2024 Cornell Sheep & Goat Symposium
Event Details
Date
November 1 - November 3, 2024
Location
Cornell University Campus
Ithaca, NY
Host
CALS
Barbara Jones
607-255-7712
Each year the Cornell Dept. of Animal Science puts on the Cornell Sheep & Goat Symposium. Co-sponsors for 2024 include the Cashmere Goat Association and the Empire Sheep Producers Assoc.
The 2024 Cornell Sheep & Goat Symposium is scheduled for Friday Nov 1st- Sunday Nov 3rd, on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, NY. Goat and sheep raisers and industry stakeholders are welcome to register for the whole event or individual days.
Friday Nov 1st is devoted to advance sign-up workshops on:
1) Secure Sheep and Wool Supply & Biosecurity planning - NYSAGM
2) Learning to do a field necropsy - Dr. Mary Smith DVM
3) Demos and hands-on skills for new goat and sheep raisers - Betsy Hodge and Dr. Tatiana Stanton
4) Balancing Rations using Computer Software -Rich Toebe, Delaware CCE
Saturday is our primary day with multiple tracks available.
The morning begins with Dr. Robert VanSaun, DVM, MS, PhD Penn State University, discussing Practical Solutions to Increase Lamb and Kid Survival and the Importance of Quality Colostrum. We'll have presentations by state and university veterinarians, on poisonous plants, skin and fiber diseases, as well as Demos and hands-on skills for beginning goat and sheep raisers, including an intro to artificial insemination, and a panelist discussion with beginning shepherds from Delaware County, NY that participated in a season long study on pasture management. The afternoon includes a track focusing on dairy goats interpreting DHI and linear appraisal records to make breeding decisions, presentations on avian influenza, cache valley, and other high impact diseases, as well as a farmer panel on navigating the fiber to finished goods supply chain, and updates from the NYS Ag & Markets Dairy Products Specialist on how to start a sheep and goat dairy in NYS as well as new federal regulations affecting small ruminant farmers and federal and state programs that may benefit the small ruminant industry. Another in depth presentation from Dr. Robert VanSaun, DVM, Penn State University, on the Role of forage quality in general nutrition and its impact on fiber and milk quality in sheep, goats and camelids. We'll have hands-on sessions geared towards youth and beginners on fiber fun and beginning goat milk candy making with Nellie's Knoll Creamery, as well as a demonstration workshop on making goat milk soaps. Additionally, NYS 4-H Livestock and Companion Animal Specialist, Brian Aukema, will have two afternoon sessions focused on Youth and 4-H leaders 1) The Scoop on Poop -Internal Parasites know how 2) Skillathon What? -expanding your livestock skillathon knowledge. Sunday features an advance sign-up sheep and goat parasite workshop with FAMACHA certification as well as the ADGA Pre-Judges Training Conference.
The registration is available online at https://cornell.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_4JHjXDybdRGvl9s or Scan the QR code Below. Registration deadline is Friday Oct 25th. The program schedule, paper registrations, and additional information on parking etc. are available online at both the Cornell Goat Program Website https://blogs.cornell.edu/goats/ and the Cornell Sheep Program Website https://blogs.cornell.edu/newsheep/. Please contact Barbara Jones at 607-255-7712 with further registration questions.
The mission of the Cornell Sheep & Goat Program is to improve the sustainability of goat and sheep farms in the Northeastern United States by providing educational resources and communication outlets to producers.
Jess Waltemyer, PRO-Livestock NYS Small Ruminant Extension Specialist, 607-882-4772 (call or text), jrk272@cornell.edu
Dairy
Livestock
Grazing
Forages
Grains
Upcoming Events
Dairy Feeder School - Host Farm: Twin Birch Dairy
October 31, 2024
Skaneateles, NY
One day on-farm training for dairy farm feeders; Offered in English and Spanish at each site; Stations with hands-on activities/demos
Topics Covered During Feeder School:
¨ Economics and importance of feeding and feed management
¨ Dry matter and feeder math basics: how to measure DM and refusals, and adjust ration
¨ Feed consistency and TMR audits
¨ Troubleshooting mixer wagons
¨ Bunk silo management, map out bunk, packing density and preservation, and feed out
¨ Safety
Dairy Feeder School - Host Farm: Walnut Ridge Dairy
November 12, 2024
Lansing, NY
One day on-farm training for dairy farm feeders; Offered in English and Spanish at each site; Stations with hands-on activities/demos
Topics Covered During Feeder School:
¨ Economics and importance of feeding and feed management
¨ Dry matter and feeder math basics: how to measure DM and refusals, and adjust ration
¨ Feed consistency and TMR audits
¨ Troubleshooting mixer wagons
¨ Bunk silo management, map out bunk, packing density and preservation, and feed out
¨ Safety
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
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
- 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
- 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
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?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.For more information and the NYSERDA Agriculture Energy Audit Program Application click here