In 2013, the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) is funding research to evaluate the agricultural benefits and environmental impacts of using tile drainage on farms.

The use of tile drainage has been a critical best management practice on American farms since 1835. In the early 1900s, William H. Miner, for whom the agricultural research institute in Chazy, NY, is named, championed the use of patterned tile drainage to dramatically improve drainage efficiency and crop production potential on poorly-drained North Country soils.

The farmer-driven NNYADP has identified the need for research to better understand how the use of tile drainage interacts with the soil, crop production and the environment in the Lake Champlain Basin region of Northern New York, where agriculture is considered a major nonpoint source of phosphorus to the lake.

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Tall fescue in Northern New York will yield as much or more than other cool-season grass species. There continue to be new varieties, most endophyte-free, but a number of the new varieties also have a “Novel endophyte” version.

An endophytic fungus in the fescue gives the plant added vigor without the toxic side effects of typical endophyte-infected fescue.

The question for the NNYADP-funded research is are the “friendly-endophyte” varieties worth the extra seed cost.

Click here for the 2011-12 results of the NNY tall fescue variety trials evaluated by Cornell University Crop and Soil Sciences Professor Dr. Jerry Cherney and Cornell Willsboro Research Farm Manager Michael Davis.

Kitty O’Neil has begun traveling Northern New York as Regional Field Crops and Soils Specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension. She will be working in St. Lawrence, Franklin, Clinton and Essex counties.

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Farmers in northern New York and a Cornell University research team are evaluating the value of planting winter cereal crops, such as triticale, wheat and cereal rye, as cover crops for spring harvest as a forage for dairy cows.

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Read two articles on the economic and environmental benefits of the Adapt-N nitrogen management tool that is built on foundational research started nearly two decades ago at the Cornell Willsboro Research Farm in Northern New York and more recent results from NNYADP-funded trial participation by farms in the six-county region.

Find other calculating tools, research by nutrient and crop, cover crops and mass nutrient balancing information, soil health tips, and resources for coping with plant pests and diseases in the Field Crops section of this website.