The new test now available to farmers from the Cornell University Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic/CU-PDDC to detect the soil-borne plant pathogen Phoma sclerotioides, commonly known as brown root rot/BRR, has northern New York roots.

BRR was first detected in the eastern United States in Clinton County in northern NY in 2004. The pathogen causes root and crown rotting in alfalfa, other perennial legumes, and overwintering grasses, causing yield loss and stand decline of alfalfa.

Dr. Michael Wunsch of North Dakota State University developed the improved molecular test for BRR in collaboration with the Bergstrom Lab and CU-PDDC at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. With funding from the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program/NNYADP, Wunsch conducted his graduate study research of brown root rot on northern New York farms under the tutelage of Cornell plant pathologist Dr. Gary C. Bergstrom.

‘This new test indicates a positive result if plant tissues are infected with any of the seven varieties/biotypes of the fungus found in North America, including the five biotypes documented in New York,’ says Bergstrom.

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BRR Suspect Sample Submission Guidelines with pricing

More info on BRR research in NNY

 

The Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) has released early recommendations from a Cornell University team evaluating a parasite control strategy for barber pole worm, a major cause of death in sheep and goats.

Haemonchus contortus – the stomach parasite commonly known as barber pole worm – is a major cause of death in small livestock and has become increasingly resistant to traditional anthelmintic – deworming – treatments.

“Many North Country sheep and goat farmers already report barber pole parasite resistance to multiple conventional deworming medications,” says Betsy Hodge, livestock educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County.

With funding from the farmer-driven NNYADP, Drs. Michael L. Thonney and tatiana Stanton with the Cornell Sheep and Goat Program and Dr. Dwight Bowman and Janice Liotta of the Cornell School of Medicine Department of Microbiology and Immunology worked with North Country livestock producers and Hodge to test the use of copper oxide wire particles, or COWP, as a deworming method for sheep and goats.

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The Northern New York Agricultural Development Program-funded leek moth research project is featured in the May issue of Growing Magazine.

 

Cornell University Crop and Soil Sciences Professor Jerry Cherney is investigating the potential for Northern NY-grown grass energy crops to support a closed-loop, regional renewable energy system in which a grass-based heating product can be grown, processed into briquettes or pellets, and marketed locally.

Cherney is evaluating grasses that can be grown on land that is not otherwise productive.

He has evaluated mulch-type hay samples produced by more than 40 farmers in Northern New York.

“Our goal is to identify whether mulch-type hay is appropriate for all scales of biomass combustion or if it would be better used for light industrial and industrial heating applications,” Cherney says.

Cherney will present his most recent research findings at the North Country Clean Energy Conference in Lake Placid June 4-6.

The bioenergy feedstock trials, funded by the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program, are focused on three species with high yield potential under NNY growing conditions . . .

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Click here for NNYADP Grass Biomass Potential for NNY Research Reports

Double Cropping Research in NNY Targets Precise Nitrogen Application, Helps Dairy Farmers Build Forage Inventory

Cornell University research funded by the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) is refining nitrogen management guidelines in support of double cropping. Eight farms in Northern New York participated in on-farm double cropping trials from 2011 to 2013.

Click here for Winter-Forage Small Grains to Boost Feed Supply: Not Just a Cover Crop Anymore! NNYADP research report