Learn and see how to grow fall sown oats and winter grains for forage. Which fields are most suited for winter forage? Is it worth planting shorter season corn? Discuss a remarkable 2012 growing season with your neighbors.

Wednesday, October 10^th at 1 p.m., Foothill Farm, Easton, Washington County.

Tuesday, October 16^th at 1 p.m. at A. Ooms & Sons, Valatie, Columbia County.

Call 518-380-1496 to RSVP and for directions.

Sugar may be a treat for humans, but for aphids it can be life threatening. A $452,000 grant to Cornell and Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research (BTI) will fund research exploiting this vulnerability to control agriculturally important insect pests.

"When aphids and similar insects feed on plants, they transmit viruses, bacteria and other disease-causing microbes to the plant," said Angela Douglas, Cornell's Daljit S. and Elaine Sarkaria Professor of Insect Physiology and Toxicology and a co-investigator for the grant. "There is an urgent need for new strategies for insect control, because insects are developing resistance to traditional broad spectrum insecticides."

Douglas and Georg Jander, an associate scientist at BTI, proposed a new method to deter insects: genetically engineering plants to protect themselves by disrupting crucial processes in the insect gut for coping with the high levels of sugar in their diet of plant sap.

"Aphids and their relatives feed directly on the plant's phloem sap, the system that carries water and nutrients within the plant," said Jander. "Because the phloem is very sweet -- about twice as sweet as grape juice -- they require adaptive mechanisms to prevent them from dehydrating while feeding." Otherwise, the high concentration of sugar in the gut will draw water from surrounding tissues, resulting in dehydration, just as when a human drinks seawater.

State Agriculture Commissioner Darrel J. Aubertine today urged horse owners across New York State to vaccinate their horses against Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) and West Nile Virus (WNV).   This is especially important since parts of New York have mosquito activity into late November.  Commissioner Aubertine is reminding horse owners to vaccinate against these diseases due to recent cases of EEE found in horses in St. Lawrence and Westchester Counties, along with a case of WNV found in a horse in Saratoga County.  The Department of Agriculture and Markets has made veterinarians across the state aware of these confirmed cases.

“While these diseases can be fatal among horses, they are also largely preventable,” said Commissioner Aubertine.  “I encourage all horse owners in the state to act responsibly and make sure your horses receive proper vaccinations.  If you have questions about equine vaccinations and the health of your horse, contact your local veterinarian immediately.” 

Humans cannot become infected by handling or being exposed to an infected horse. Horses cannot spread either virus to or from other horses, people or pets.  From a veterinary perspective, mosquitoes transmit both diseases from birds to horses.

The peaches at the farm stand, the pears in the supermarket; they're still alive - still kicking, as it were. Yet because many organic fruit and vegetable farmers sell their produce shortly after harvest, best practices forlong-term storage haven't been a looming concern. 

Now with organic produce reaping a growing marketplace share, farmers who can keep their crops fresh longer will benefit from more marketing options. But it takes knowing how - which is where the 2012 Production Guide for Storage of Organic Fruits and Vegetables, comes into play. It is free and newly osted online by the New York State Integrated Pest Management Program (NYS IPM).

Authors Vhristopher Watkins and Jacqueline Nock's clear, exhaustive manual provides the information and advice farmers need to store their crops with the same care they put into growing them.

Growers will learn, for example, that some fruit and vegetables change sugars into starches as they age. Others do teh reverse. Some emit ethylene, a natural gas essential for ripening. Others don't. Among those that don't, some might start decaying, yellowing, or sprouting at the merest whiff of ethylene from a nearby display - yet others pay it no heed.

Of course, some crops naturally lose freshness far more quickly than others. Yet even among those, how they are cared for after harvest (and even as they grow) has a huge effect on how well they hold up in the storage bin or on the grocer's shelf. 

Watkins, a Cornell horticulture professor specializing in the postharvest science, and Nock, a hortuculture research specialist at Cornell, have written this free guide to complement NYS IPM's updated 2012 organic grower guides.

NYS IPM promotes least-toxic solutions to pest problems. Learn more at nysipm.cornell.edu. The guide was funded in part by a New York Specialty Crop grant via the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Download the guide.

While many small farmers use "all natural" or "sustainable" practices, going the distance to certify your farm as organic - with the paperwork, annual inspection, and expense required - often feels like an overwhelming step. But for many farmers, the price premium received would increase profits. What do you need to do to become certified organic? Is it worth it for your farm? Do your practices qualify, or would you need to make changes?

A new online course will help you answer these questions and more. BF 106: Organic Certification - What, How, and Why (or Why Not) is offered by the Cornell University Small Farms Program and Cooperative Extension, in partnership with Northeast Organic Farming Association, LLC (the certification branch of NOFA). The course will run through the month of October, 2-30.

Tuesday evening webinars will provide the opportunity to hear directly from certified organic farmers about the requirements they have to meet, why certification works for them and how they manage their paperwork. This course will also introduce you to resources to help you navigate the certification process. It is designed both for new and experienced crop and livestock farmers who are contemplating organic certification.

Registration closes Sept. 24, so sign up now to be sure you don't miss this once-a-year opportunity. View more details and registration information.

Join us for a DairyFAST meeting in Richfield Springs on September 11^th. Start your day with a great breakfast & then let’s discuss cow comfort and how much of an impact it can really have. If you have time an optional farm tour just west of town will demonstrate how a tragic barn fire was one of those turning lemons into lemonade decisions.

Download the details and either email or call to R.S.V.P.

It is rare for a farm to be an accidental success; having a written document laying out the farm's goals, marketing strategies, financial projections, and operation is essential to demonstrate the feasibility of the farmer's plans. A business plan is also a must-have for anyone seeking loans or grants to help fund their farm's development.

This Fall, you can get personal guidance in writing your farm business plan by taking an online course offered by the Cornell Small Farms Program. BF 202: Planning for Sustainability - Writing Your Business Plan is a fast-paced course covering one section of the business plan each week. Through weekly webinars, you'll hear from farmers, business management educators, and bankers about what makes a good business plan. You'll get personal feedback on each section of your business plan as you complete the weekly homework. The course begins Thurs. Oct 4 and runs for 6 weeks through Nov. 8, with evening webinars every Thursday. The cost is $200. Registration closes when the course fills up or by Sept 26, whichever happens first, so don't delay or you might miss this opportunity.

Students who took the course last Fall have used their completed business plans to obtain farm mortgages, equipment purchase loans, and operating loans. One student said, "I basically knew very little prior to taking this course. But now I feel confident about how to write a business plan, how to research the areas that are projections/pro-forma statements, and the components of each section."

If you've felt intimidated by the process of writing a business plan, or if you plan to seek outside funding for your farm, sign up now for this unique opportunity to join a virtual community that will help you write your farm business plan this Fall. For more details visit http://nebeginningfarmers.org/online-courses/all-courses/bf-202-planning-for-sustainability/

This course is only one of many offered over the Fall, Winter and Spring by the Cornell Small Farms Program and Cornell Cooperative Extension. For the full course menu, visit http://nebeginningfarmers.org/online-courses.

Dr. Larry Chase and the ProDairy team at Cornell have put together several fact sheets to help dairy farmers make decisions on feed management, dealing with 2012 crop year.

Dairy Herd Forage Needs Worksheet
Dairy Herd Forage Inventory Worksheet
Dairy Herd Forage Needs and Inventory Balance Worksheet
Determining Your Forage Inventory
Drought Forage Decision Guide
Estimating Corn Grain and Corn Silage Yields
How Do I Price Corn Silage Worksheet
What Tools are Available to Price Corn Silage?
Ten Key Herd Management Opportunities

Some additional Fact Sheets are in preparation. All of these will be available on the Dairy Extension web page http://ansci.cornell.edu/dm/index.html

Whether you currently notill and are looking to pick up a few pointers to do it better, or you are new to notill and wonder if it's for you, participating in this tour and demonstration should be time well spent.

August 21, 2012, 11:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Angel Rose Dairy, Bainbridge, New York

Angel Rose dairy is a 90-cow farm owned and operated by Dianne and John Kemmeren, their daughter Katy and son Peter. The farm has made a commitment to the notill planting of crops to minimize soil loss, improve soil health and reduce machinery costs and labor.

The day will include 10:30 a.m. registration and refreshments; 11:00 a.m. presentation by John Kemmeren; 12:00-12:45 p.m. lunch - bring your own lunch, beverages provided; 12:45-2:30 p.m. off-site field tour;

The program is free of charge. See directions below: