Children play an active role on many farms and ranches, but it is the responsibility of parents, caregivers, or supervisors to assign them age-appropriate tasks, restrict access to work areas, give easy-to-understand instructions, provide personal protective equipment (PPE), maintain equipment with operational safety devices, and provide supervision to reduce the risk of injury or death. The most common causes of agricultural-related fatalities for children are machinery or tractor accidents, drowning, and motor vehicle accidents, including accidents involving all-terrain vehicles (ATV). Most nonfatal injuries result from falls or incidents with livestock.

Because rates of physical and mental development can vary from child to child, understanding how children develop is critical to identifying age-appropriate tasks for them. A child’s size, strength, motor skills, and coordination are all factors in determining whether he or she is physically able to complete certain tasks. But you must also determine whether a child has the cognitive skills to understand and follow instructions, make good decisions, and understand that unsafe actions may have consequences that lead to injury or death.

The first Annual Capital District Garlic School will be held tomorrow, March 26th, at the CCE office in Voorheesville. Pre-registration was required.

The CCEFM Master Gardeners have announced that the 2012 beginning gardening series, Food Gardening 101, has been cancelled. The Advanced Gardening classes scheduled for May 10th and May 17th will be held if there is sufficient pre-registration.

A new report has found dozens of cases of illness, death and reproductive issues in cows, horses, goats, llamas, chickens, dogs, cats, fish and other wildlife, and humans. It says these conditions could be the result of exposure to gas drilling operations.

Hydraulic fracturing, popularly called hydrofracking, is a process for extracting natural gas from shale using chemicals and water.

The paper's authors, Robert Oswald, a professor of molecular medicine at Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine, and veterinarian Michelle Bamberger, interviewed animal owners in six states -- Colorado, Louisiana, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas -- and cited 24 cases where animals were potentially affected by gas drilling.

According to the study, recently published online and appearing soon in print, in New Solutions: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy, making a direct link between death and illness is not possible due to incomplete testing, proprietary secrecy from gas drilling companies regarding the chemicals used in hydrofracking, and non-disclosure agreements that seal testimony and evidence when lawsuits are settled.

"We have a number of case studies -- they don't tell us about the prevalence of problems associated with hydraulic fracturing, but they do tell us how things can happen," said Oswald.

Register by tomorrow, March 12th, to attend this program on March 22nd at the CCE Saratoga County office in Ballston Spa.

Through funding from the NE-SARE, this workshop has been designed to train participants throughout the Northeast in the identification, assessment and management of soilborne pathogens and to provide resources that can be used on-farm and in various outreach activities.

The day-long program will provide workshops by Beth Gugino, Penn State; George Abawi, Cornell University; and Jim LaMondia, University of Connecticut Experiment Station.

Download details below.

The pigs and poultry in Professor Xingen Lei's lab have been consuming feed one wouldn't expect in Ithaca: marine algae.

The Cornell animal science professor is testing the unlikely material as a new protein-rich source of feed to supplement and replace some of the corn and soybean meal mix traditionally given to food-producing animals. 

By doing so, he could transform a biofuel byproduct into a valuable commodity, potentially freeing thousands of acres of cropland.

"Current animal feed directly competes against human food sources and, thus, is unsustainable," Lei said. "We must develop alternatives to soybean and corn for animal feeds."

Algae produces 50 times more oil per acre than corn, with a much smaller carbon footprint; uses nutrients more efficiently than land plants, with no runoff; and places no demand on high-quality agricultural land or freshwater supplies.

There are an estimated 1 billion swine, 1 billion cattle, 2 billion sheep and goats and 40 billion poultry worldwide. The average pig consumes about 660 pounds of feed by the time it goes to market, Lei said, so replacing just 10 percent of that feed with algae would save a whopping 33 million tons.

Lei's preliminary research found that dried defatted algae derived from biofuel production can replace up to one-third of soybean meal in diets for pigs and chickens. It is an attractive source because it is high in protein -- 20-70 percent, compared with about 10 percent in corn and 40 percent in soy. 

The Milk Quality Improvement Program and Department of Food Science at Cornell University have launched a new bi-monthly newsletter called Artisan Cheese Wedge.  Use the link below to open/download the publication.

Registration Open for the 2012 Small Farms Summit

The Cornell Small Farms Program is pleased to announce that registration is now open for the 2012 statewide Small Farms Summit to be held Wednesday, February 29th, from 9:30am – 3:30pm. The Summit is an interactive meeting with an opportunity for all participants to take part in lively discussion and provide important feedback, both locally, and across the state.

At the 2012 Summit, participants will be asked to reflect on recent successes and identify new concerns and challenges affecting the growth of the small farm sector.  We’ll be issuing a preliminary e-survey in early February to capture feedback from voices that cannot attend the Summit.  In the morning session, we’ll discuss issues that emerged in the survey and generate additional ideas from participants.  In the afternoon session, participants will work within their regional sites to prioritize areas of importance over the next 5 years. 

The Summit is free to attend and lunch will be provided. Farmer participation is especially encouraged, but educators, agricultural service providers, policy makers, non-profit organizations, students and community members are all welcome.

Location: Albany County, Cornell Cooperative Extension office
Address:  24 Martin Road, Voorheesville, NY 12186
To register: Gale Kohler at gek4@cornell.edu 

Click this link to the USDA site announcing a new program called “Start2Farm.gov” to assist beginning farmers and ranchers.

The US Forest Service released the 2011 edition of Federal Income Tax on Timber: A Key to Your Most Frequently Asked Questions, a quick-reference guide to timber tax laws impacting woodland owners. Complete with the new tax law updates, this publication provides a timely tax reporting information for the 2011 return filing season.

Access the publication here.