“Enough is enough!” When I was young, those three little words – usually bellowed by one of the Dame patriarchs – always made me freeze. Nothing else needed to be said. The message came through loud and clear: No more talking. No more jumping. No more running. Close your mouth. Sit still. Stop. Who ...

Most who own forested land have never dealt with trespassers who willingly go onto private property and cut trees, but it happens often enough that states have strict laws to handle the problem. Ross Pifer, professor of law and director of Penn State’s Center for Ag & Shale Law , recently presented ...

“’There’s money in the account’ is not an effective business strategy,” Penn State Extension’s Carla Snyder joked during a recent “Lunch & Learn.” As a farm business owner, it’s important to know the status of every cent of cold, hard cash, not just your assets or investments. Effective planning can...

My favorite local honey is buckwheat-based. Honey consumers typically believe that the human health benefits of this food are greater if the beehives are situated near where that consumer lives. Bears appear to share this mindset. Honeybees are critical for the pollination of this plant species, whi...

News outlets jump at a chance to film mysterious, celestial, crop circles and wax paranormal about their meaning. I wish they showed the same enthusiasm for “pasture circles” and their real benefit to feeding our biological systems. Maybe we can get cows to strategically poop as a cool art form inst...

About a month after the Strait of Hormuz blockade began, a farmer named Ken called me, asking me to formulate fertilizers for his small cropping operation in southern Onondaga County. Ken grows corn for grain, soybeans and mixed mostly grass hay. He sent me soil test results for each of the three fi...

“We want to identify what are the top management practices that explain the best milk quality in organic dairy farms,” said Carlos Nino de Guzman, a doctoral student at the University of Florida. This is Nino de Guzman’s goal as a researcher with a multi-university grant funded by the National Insti...

Commercial dairy herds are increasing both in profitable milk components and in overall yields. Does this mean cows should be challenged with more nutrient-rich diets to determine their productivity per unit of energy? Mike Van Amburgh with the Department of Animal Science at Cornell University expl...

Mary, Javier and Lorrie handle moving cows and milking at Cool Beans Dairy. Mary attaches milking units immediately after wiping udders dry while Javier waits a few extra minutes. Lorrie whistles to move cows but Javier uses a rattle paddle. Although the herd has outstanding genetics and performance...