Search Results for: extension

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

The farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program will conduct a series of maple industry workshops in September in cooperation with the New York State Maple Producers Association and Cornell Cooperative Extension associations of NNY. Dr. Michael Farrell, director of the Cornell Uihlein Maple Research Forest in Lake Placid, NY, will present data from the 2016 sugaring season in Northern New York at each program.

Dr. Farrell will focus particularly on the use of 3/16-inch tubing for natural vacuum sap collection and the latest best practices for optimal sugarbush management. Organizers suggest footwear and attire appropriate for sugarbush tours at each site.

The workshop schedule includes:
.  Friday, September 16, 4:00-6:00 pm, Uihlein Maple Research Forest, 157 Bear Cub Lane, Lake Placid, free admission to workshop. The Northeastern New York Maple Producers Association will hold a 6 to 7:30 pm dinner at Heaven Hill Farm, located next to the research forest, following the workshop for $10 person for Association members, $25 for non-members; pre-paid reservations required, contact Uihlein Maple Research Forest at 518-523-9337.

.  Saturday, September 17, 9 am-12 pm, Dr. Sam Yancey Sugarbush, 9430 State Route 812, Croghan, free admission. The program will begin at the sugarhouse and continue at the Aucter Road sugarbush where Dr. Yancey, DVM, has applied intense woodlot management practices. This workshop also includes information on tapping trees in November and December to see how long they continue to produce sap into the spring using new 3/16-inch tubing. Pre-registration by September 15 is appreciated, contact Cornell Cooperative Extension Lewis County, 315-376-5270.

The results of past maple industry research in the North Country region are posted on the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program website at www.nnyagdev.org. Information on additional workshops will be posted in the News and Events sections of the site.

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.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
. Project Leader: Michael Farrrell, 518-523-9337
. NNYADP Co-Chairs: Jon Greenwood, 315-386-3231; Joe Giroux, 518-563-7523; Jon Rulfs, 518-572-1960
. NNYADP Publicist Kara Lynn Dunn, 315-465-7578, karalynn@gisco.net

Congratulations  to Northern New York Agricultural Development Program Co-Chair Jon Greenwood who received a PRO-DAIRY 2016 Agriservice Award at the Great New York State Fair yesterday.

NYS Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball and PRO-DAIRY Director Thomas Overton presented Jon with the award that recognizing outstanding contributions of New York State agriculture through support of the PRO-DAIRY program.

Jon is the owner of Greenwood Dairy in Canton and guides the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program with Joe Giroux of Plattsburgh and Jon Rulfs of Plattsburgh/Peru, NY.

Rick Zimmerman, executive director of the Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance, was also honored with a PRO-DAIRY 2016 Agriservice Award during the Dairy Day festivities at the Great New York State Fair yesterday.

“Both Jon and Rick have been excellent supporters of PRO-DAIRY programs and tremendous leaders within the New York dairy industry. Jon is an active collaborator on applied research and through his co-leadership of the Northern NY Agricultural Development Program has been a staunch ally to applied research and extension,” Dr. Overton said.

Click here to read the PRO-DAIRY press release on the awards

 

Farmer-Driven NNYADP Posts Early Evaluation Results

Northern New York. Hot, dry summer conditions can lead to insufficient hay and pasture forage for dairy farms. Could late summer-planted oats be an option to fill that forage gap? The farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program has posted the results of field trials in 2015 as field crops specialists prepare to plant a new trial at three NNY farm sites.

Drought conditions early in the 2015 growing season and a fungus impacted the summer oat trials planted in 2015 at the St. Lawrence County Extension Learning Farm in Canton, W.H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute in Chazy, and at a farm near Alexandria Bay, NY.

Research plots planted in 2013 and 2014 at the privately-owned farm near Alexandria Bay served as a preliminary indicator suggesting that late summer-planted oats are capable of producing high quality, high yielding forage.

Lack of soil moisture caused the plots at Alexandria Bay to fail completely in 2015. Forage quality of the crop harvested at the other locations was very good, but the lack of rain caused very poor yields. Crown rust, a common fungal disease of wild and cultivated oats, damaged plantings at all three farms in the study last year.

The research project funded by the farmer-led Northern New York Agricultural Development Program continues in 2016 with crown rust-resistant varieties. The research team, led by Kitty O’Neil and Mike Hunter, field crops specialists with the Cornell University Cooperative Extension NNY Regional Ag Team, expects results from the 2016 trial to give a clearer indication of the potential of summer oats to provide Northern New York farmers with an emergency annual forage crop option.

Data including a summary of weather conditions during the 2015 growing season, trial plot forage yields, the incidence of crown rust infections, and a summary of nutritional quality is posted in the 2015 project report posted in the Field Crops Research: Oats section of 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 the complete 2015 NNYADP Late Summer Oats Project Report