Posted on May 6, 2026
Swine success is never simple. Every season serves a new set of stressors. Fall feels friendly with crisp air and steady gains. Summer, however, sizzles with setbacks. Heat is the headline hazard. For pigs post-weaning, the comfort corridor sits between 65º and 75º F. In that thermoneutral zone, met...
Country Folks
by Sally Colby Part 2: Preventing cyberthreats 
Posted on May 6, 2026
Part 2: Preventing cyberthreats The internet was first hailed as a tool for open information and operability. No one suspected the potential for nefarious activity. Now everything is accessible, which allows bad actors to infiltrate farms and other businesses. Too often, dairy farms are cybercrime t...
Country Folks
by Jazlyn Hoadley & Andrew Magnuson, SUNY Cobleskill 
Posted on May 6, 2026
High production dairy cows are metabolic athletes with unique nutritional challenges that producers must be aware of to maintain herd health, trace mineral balance and optimal milk production. There are currently 1.2 million dairy cows producing an average of 22,516 lbs. of milk per cow within Conne...
Country Folks
by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant 
Posted on May 6, 2026
Crop diseases reduce yield, but with the right planning, farmers can lessen their effect and realize the full potential of their crops. Jordan Bassler, agronomy leader at Seed Consultants in Washington Courthouse, Ohio, presented at the recent A.N. Martin Open House. “Red crown rot is big in soybean...
Country Folks, Farmers First
Posted on May 6, 2026
Hello, farm family! After a tumultuous winter, spring is finally here, even though the weather seems to be having a hard time getting the message. Farmers are not fooled by unseasonable chills, however. If you’re anything like the farmers I know, you’re already moving full speed ahead: filling up gr...
Country Folks, Crop Comments
Crop Comments A10 
Posted on May 6, 2026
As I’m writing this column in late April’s pre-dawn, it appears that spring has not quite grabbed the climate reins from winter. Autmn-planted winter annuals are looking pretty good – crops like wheat, rye, triticale, barley and speltz. But perennial crops are taking their sweet time breaking dorman...
Country Folks
by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant 
Posted on April 29, 2026
Getting a jump on pests can help improve your chances warding off a major infestation. Chloe Yi-Luo Cho, Ph.D. candidate in entomology at Cornell, presented “Early-Season Pest Damage Across New York: Risk Under Different Management Practices in Light of the Neonicotinoid Ban” at the recent Soybean &...
Country Folks
by Kelsi Devolve 
Posted on April 29, 2026
Taika von Königslöw, assistant Professor at Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, spoke at the 2026 New Hampshire Dairy Management Conference, explaining the complexities of calf health and management. Calves are extremely vulnerable within their first few days of life, but it’s essen...
Country Folks
by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant 
Posted on April 29, 2026
A motivational speaker may not seem a typical choice for a speaker at a farm conference, but the Northeast Dairy Management Conference, presented by PRO-DAIRY and the Northeast Dairy Producers Association, welcomed Matt Booth of Mattitude from Dubuque, Iowa, to speak about one’s outlook effecting po...
Courtney Llewellyn 
June 1, 2026
In northwest Illinois, where fields flatten into horizon and seasons set the pace of life, Selmi’s Greenhouse & Family Farm stands as both a working f...
News
by Andy Haman 
June 1, 2026
Play is important for children of all ages, and children’s play areas can become an integral part of your agritourism operation – but these spaces mus...
News
by Sally Colby 
June 1, 2026
Jared Hughes’s entry into the plant and greenhouse business happened naturally. During college, he propagated succulents on his parents’ property and ...
News
by Enrico Villamaino 
June 1, 2026
At the most recent Cultivate Conference , growers packed together to soak up smart strategies on a deceptively simple subject: watering. In a session ...