna Wallis of the Cornell Cooperative Extension Eastern NY Commercial Horticulture Program. Wallis served as project co-leader with Cornell University Entomologist Arthur Agnello.

The changes impacting orchard management in the region include the predominant choice of apple rootstocks planted, implementation of new training systems, restrictions on what spray applications are available for pest management, changes in climatic conditions, and the introduction of new pests through global trade.

Five NNY apple growers participating in the project following the protocol that uses trapping and scouting to identify which insect pests are present in an orchard block and at what level. The scouting effort was especially alert to codling moth, oriental fruit moth, obliquebanded leafroller, apple maggot, mites, aphids and scales.

When pests reach an economic damage threshold level, a specific insecticide application is precisely timed based on insect activity and computer models.

This comprehensive integrated pest management, or IPM, protocol was developed by Agnello and Cornell colleague Harvey Reissig in the 1990s. Due to changes over time, growers moved away from the protocol, but Wallis says, are now making good use of it once again, integrating a variety of management strategies, including chemical, cultural, biological and mechanical.

The protocol was applied to orchard blocks, including blocks of the two most popular cultivars in Northern New York: Honeycrisp and McIntosh.

“The early work of this project demonstrated how well the IPM protocol can work and prompted growers to request field workshops so they could implement it more broadly in 2016. With each additional year of use, we are evaluating the opportunity for IPM use to be consistent under a variety of growing climate conditions as a long-term management option for apple growers in this region,” says Wallis.

The first-year report for the Identification and Grower Education of Key Pests in Apple Orchards in Northern New York project is on the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program website at www.nnyagdev.org. The report identifies key early, summer, and late season pests. For example, San Jose scale, not previously identified in the participating orchards in NNY, is increasingly becoming a problem.

The report also measures fruit damage by the various pests, and the number and effectiveness of the IPM applications.

The protocol provided excellent control of economically-significant apple pests, with an average of 96 percent clean fruit at harvest plus time and money saved by reducing the pest control applications required in 2015.

The early results of this farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program project were requested for grower meetings in Vermont and Virginia.

The 2016 results of this research will be available in the spring of 2017 on the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program website at www.nnyagdev.org.

The farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program provides grants for on-farm research and technical assistance projects 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 through the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Click here to see the Time Warner Cable/Spectrum News story on this project

An October 7, 2016,  New York Ag Connection article notes the recent designation of an honorary Maple Trail which includes the Maple Traditions Byway from Ogdensburg to Lowville and extension to Watertown in Northern New York.

 

The article notes a special honor for Haskell Yancey (in center at left), who serves on the steering committee of the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program, and his wife Jane (2nd from left). Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul presented a certificate of recognition to the long-time maple producers of Yancey’s Sugarbush in Croghan. Their operation is one of the oldest continuous maple businesses in the region.

Click here to read NYS Highlights Promotional Efforts to Grow Maple Industry

Click here to find the results of maple, and birch syrup, industry research funded by the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program

 

 

Northern New York; September 20, 2016. The farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program has posted the results of recent precision apple orchard management research evaluating the impact of applying precise orchard management practices to improve the yield, fruit size and quality of the regional apple crop for a more consistent higher economic return per acre.

Three specific strategies are under evaluation by a research team of NNY apple growers, Cornell University faculty, and Cornell Cooperative Extension personnel. The orchard management practices, designed to enhance the efficiency of apple production, include precision orchard thinning, irrigation, and harvest timing.

The complete results of the project are posted on the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program website at www.nnyagdev.org. The report also includes data from orchards in Ontario, Orleans, Ulster and Wayne counties.

The farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program provides grants for on-farm research and technical assistance projects 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 through the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

MORE INFORMATION:
The Northern New York growers involved with this Northern New York Agricultural Development Program-funded project achieved excellent results in 2015.

The computer models component of the precision orchard management system provided information to the Northern NY growers for best timing and application rates for thinning fruit blossoms to achieve an optimal cropload per apple tree and data for irrigation timing and amounts based on soil type and tree age.

One Clinton County apple grower evaluated tree growth, stress, crop yield, fruit size, and fruit quality in both irrigated and non-irrigated orchard blocks. The Cornell researchers estimate that, depending on orchard density and age, a lack of irrigation can decrease the apple crop value between $3,859 and $6,809 per 100 acres.

Two NNY apple growers participated in precision harvesting of the Honeycrisp apple variety to compare a pre-harvest data to post-harvest production with the goal of creating specific parameters for better sorting fruit for short-term sales and longer-term storage and sales.

Click on the titles here for the 2014-2015 Precision Orchard Management Report on precision thinning, irrigation and harvest: Background and Methods, Results, Conclusions

Willsboro, NY. The cold-hardy grape variety research nursery in Northern New York at is getting a make-over.

With new funding from the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program that helped establish the nursery at the Cornell Willsboro Research Farm in Willsboro in 2005, old vines have been removed, the soil is being refreshed, and new varieties of grapes have been carefully selected for planting in 2017.

The identification of new varieties has been named a priority by growers associated with the wine grape industry across New York state.

A list of 21 potential varieties for the new planting at the Willsboro farm was identified through a survey of Northern New York grape growers, the leaders of the highly respected Cornell-Geneva and Minnesota University grape breeding programs, and private grape breeders. Cornell University Horticulture Professor Dr. Tim Martinson and Anna Wallis of the Eastern New York Commercial Horticultural Program will determine the final planting based on the availability of plant material in the spring of 2017.

In 2015, the old vines at the Willsboro farm were removed with the exception of the Marquette, Frontenac, Frontenac gris, and La Crescent varieties that have proven to be suited to the NNY climate and soils. Those plantings will continue to produce grapes for wine production research by Cornell University.

Regional growers will be invited to help establish the new planting. Once the new trial is planted, the research team will evaluate such factors as vine vigor, winter survival, crop yield, and grape quality.

The results of past cold-hardy grape trials conducted in Northern New York are posted on the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program website at www.nnyagdev.org.

The farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program provides grants for on-farm research and technical assistance projects 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 through the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Click here to read Albany Times Union columnist Bill Dowd’s article on this project