About Program

About ProgramThe South Central NY Dairy & Field Crops Program provides educational opportunities and technical assistance to help the industry with emerging issues, production bottlenecks, and new technologies. Our primary audiences are dairy and field crop producers as well as agri-service providers with secondary audiences of the media, non-farm residents and consumers. We focus on areas that will help improve farm profitability within the region since farm financial success is a key to maintaining a viable dairy and field crops industry. Our program's education helps our industry respond to both internal and external forces that help it keep pace in a rapidly changing world.

The dairy and field crops sector brings significant economic activity to the region ($411 M in milk income alone). Dollars produced from agriculture have one of the largest multiplier effects. Farms make a significant contribution to the local tax base and have been found in several cost of service studies to demand less in services than they pay in taxes compared to residences (1). Farms maintain open space which provides the community with beautiful landscapes and recreational land.

(1) Cost of Community Services Studies
American Farmland Trust; Northampton, MA: American Farmland Trust; FIC Fact Sheet and Technical Memo; page(s) 6; 2010; National; Fact Sheets and Technical Memos Cost of Community Services Studies.

Our Mission:
  • Enhance the profitability of farmers to maintain a strong regional dairy industry,
  • Create greater awareness of trends and options to help producers achieve family and business goals,
  • Maintain environmentally responsible agricultural practices, and
  • Encourage a better understanding of agriculture by the general community.
We work to help producers meet their goals and enhance dairy farm profitability to maintain a strong dairy industry in the region.

This program is supported by Cornell University and the Cornell Cooperative Extension Associations of Broome, Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Tioga & Tompkins Counties




The South Central New York Dairy and Field Crops is supported,
in part, by six county Cornell Cooperative Extensions including:
Broome, Cayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Tioga
and Tompkins Counties.

To visit one of these Cornell Cooperative Extension's web sites,
simply click on a county within the map.

SCNY Team County Map Cayuga County CCE Cortland County CCE Tompkins County CCE Tioga County CCE Chemung County CCE Broome County CCE

more content - left
Dairy

Dairy

Livestock

Livestock

Grazing

Grazing

Forages

Forages

Grains

Grains

more content - right

Upcoming Events

Manure Storage Cover and Flare Farm Tour

March 28, 2024
King Ferry, NY

See different covered storage designs. 

Speak with an experienced farm operator. 

Discuss design changes, performance, maintenance, cost, and funding opportunities

North American Manure Expo

July 17 - July 18, 2024 : North American Manure Expo
Auburn, NY

Save the Date for the North American Manure Expo

Professionalism in Nutrient Management - www.manureexpo.com


Announcements

Farm Participants Needed for Bale Grazing Grant!

Information on the Project:  
  • Approximately 10 acres total needed to bale graze two different bale densities
  • "Core" farms will graze two winters, "Demo" farms will graze one winter.
  • Payments for both "Core" farms and "Demo" farms
  • Baseline soil sampling by bale grazing team
  • Forage measurements in early season by bale grazing team
  • Late season clipping if residual not trampled down by farm
Interested farms can enroll for this winter or next.

Looking for 2-3 dairy farms to enroll! If interested, please reach out to Betsy Hicks, 607.391.2673 or bjh246@cornell.edu 


Cornell Cow Convos - New Podcast

On-going podcast, New episodes released on the last Thursday of the month.
Guest speakers, CCE Dairy Specialists.

Housed on Soundcloud Channel is CCE Dairy Educators


Topics:
  • Preventative healthcare for cows
  • The trend of beef on dairy
  • What to look forward to in the new year for dairy
  • Socially grouping or pair-housing calves



Dairy Acceleration Program Funds Available

Funds available for the
  • organization of financial records/benchmarking up to $1,000
  • continued business planning (for farms awarded in a previous year) up to $2,500
  • business planning up to $5,000
Guidelines remain the same DAP covers 80% of the cost up to the value of the award and the farm is responsible for 20%.  Visit https://prodairy.cals.cornell.edu/dairy-acceleration/

2018 Drug Residue Prevention Manual

For more than 30 years, the U.S. dairy industry has focused educational efforts on the judicious use of antibiotics through the annual publication of a Best Practices Manual. The 2018 edition of the National Dairy FARM Program: Farmers Assuring Responsible Management? Milk and Dairy Beef Drug Residue Prevention Manual is the primary educational tool for dairy farm managers throughout the country on the judicious and responsible use of antibiotics, including avoidance of drug residues in milk and meat.

The manual is a quick resource to review those antibiotics approved for dairy animals and can also be used as an educational tool and resource for farm managers as they develop on-farm best management practices necessary to avoid milk and meat residues. Visit the Manual and Form Library to download copies of this important tool!



Follow us on Facebook

The team updates our facebook page frequently - follow us to be updated on our events, see some fun videos and get local area updates!

facebook.com/SCNYDairyandFieldCropsTeam


ProDairy Forage Management

Are you prepared to change your routine this spring?

By: Joe Lawrence, Cornell CALS PRO-DAIRY and Ron Kuck, Cornell Cooperative Extension North Country Regional Ag Team


While spring tasks vary by farm, there are many "rites of spring," and they are often completed in a fairly rigid sequence. Depending on the farm, these often include fixing fence, spreading manure, planting new seedings, planting corn and harvesting first cutting, and are often performed in this order.

We are optimistic that the upcoming turn in weather will allow these task to be accomplished in a timely manner, but at this point it is time to ask yourself: Are you willing to change your spring routine?

In addition to adverse weather it is no secret that everyone is facing extremely tight economic times, and dealing with forage inventories of poor digestibility forages from 2017. This combination of factors makes it more critical than ever to be ready to tackle the task that will have the most impact on your business at the proper time.

Recent reference articles on dealing with tough times:
• Key Opportunities to Optimize 2018 Crop Production Efficiency
• Resources for Dealing with Spring Weather Delays
First Cutting
The number one focus should be on timely harvest of first cutting.
• Park the corn planter when a field of first cutting is ready for harvest.
o Monitoring 1st cut harvest timing
• Approach harvest by the acre, not by the field. Be ready to skip over a field that has passed its optimum harvest stage.
o Dynamic Harvest Schedules
• Strategically plan feed storage to best utilize forage inventories for the right group of animals.
o Strategic Forage Storage Planning
o When More is Better
Corn Planting
The window for planting for silage is generally wider than for grain, which is why first cutting can and should take priority over corn planting. However, in the event of extreme delays in planting corn, performance will diminish with late plantings. If corn planting progresses into late May or early June, begin to consider alternative options for those acres. Previous research from Cornell and Penn State suggest a 0.5 to 1 ton/acre per week decline in silage yield for planting after mid to late May.

Multi-Tasking
First and foremost during a time of year that can be very busy and stressful, taking every precaution to keep your team safe is critical.

The idea of fitting all of this work into a condensed time period, and still getting key tasks completed before critical deadlines can seem impossible, but year after year many find unique ways to get it all done. Consider working with neighbors, custom operators or renting equipment to accomplish these key tasks on time.

If you currently utilize custom operators, now is a good time to set up a time to meet with them and make sure you are on the same page to get tasks accomplished in the time-frame needed. Make sure that your expectations and goals are clearly defined. They will also be under stress to fit their work into a condensed period and meet their customers' expectations, so defining expectations and pre-planning how to most efficiently get the work accomplished when the custom operator arrives can go a long way to increase the chances for success.



NYSERDA Agriculture Energy Audit Program

NYSERDA offers energy audits to help eligible farms and on-farm producers identify ways to save energy and money on utility bills. Reports include recommendations for energy efficiency measures.

Eligibility
Eligible farms include but are not limited to dairies, orchards, greenhouses, vegetables, vineyards, grain dryers, and poultry/egg. The farms must also be customers of New York State investor-owned utilities and contribute to the System Benefits Charge (SBC). Please check your farm’s current utility bills to see if your farm pays the SBC.

Energy Audit Options
You can request the level of energy audit that best fits your farm’s needs. NYSERDA will assign a Flexible Technical Assistance Program Consultant to visit your farm and perform an energy audit at no cost to you.

For more information and the NYSERDA Agriculture Energy Audit Program Application click here


NEWSLETTER   |   CURRENT PROJECTS   |   IMPACT IN NY   |   SPONSORSHIP  |  RESOURCES   |   SITE MAP