As the last of the harvest comes in and the fields begin to rest for winter, the energy shifts. The air feels heavier, the nights stretch longer. You can feel it – the turning of the year! Samhain (pronounced sOW-in) marks the end of the harvest season and the start of the darker half of the year. I...

Hello, farm family! Since you’re reading this, you already know that “farmer” is really a hyphenated word. It stands for farmer-carpenter, farmer-mechanic, farmer-veterinarian, farmer-sales manager, farmer-marketing director – you get the idea! Farmers take great pride in that hyphenated identity, a...

From 1985 to 1992, ABC aired a detective show, “MacGyver,” which followed the adventures of Angus MacGyver, a secret agent armed with remarkable scientific skills, solving problems in the field using any materials at hand. The episode I liked best featured MacGyver hunkered down in a swamp, trying t...

Dr. Troy Rowan, assistant professor, beef cattle genomics, University of Tennessee, realizes cattlemen may not see the value of genomic testing for commercial heifers, but he offers solid information on why it’s worthwhile. “Traditional heifer selection strategy has been to buy good bulls, use commo...

4-H’er Mallory VanCaeseele may not have placed as well at the Ontario County Fair in Canandaigua, NY, as she would have liked with her beef cattle; however, the $8,500 – top money – garnered at the fair’s 4-H auction removed some of the sting. Mallory could feel proud knowing that Hemdale Farms in S...

As an undergraduate at Cornell during the mid-1960s, I took a course titled “Marketing of Agricultural Products.” The textbook for the course bore the same name, co-authored by Max Brunk and Lawrence Darrah. When I took the course, Darrah was the instructing professor, and I paid $4.50 for a used co...

Summer and autumn bring livestock shows and fairs, a higher risk of disease transmission and more need for solid biosecurity. “Biosecurity is the set of steps to take to prevent or reduce the spread of disease,” said Abby Schuft, Ph.D., poultry Extension educator, University of Minnesota. “With fair...

Once upon a time, the phrase “shameless self-promotion” was seen only in a negative light. These days, talking about yourself – through the lens of your farming operation – may be the best way to promote your business and your way of life. Speaking candidly about their advocacy in action at the most...

A recent call among veterinarians and entomologists regarding the New World screwworm (NWS) delved deep into this potential agricultural threat. After a May shutdown of cattle movement, USDA announced a risk-based port reopening plan for July. It was short-lived when authorities discovered NWS was m...