Country Folks
Posted on March 4, 2026
As African swine fever (ASF) inches closer to the U.S., many countries are already dealing with the devastating disease that can shut down both large and small pig producers. For countries like the U.S. that are currently free of ASF, all it will take is a single pig, wild or domestic, to initiate t...
Country Folks
by Maddy Poitras 
Posted on March 4, 2026
I am Maddy Poitras, an active Junior member in the seven major dairy breeds associations. Every year the event I most look forward to, which starts the show season, is the Massachusetts Blue Ribbon Calf Sale. I’ve been going to the sale every year and working it for the last five years. Working the ...
News
Courtney Llewellyn 
Posted on March 4, 2026
Stepping out of the dairy business doesn’t mean your barn has to sit idle. In the “From Dairy to Pork: Barn Conversion in Action” video series on YouTube, the New York Pork Producers teamed up with Strategic Planning Specialist Tim Terry of Cornell University’s Pro‑Dairy program to show how former d...
Country Folks
by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant 
Posted on March 4, 2026
The dams you breed today will influence the herd you own in the future. Daryl Nydam, DVM, Ph.D., and Julie Adamchick, DVM, Ph.D., presented “Breeding Today for the Herd You Want Tomorrow: Tools to Support Semen Choice Tradeoffs” as a webinar in Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine’s “Boots in th...
Country Folks
by Enrico Villamaino 
Posted on March 4, 2026
Influenza A virus continues to challenge pork production. It mutates. It reassorts. It exploits management gaps and thrives on opportunity. New field data now show that everyday barn level decisions directly influence how genetically diverse and complex this virus becomes inside a herd. The data cit...
Country Folks
by Deborah Jeanne Sergeant 
Posted on March 4, 2026
Effective weed control strategies can help farmers facing invasive weeds that are resistant to conventional application of glyphosate. Vipan Kumar, Ph.D., Extension weed management specialist for Cornell’s College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, presented on the topic at the annual Corn Congress. “P...
Country Folks
by Enrico Villamaino 
Posted on March 4, 2026
Sweet sap seasons are sacred in the sugarbush. Yet a speckled sapsucker is stirring stress among syrup producers. The spotted lanternfly (SLF), first detected in Pennsylvania in 2014, has spread swiftly and is now established in at least 19 other states. This invasive Asian planthopper prefers tree-...
Country Folks, Crop Comments
Crop Comments
Crop Comments B3 
Posted on March 4, 2026
Corn was originally a tropical grass from high elevation areas of central Mexico (about 7,400 feet above sea level). Today, corn still prefers conditions typical of that area – warm daytime temperatures and cool nights. Areas that consistently produce high corn yields share some significant characte...
Country Folks
Posted on March 4, 2026
Hello, farm family! Have you noticed extra stress in your on- and off-farm relationships lately? Perhaps you find yourself: • Avoiding “hot topics” with customers (or even family and friends) • Feeling uncomfortable in family get-togethers • Wrestling over how “personal” or “political” to get in soc...
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...