Cornell University Cooperative Extension and the University of Vermont are embarking on a 3 year project for farmers and other forest owners who are interested in growing shiitake mushrooms as a profitable enterprise.  Together with experienced shiitake growers from New York, New Hampshire and Vermont, we are developing a program that will help you to not only learn how to grow shiitake mushrooms from A to Z, but also help you to decide if you want to get into Shiitake farming on a commercial enterprise scale.

Through a series of hands-on workshops and visits to actual “shiitake farms”, participants will learn about tree species selection and sustainable forest management, spawn types, laying yard design and management, inoculation, predictable fruiting, and enterprise management. Growers will be involved in determining how to manage costs and optimize marketing opportunities which will affect profitability and thus potential for widespread adoption. Those persons selected to participate will receive shiitake spawn for inoculating their own shiitake laying yard. The initiative will result in the development of a personalized 5 year enterprise plan and establishment of a 100 log trial.

Applicants may choose to attend an introductory workshop followed by an advanced workshop (Field visit) at one of the following three sites.

Cornell’s Arnot Forest, Van Etten, NY, Advanced Workshop - July 18, 2010, Contact: Ken Mudge (kwm2@cornell.edu) (Introductory workshop already past)

Dana Forest Farm, Waitsfield, VT, Advanced Workshop -September 12, 2010, Contact: Nick Laskovski (danaforestfarm@gmail.com), (Introductory workshop already past)

Green Heron Farm, Panama, NY (Chatauqua Co.), Combined Introductory and Advanced Workshop - September 19, 2010, Contact: Julie & Steve Rockcastle (julie.blueheron@gmail.com)

Download application.

Photo Attribute: Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/64/Shiitakegrowing.jpg/270px-

In recent decades, consumption of total dairy products has risen just barely faster than the growth in population. However, use of individual products has shown great, and apparently unrelated, variation. Consumer decisions about individual products appear to be fairly independent of each other.

Total per capita consumption of fluid milk has declined slowly because of competition from other beverages and a declining share of children in the population. Since the late 1980s, however, changes in per capita sales of individual types of beverage milk have been variable. Per person use of most cream and cultured products has risen steadily for a quarter-century.

Growing cheese demand has been one of the most important forces shaping the U.S. dairy industry. Per capita cheese use is twice the level of 25 years ago and shows no signs of leveling. Increasing cheese consumption has been aided by ready availability of a wider variety of cheeses, increased away-from-home eating, and greater popularity of ethnic cuisines that employ cheese as a major ingredient.

Per person use of butter has been fairly steady since the early 1970s. However, use of most dry and condensed milks have declined as in-home food preparation has diminished and fresh milk has become cheaper and achieved a longer shelf-life. In commercial food preparation, whey products have replaced some of the former uses of dry and condensed milk products. (Whey is the watery part of milk that separates from curds in the process of making cheese.)

Major trends in milk production in the United States include 1) a fairly steady slow increase in production as gains in milk production per cow outweigh declines in the number of cows, and 2) a consistent decline in the number of dairy operations, matched by a continual rise in the number of cows per operation.

Since 1970, milk production has risen by almost half, even though milk cow numbers have declined by about a fourth (from about 12 million to roughly 9 million in 2007, see map). Milk production per cow has nearly doubled, from 9,700 pounds per year to nearly 19,000 pounds. Similarly, the number of dairy operations declined from about 650,000 in 1970 to roughly 90,000 in the early 2000s, while over the same period the average herd size increased fivefold from about 20 cows to 100 cows.

Milk is produced in all 50 States. The top 10 producing States in 2008 were:

• California
• Wisconsin
• New York
• Idaho
• Pennsylvania
• Minnesota
• Texas
• New Mexico
• Michigan
• Washington

As this list indicates, the major milk-producing States are in the West and North. The relative importance of the western regions has grown, while other regions have declined or remained steady. Western areas have had lower average costs of milk production for a variety of organizational and climatic reasons.

Most dairy cows in the United States are Holsteins, a breed that tends to produce more milk per cow than other breeds. The composition of Holstein milk in approximate terms is 87.7 percent water, 3.7 percent milk fat, and 8.6 percent skim solids.

In the United States, the decision to produce milk largely rests in the hands of individuals or families. Many of these farmers belong to producer-owned cooperatives. The cooperatives assemble members' milk and move it to processors and manufacturers. Some cooperatives operate their own processing and manufacturing plants. Initially local, many of today's dairy cooperatives are national, with members scattered across the country.

Agricultural producers and manufacturing business owners/operators will have an opportuntiy to learn about getting their products to markets outside of US borders at the ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF EXPORTING SEMINAR to be presented by the office of Assemblyman George Amedore on Friday, June 18, 7:30 - 10:00 a.m.

Presenters include Jerry Shaye, Director of International Trade Development at Empire State Development, Mark Lewis, Senior International Trade Specialist, USDOC, Alberto Uy, Key Bank, and Attorney Leslie Thiele. 

Not only will hear the presenters, but all panelists will be available for individual meetings with attendees following the formal program.  This is a free program. RSVP is required by 6/16.  For more information, please call (518) 843-0227 or ossenfm@assembly.state.ny.us.

This story was posted on the USDA Blog on May 27, 2010.

If you don’t work at USDA, you may not have read the 2008 Farm Bill, which means you may not be aware of the many benefits that came out of that legislation.  One such provision directed USDA to coordinate technical assistance to small meat and poultry processors.  As a result, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), an agency within USDA committed to working with business of all sizes in support of a safe and wholesome food supply, established the Small Plant Help Desk.

Small and very small processors make up more than 90% of the nation’s 6,000 federally inspected meat and poultry establishments and all of the 1,900 state inspected plants.  These small, independent businesses are often the closest and most convenient way that a farmer or rancher can bring their cows, pigs, chickens, sheep, or goats to market, and they are a critical part of the infrastructure that comprises our nation’s local and regional food systems.

Behind the Help Desk FSIS’ Staff Officers - subject-matter experts with recent in-plant experience - can assess callers' requests and provide information and guidance materials that best meet their needs. The Help Desk not only provides such callers with step-by-step instructions, but also provides resources to assist them in understanding food safety issues relevant to the products they are producing.

Lucia Huebner from the Traveling Butcher in Hopewell, New Jersey, called the Small Plant Help Desk multiple times in search of help in starting up a federally-inspected mobile slaughter unit. Huebner’s questions ranged from those about specific federal regulations, such as potable water testing, to more general questions, such as how to coordinate her slaughter schedule with the local District Office. A Help Desk Staff Officer was able to answer her questions, put her in touch with district staff in her area, as well as connect her with a network of other small processors who have also faced the challenge of starting up a mobile slaughter unit. Huebner is still in the process of applying for a Federal Grant of Inspection, and plans to call the Help Desk again as questions arise along the way. “The Help Desk has been a fantastic resource for me,” says Huebner. “What a great feeling to know that I have someone to call when I have questions about federal inspection.”

The Help Desk can be reached at 877-374-7435, or 877 FSIS HELP, or by emailing InfoSource@fsis.usda.gov.

The author, Beth McKew, DVM is Staff Officer, State Outreach and Technical Assistance Staff, Office of Outreach, Employee Education and Training, Food Safety and Inspection Service

Almost all of the milk produced in the United States meets fluid grade milk standards (Grade A in most States). However, only about one-third of the milk is actually processed into fluid milk and cream products.

Fluid milk processors face a unique supply-demand situation not shared by most other food products. Farm milk production varies by day, week, and season because of weather and feed conditions. Similarly, fluid milk sales vary greatly by day and season because of consumer shopping patterns. Because these patterns cannot be precisely predicted, a system must be maintained to get milk where it is needed when it is needed. Shipping milk among locations and storing it for a day or 2 can solve some of the problem, but a pool of "on call" raw milk is ultimately needed. The portion of this reserve not actually used in fluid milk products is manufactured into other dairy products.

Coordinating supply and demand for the fluid market is called balancing. Individual plants may do the balancing, but it is more efficient for a few entities, or even a single entity, to provide the services for a market. Dairy cooperatives have in most cases taken on this important function.

Social behavior in bees has a number of advantages. One of the most important of these is the ability to quickly mobilize a large number of foragers to gather floral resources that may only be available for a short period of time. The ability to communicate location with such precision is one of the most interesting behaviors of a very interesting insect.

The recruitment of foragers from a hive begins when a scout bee returns to the hive engorged with nectar from a newly found nectar source. She begins by spending 30-45 seconds regurgitating and distributing nectar to bees waiting in the hive. Once her generosity has garnered an audience, the dancing begins. There are 2 types of bee dances: the round dance and the tail-wagging or waggle dance, with a transitional form known as the sickle dance.

Read more.

The Central New York Dairy and Field Crops Team has been monitoring first cutting hay fields this spring to help suggest when producers should begin cutting for the highest quality forage for producing milk.  Alfalfa height has been shown to be a strong predictor of in-field NDF (Neutral Detergent Fiber) and gives a reasonable indication of forage quality without the need of forage testing.  It has been shown that alfalfa height can not only predict alfalfa NDF but also the NDF content of mixed alfalfa grass stands and pure grass stand.  Attached is a file which contains alfalfa height measurements and predicted NDF values for fields across the six counties served by the team.

Please use this information provided as encouragement to go check your own fields so that you are aware of whether or not you should be harvesting.  Due to early warm temperatures, first cutting may need to begin much earlier than normal so we encourage you to look at your own fields now.  We are seeing considerable differences in maturity depending elevation, soil drainage and which direction the slope is facing.  Fields that are in some combination of south facing, well drained and in the valley are much further along.

At this point grass should have been cut.  Mixed fields to pure stand alfalfa fields should be cut at this time.  There are still a few fields that are only beginning to reach that stage. You need to check your fields!

This will be the last of our 1^st cutting updates.

For more information about our educational programs and current field conditions see our website at: http://cnydairylc.cce.cornell.edu

Kevin Ganoe, team leader for the Central New York Dairy & Field Crops Team announced today that the team is offering a Soybean Scouting and TAg Team Program this summer. The program is supported wiith funds through the NYS Integrated Pest Management Program. The team will monitor two fields on participating farms for the next 10 weeks. Download the brochure for details and contact information.

Cornell Cooperative Extension Specialists Chuck Bornt, Laura McDermott, and Crystal Stewart were each awarded a SARE Grant to pursue needed projects in the Capital Region.

Improving the yield and quality of sweet potatoes grown in New York: Chuck Bornt

Sweet potatoes are easily direct marketed to consumers, but the short, cool growing season in the Northeast makes them a challenge to produce. The project manager will work with a small group of growers to test varieties, mulches, and biodegradable film as ways to address production barriers and extend the growing season; these growers will also have input into the direction of future research. As a result, 50 new growers will learn about the effort and eight farms currently growing 10 acres of sweet potatoes will improve stand establishment, root uniformity and marketable yield resulting in increased gross sales of sweet potatoes an average of $4500 an acre. Thirty additional farms which had never grown sweet potatoes will add 0.5 to 1.0 acres of sweet potatoes, increasing their crop diversity. Upon completion, a best-management guide including cultural practices and a budget analysis will be made available to interested growers.

Optimizing strawberry production with a reduced tillage system: Laura McDermott

Strawberry weed control, especially in the first year, is a barrier to productivity, and this project compares zone till, no till, and a conventionally prepared transplant bed. The project manager will evaluate weed types, weed density, yield, production costs, and plant nutritional status in all three treatments, and outreach will be through grower newsletters and extension communications.

Mohawk Harvest Cooperative Market: Crystal Stewart

An existing community-owned cooperative market has been getting requests for replication materials, and the project manager will write and distribute a guide for creating similar markets in other communities. A portion of the grant funds will also be used to improve planning and overall efficiency of the market transportation system, with advice and lessons learn incorporated into the guide. Outreach will be through guide distribution and presentations at conferences and grower meetings.