NNYADP Project:  Precision Orchard Management Supports Success of NNY Apple Industry

Photo: Cornell University Horticulture Professor Terence Robinson, 2nd from right, conducts a precision management tour in a NNY apple orchard. Photo: Kevin A. Iungerman

Northern New York; September 15, 2015.   Excellent is how Cornell University Horticulture Professor Terence Robinson describes the results of precision orchard management trials at four Northern New York apple orchards. The trials funded by the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development were designed to help regional apple growers increase orchard efficiency and profitability.

The NNY regional apple industry harvests $16 million worth of farm gate net revenue from approximately 5,000 acres of orchards. Growers are increasingly adopting practices that research data shows increase the percentage of crop harvested in the highest price categories based on fruit size, color and quality.

Over the past 10 years, Robinson has developed a precision thinning protocol that provides apple growers with real-time data for the best timing and rates for growth inhibitor spraying applications that reduce bud count. Reducing the number of early season buds encourages the growth of a precisely targeted optimal number of apples.

Success with the precise management practice known as orchard thinning saves growers labor, time, and expense.

Cornell Cooperative Extension Fruit Specialist Anna Wallis assisted Robinson with field trials in Honeycrisp plantings at four orchards in Chazy and Peru, NY. The growers counted flower buds, calculated the target number of fruits per tree to achieve a desired high yield, and measured fruit diameter. The Cornell research team analyzed the data and within 24 hours provided each grower an exact assessment of orchard cropload with recommendations for the next thinning application to maintain harvest goals.

Two of the northern NY apple growers also hosted precision harvest research trials to learn if measuring a set of factors prior to harvest could be used to predict fruit quality to assist growers in separating fruit for short-term or longer storage opportunities.

The Northern New York Agricultural Development Program has granted new funding for precision apple orchard management trials in 2015. More details and the Precision Orchard Management Strategies for NNY Apple Growers to Increase Profitability research report are online at www.nnyagdev.org.

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.

 

 

 

A Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) project report encourages farmers to consider the benefits of tile drainage to both crop production and environmental stewardship. The research is especially timely as farms face changes to the environmental standards they are required to meet and at a time when federal and state funding is available for installing the tile drainage.

“As many states refine their phosphorus management requirements for farm nutrient management plans, it is critical that the models they use are based on representative field conditions and sound data,” says project leader Eric Young, research agronomist at W.H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute, Chazy, NY.

Young estimates the return on investment from installing tile drainage on farms with slow or very slow permeability is from seven to 12 percent over five to 10 years.

The goal of the most recent tile drainage research funded by the farmer-driven NNYADP was to compare phosphorus losses between tile drained and undrained test plots designed to simulate field-scale conditions typical of northern NY dairies.

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NNYADP Research Reports on Tile Drainage in NNY

Can cucumbers, basil, ginger, green beans and zucchini be more profitable crops for farmers than tomatoes, the king of high tunnel produce?

The Northern New York Agricultural Development Program has released the results of a project evaluating the economic potential of the non-traditional tunnel crops.

Click here to read more

Advancing Season Extension with Non-Traditional High Tunnel Crops 2014 Project Report

Northern New York Agricultural Development Program Co-Chairs Jon Greenwood, Joe Giroux, and Jon Rulfs have issued the NNYADP call to researchers, Extension educators and agribusiness professionals for 2015-2016 research proposals. 

The NNYADP Farmer Committee is pleased to invite integrated research/extension proposals in areas it has identified as being of the high priority for 2015-2016 for the North Country’s agricultural production sector. Project ideas were solicited from researchers, CCE educators, and agricultural stakeholders. A list of the project ideas in each of several interest areas is included with this Request for Proposals (RFP).

Please share this call for proposals with colleagues who may have interest in agricultural research projects in the six-county NNY region: Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence counties.

Here is some brief background and guidance for preparing a proposal:

• The purpose of the NNYADP small grants program is to support projects that focus on the needs and/or conditions (i.e., market opportunities, climate, soil, etc.) that are important and sometimes unique to NNY.  To the extent possible, it is expected that research will be conducted on sites in the six-county region, however with justification, laboratory work at Ithaca and work at other locations can be funded.

• The NNYADP is a farmer-driven program.  Review panels: dairy and field crops, livestock, horticultural crops, and maple and forestry products assist the 32-member NNYADP Steering Committee. The review panels review and rank proposals in their areas and make recommendations for funding to the NNYADP Steering Committee.  The membership of the NNYADP Steering Committee and the review panels is limited to producers.  More than 75 farmers participate.

• Funding for the NNYADP is supported by the New York State Senate and administered through the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

• Work will be done under a contract with the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets, based on a scope of work that includes proposals submitted in response to this RFP and approved for funding by the NNYADP Steering Committee.

• Funding in the amount of $600,000 is available from the current year’s state budget.This request for proposals is for projects to be conducted between January 1 and December 31, 2016. Reports will be due February 1, 2017.  The NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets has indicated that they can write a contract for this year’s NNYADP allocation that will allow any remaining balance at the end of the State’s fiscal year (31 March 2016) to be spent in the subsequent fiscal year.

• NNYADP awards have ranged from $8,000 to $58,000 with most in the $10,000-$30,000 range.

• Projects should address one of the priorities identified on the attached list. Projects outside these areas may not be considered.

• Each project MUST contain both research and extension/outreach components. Joint projects among CALS researchers, CCE educators, and other private/public sector collaborators in the region are strongly encouraged.

• Preference is given to projects that include one or more research sites in both the ENNY region: Essex, Clinton, and/or Franklin counties) and the WNNY region: Jefferson, Lewis and/or St. Lawrence counties.  Research sites can include the Cornell Baker Research Farm in Willsboro, the W.H. Miner Institute, the CCE St. Lawrence Extension Learning Farm, as well as other research stations/farms in NNY. In addition, sites on operating farms are strongly encouraged wherever possible for research and/or demonstration. With strong justification, project sites may be limited to either ENNY or WNNY.

• The outreach component MUST be designed to reach producers in all six NNY counties.

• Extensive budget detail is not required, but a breakdown in broad categories must be provided.  See Request for Proposals (RFP) template for accepted budget categories.

• For projects that include collaboration with CCE, budgets should clearly reflect funds to cover expenses incurred by CCE Associations as a result of their participation in the research and/or extension component of the project. Commitments from CCE Associations and agreement on funding to support their educators’ work must be obtained prior to submission of the proposal.

• Requests for funds associated with personnel will need clear and compelling justification.

The Northern New York Agricultural Development Program has posted preliminary results of a survey asking regional consumers, food buyers, and farmers about their interest in developing a local food hub.

“The goal is to gauge interest by the key players needed to make a local food hub successful. A food hub that efficiently coordinates ordering and delivery of local products can increase farmers’ sales, while reducing costs, and the number of miles food travels to its destination,” said project leader Anita Deming, executive director of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County.

The USDA identifies a regional food hub as ‘a business or organization that actively manages the aggregation, distribution and marketing of source-identified food products primarily from local and regional producers to strengthen their ability to satisfy wholesale, retail, and institutional demand.’

One hundred and twenty-five farmers, 25 buyers and 254 consumers completed the confidential survey conducted by the Cornell Cooperative Extension associations in NNY. Cornell University Cooperative Enterprise Program Director Roberta Severson with the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management is analyzing the survey data.

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Opportunities for Food Hub Development in NNY: Executive Summary