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The February 2023 Crop Congresses to be held February 21 from 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Cornell Cooperative Extension office in Lowville, New York, and February 22 from 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Miner Institute in Chazy, New York, will include updates on several Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) research projects. Both programs include lunch; register with 315-778-3929, tlm92@cornell.edu.

Agricultural entrepreneur Mary DeBeer will present information on the use of native New York nematodes as a biocontrol for farm pest management – a protocol built by long-term support from the farmer-driven NNYADP.

Cornell University Cooperative Extension Field Crops Specialist Michael Hunter will present the results of NNYADP-funded soybean herbicide trials, and a field crop weed control update, at both programs. The February 22nd Crop Congress also includes an update on NNYADP-funded on-farm agricultural tile drainage research by Miner Institute Research Scientist Laura Klaiber.

Other sessions at both locations include how to maximize on-farm use efficiency for high-price fertilizers by Cornell University Cooperative Extension Crops and Soils Specialist Kitty O’Neil, and an overview of seed corn maggot research by Ken Wise of the New York State Integrated Pest Management program. The program at Miner Institute also includes a presentation on the results of Miner Institute corn biologicals testing during the 2022 growing season by Miner Institute Forage Agronomist Allen Wilder.

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DeBeer established DeBeer AgriService and her own biocontrol nematode rearing laboratory in 2016 at her family farm and spraying service in Moira, New York. DeBeer’s enterprise was sparked by research funded by the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) aimed at developing a solution for an invasive pest that was destroying alfalfa crops fed to dairy cows and other livestock. DeBeer learned how to rear and apply the biocontrol nematodes with guidance from entomologist Dr. Elson Shields and research support specialist Antonio Testa, who pioneered the science and developed the protocol for using persistent biocontrol nematodes as a means for managing alfalfa snout beetle, corn rootworm, and a complex of berry weevils.

Funding for the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is supported by the New York State Legislature through the New York State Assembly and is administered by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Plattsburgh, NY; December 20, 2022. With increasing consumer interest in local foods, growers in northern climates want to learn how to extend their sales opportunities through high tunnel production of greens in the winter season. Winter greens marketing tips developed from high tunnel research trials funded by the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) will be provided in a January 9, 2023 High Tunnel Winter Greens webinar. Speakers for the 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. webinar will also address pest and disease management for winter greens production. Pre-registration is required; for details and cost, see https://enych.cce.cornell.edu/events.php, or call 518-569-3073. The webinar is organized by the Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture Program; DEC credits are available.

As part of the January 9 webinar, Lindsey Pashow, a regional agricultural business specialist with Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Harvest New York, will present findings from her NNYADP-funded project exploring winter greens production and marketing potential for northern New York growers. Her discussion will include packaging, pricing, and marketing of winter greens.

Grower Lissa Goldstein of Wild Work Farm, located in Keene Valley in northern New York, will share her experiences with managing food safety, washing, and efficiently packing winter greens.

Webinar organizer and CCE Horticultural Specialist Elisabeth Hodgdon, Ph.D., will cover a broad range of food safety considerations for leaf greens growers.

Additional speakers include Carol Glenister, with IPM Labs, presenting information on the biological control of aphids on winter greens in high tunnels, and Cornell Professor Margaret McGrath, Ph.D., with the Long Island Horticultural Research and Extension Center, sharing knowledge on managing disease in high tunnel-grown winter greens.

Collaborators with the NNYADP-funded winter greens production and marketing project include northern New York-based growers currently growing winter greens; Cornell Vegetable Specialist Judson Reid; and Willsboro Research Farm Manager Michael Davis, Ph.D. A full project results report and related podcasts developed by Hodgdon, Reid, and Pashow will be available in 2023 and posted at www.nnyagdev.org.

Funding for the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is supported by the New York State Legislature and administered by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Results from the latest Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) maple research projects will be presented at the Making the Most of Maple workshop on Saturday, December 3, 2022, in Lowville, New York. Northern New York Maple Specialist Adam Wild, director of the Uihlein Maple Research Forest at Lake Placid, will be joined by Cornell University’s Statewide Maple Specialist Aaron Wightman and Cornell Maple Program Product Development Food Scientist Catherine Belisle, Ph.D., as workshop presenters. The 9:00 a.m. to 12 p.m. workshop will be held at the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Lewis County Learning Center, 7395 East Road, Lowville. Contact CCE at 315-376-5270 to reserve your space by November 30.

During the workshop, Wild will preview the results of his 2022 NNYADP project investigation the feasibility of producing sap from American beech trees for syrup production. Sugarmakers want to know if tapping beech trees can be economically worthwhile, while land managers and biodiversity advocates are interested to learn if beech syrup production might give northern forest owners an incentive to keep the beech trees despite issues with beech bark disease and a root system that threatens to crowd out more marketable species.

Wild will also present follow-up results of NNYADP-funded trials of 1/4-inch sap collection tubing and fixtures. Data has shown that sap in 3/16s’ diameter tubing systems can drop off due to clogging as soon as the second year after installation.

NNYADP-prioritized maple research has supported the growth of the northern New York maple industry from a documented $3.25 million annual valuation in 2008 to now more than $20 millin per year with room yet to grow.

NNYADP maple research has included:
. 2008 study of the growth potential of the regional maple industry
. climate adaptation trials
. how to build producer-landowner collaborations
. a cost-benefit analysis of leasing trees for tapping versus lumber harvest
. the cloning of NNY sweet maple trees, and
. ways to increase sap yield and profitability for both gravity-fed and vacuum-pressure systems. Learn more under the Research: Maple, Birch and Honey tab on this website.

Funding for the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is supported by the New York State Legislature through the New York State Assembly and is administered by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Canton, New York; July 27, 2022.  The results of a Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) research project in 2021 demonstrate how fluctuating grain costs may impact sheep enterprises differently from year to year. Research comparing the growth of barn-fed versus pasture-raised summer lambs was designed to answer sheep producers’ questions on whether they could gain any income advantage with a feeding program that would make lambs ready for market more quickly. An informal trial in 2020 that favored pasture feeding but highlighted many data variables prompted this second trial that produced data favoring barn-fed lambs, demonstrating the annual variability.

The results of the summer lambs feeding trial conducted at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Learning Farm in Canton, New York, are posted on the NNYADP website under the About: Projects tab at https://www.nnyagdev.org.

Forty-one lambs were split into two groups in the spring of 2021 with one group left on pasture with mother ewes and one group weaned at eight weeks into a barn environment and eased into a full-grain diet. The lambs in each group were periodically weighed, monitored for parasites, and treated when warranted.

At the end of the eight-week study period, the barn-fed lambs weighed 19.24 pounds more than the pasture-fed lambs. Based on this weight and the per-pound sale price for lambs in the fall of 2021 at the New Holland, Pennsylvania, sale barn, the weight difference in the barn-fed lambs represented a gross income potential for $52 more per lamb. This number less the extra cost for 161 pounds of grain fed per lamb represented a net income of $15.40 per lamb over the cost of grain in 2021.

The final project report also details other costs and management factors that need to be considered in planning a summer lamb feeding strategy. These considerations include the costs of mineral supplementation, for parasite prevention and treatment of lambs and ewes, and for lamb losses to predators, as well as fuel and labor costs associated with clipping pastures and moving fences to rotate grazing areas.

Over the eight-week study period, the average daily weight gain (ADG) of the barn-fed lambs ranged from 0.70 to 1.04 pounds per day; the ADG of the pastured lambs ranged from 0.13 to 0.83 pounds per day.

In a two-week extended trial period, the ADG for the barn-fed lambs was 0.58 pounds per day compared to 0.92 pounds per day for the pastured lambs that had been weaned and brought into the barn and fed approximately one pound per day of the barn-fed lambs’ grain diet and all the hay they could eat.

Cornell University graduate student Hannah Braun of Lisbon, New York, handled data collection and management of the barn-fed lambs as part of her honors thesis development.

Funding for the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program is supported by the New York State Legislature through the New York State Assembly and administered by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. NNYADP project results are publicly accessible at https://www.nnyagdev.org.