Every farm has flies. The issue is what kind, how many, where and their impact on livestock. Veterinarian David Prentice recently presented information on fly control for farms for the Dairy Calf & Heifer Association . Prentice began with fly basics: Fly reproduction is consistent among species, but...

Throughout their lives, farmers inhale a lot of dust. Field work, feed handling, working in enclosed spaces and other routine farm tasks result in dust inhalation. The type of dust, length of exposure and other factors determine the degree of risk. Tara Nordgren, Ph.D., associate professor, Universi...

Dietitians tell us that a person consuming an 8-oz. glass of cow’s milk is ingesting approximately 232 mg of phosphorus (P), a nutrient vital for bone health, energy metabolism and cellular function. Taking these numbers further, I calculate that approximately 1 lb. of elemental P departs the farm i...

Rob Goodling, business consultant for Farm Credit East, recently provided information on what the dairy industry can expect as producers passed the halfway mark in 2026. Goodling’s information was based on the 2025 Northeast Dairy Farm Summary and 2026 Mid-year Outlook. Summary input is based primar...

Jaime Garzon, Ph.D., an assistant Extension professor and dairy forage educator, University of Maine at Orono, recently led a pasture walk on an organic farm on Flat Road in West Bethel, Maine. This was his first on a homestead. Christine Trefehen and Eric List, the couple who bought a 6.5-acre parc...

Anyone thinking about a manure digester might envision a massive unit on a large livestock farm. Matt Steiman, assistant farm manager at Dickinson College, explained that isn’t the case at the Carlisle, PA, farm. “This is a unique system,” Steiman said. “Most digesters are on large farms with 500 co...

What sort of taxes do you pay in your farm life? Chances are you’re familiar with the more common taxes: income, sales, payroll, property, self-employment, inheritance. But what about the switch tax? I only recently learned about the switch tax from one of my podcast guests, and it’s much more costl...

On July 23, I was invited by Uri to perform extensive soil sampling on his farm in eastern Chenango County, NY. I’ve been advising Uri in his organic crop program for a couple decades, taking lots of soil samples for him over the years. I met Uri in September 1964 at Cornell University. I was an ag ...

Employees gather for yet another safety talk, anticipating boredom. Safety talks can be sleeper events, but when there’s injury or death on the farm, safety suddenly becomes the main conversation – for a short time. Incidents can be prevented by familiarizing employees and family members with farm s...