News
Posted on October 1, 2025
“Media coverage can bring significant attention and credibility to your farm, but it requires understanding what makes a story interesting, how to pitch it and how to maintain positive relationships with journalists,” said Molly McManus, agritourism and marketing coordinator at CCE Broome in New Yor...
News
Laura Rodley 
Posted on October 1, 2025
Hiking, hunting, harvesting? Going for a walk in the woods? Riding your horse? Mowing your lawn? Picking apples? Beware of yellowjackets. “Historically, they always come out this time of year to feast on aster and goldenrod,” said Mary Wigmore, owner of Ashfield, MA-based Wigmore Forest Resource Man...
Farmers First
jkarkwren 
Posted on October 1, 2025
Hello, farm family! Are you farming out of scarcity or abundance? I’m not talking about the balance in your bank account, the number of people on your payroll or even the pounds of product you sold this week. I’m talking about your mindset. The Scarcity Mindset A scarcity mindset starts from the pre...
Crop Comments
jkarkwren 
Posted on October 1, 2025
On Sept. 18, Jim, an organic dairy farmer, called me to discuss possible corn silage toxicity issues that worried him. He milks about 70 cows in Genesee County (NY), and his farm is “regular” organic (not grass-fed). I’ve been advising him on his crop program for several years. He grows corn for sil...
Country Folks
by Sally Colby 
Posted on September 30, 2025
"We’re seeing the collision of the beef and dairy markets in a way we wouldn’t have dreamed of a few years ago.” That’s how Derrell Peel, Ph.D., Extension and livestock marketing specialist, Oklahoma State University, began a late summer update on the cattle market. He said no one could have anticip...
News
Sonja Heyck-Merlin 
Posted on September 24, 2025
According to Tim Terry, farm strategic planning specialist with Cornell University’s PRO-DAIRY , the calf hutch is still the gold standard for raising calves because it maximizes calf health and performance while minimizing morbidity and mortality. However, in regions like the Northeast and Great La...
Crop Comments
jkarkwren 
Posted on September 24, 2025
On the evening of March 15, 2025, a fairly serious electric storm hit central New York and much of the Northeast. The flash-to-bang time for the first clap of thunder was seven or eight seconds. With the speed of sound at approximately 1,000 feet/second, this meant that the first lightning bolt stru...
News
jkarkwren 
Posted on September 17, 2025
Hyperbole is often found in literature when an author wants to heighten the effect of their words or add vibrancy and magnitude to catch the reader’s attention. Singer John Legend said, “I think writers are prone to hyperbole sometimes.” I’m guilty, but I hope the bait caught the fish. Anyone in agr...
News
Sally Colby 
Posted on September 17, 2025
As farmers throughout the Northeast have been waiting less than patiently for rain, some areas have finally gotten some long-overdue moisture. But is late-season rain enough to salvage a corn silage crop? Dr. John Goeser, adjunct professor, University of Wisconsin-Madison Animal & Dairy Science, rec...
News
by Karl H. Kazaks 
March 2, 2026
When Rusty Mangrum recently built a new house, he wanted to plant shade trees in the yard – magnolia, serviceberry, 'Autumn Blaze' red maple. To find ...
News
by Enrico Villamaino 
March 2, 2026
Water is waning and landscapes are feeling the squeeze. Lawns and landscapes are increasingly left to languish under water use limits. In response to ...
News
by Sally Colby 
March 2, 2026
A recent shift toward more restrictive weed control measures along with new, mandatory pesticide application rules has been mandated by the EPA. Wesle...
News
by Enrico Villamaino 
March 2, 2026
At the Cultivate Conference in Columbus, one presentation invited landscape professionals to loosen their grip and embrace a little chaos – with purpo...