Event Details

Date

February 15 - February 16, 2017

Location

DoubleTree Syracuse
6301 State Route 298
East Syracuse, NY 13057

Host

NY FarmNet
Kate Downes
800-547-3276

www.nyfarmnet.org/


Farm Transfer & Management Conference

February 15 - February 16, 2017

Farm Transfer & Management Conference









Keynote Speaker:
Gary Schnitkey, Ph.D., University of Illinois

Dr. Gary Schnitkey is a professor and farm management specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois . His activities focus on farm management and risk management. Farm management work has focused on examination of issues impacting the profitability of grain farms including corn-soybean rotations, machinery economics, and factors separating profitable from unprofitable farms. Examples of work are available in the publication Illinois Farm Economics: Facts and Opinions available on farmdoc ( http://www.farmdoc.illinois.edu/manage/index.html ). This work has lead to the development of FAST, a series of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets that aid farmers in decision-making 
(http://www.farmdoc.illinois.edu/fasttools/index.html).

Risk management activities focus on crop insurance evaluation. Activities have focused on aiding farmers in understanding the risk and return tradeoffs of different crop insurance policies. Dr. Schnitkey is a co-developer of several on-line and and spreadsheet tools. Three of these are the 1) Ifarm Premium Calculator - a web-based tool that provides side by side comparisons of insurance premium, 2) Ifarm Insurance Evaluator - a web-based tool that provides risk-return evaluations of insurance products, and 3) Marketing and Crop Insurance Risk Model - a spreadsheet that evaluates alternative crop insurance and marketing strategies .

Other activities include conducting over 40 meetings with farmers on risk related projects over the past two year, preparing over 20 papers for popular outlets in 2003 through 2005, and authoring or co-authoring over 30 academic articles during his career.

Dr. Schnitkey grew up on a grain and hog farm in northwest Ohio. He received a Bachelor of Science degree from The Ohio State University and a Masters and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. From 1987 through 1998, he was on faculty at The Ohio State University where he held a dairy farm management position. Since 1998, he has been employed at the University of Illinois.


NOTE:
Your registration fee includes seminar manuals, continental breakfast, luncheon, and afternoon snack. 


Farm Transfer Flyer (PDF; 1466KB)


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Dairy

Dairy

Livestock

Livestock

Grazing

Grazing

Forages

Forages

Grains

Grains

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Upcoming Events

Spanish Dairy Webinar Series

September 3, 2025
September 10, 2025
September 17, 2025
September 24, 2025
October 1, 2025
October 8, 2025
October 15, 2025
October 22, 2025
October 29, 2025
November 5, 2025

Daniela Gonzalez Carranza is happy to announce a collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Madison for a dairy webinar series only in Spanish

Automated Health Monitoring Systems for Dairy Workshop

October 24, 2025
Harford, NY

Presentation by Dr Julio Giordano, Cornell University

Learn about practical application for several types of Automated Health Monitoring Systems, including 

SCR collars, Smaxtec boluses, Afi collars, Cattle Eye, Cainthu and more

  • Review of live CURC dairy farm data
  • See cow alerts on the computer, and 
  • Assess health of the cow being alerted in the barn

Get your monitoring system questions answered by Dr Giordano!

This workshop is open to all dairy farmers, those that have monitoring systems or those thinking about adapting a new system. The workshop is free to attend, but registration is REQUIRED.  Lunch is provided at no charge!

Fall Farm Tours - Cayuga County

October 29, 2025 : Fall Farm Tour - Cayuga County

Announcements

USDA Contract Freezes and Terminations: Legal Action Steps for Farmers

For Farmers with Signed EQIP and CSP Contracts

This resource is written for farmers and ranchers nationwide who have a signed contract with USDA NRCS under the EQIP or CSP program for environmental improvements but have concerns that their contract is frozen, under review, or terminated, and who are uncertain of their rights to receive reimbursement as well as their ongoing obligations under the signed contract.

Version: 1.0
Issue date: Feb 28, 2025

A downloadable factsheet is available at our BUSINESS tab on the top of our webpage.

Additional Information: www.farmcommons.org

USDA Contract Freezes: Filing an NAD Appeal or Demand Letter


This resource is written for farmers and ranchers nationwide who have a signed contract with USDA NRCS under the EQIP or CSP program for environmental improvements and want more information on the mechanics of filing a National Appeals Division (NAD) appeal. This resource includes sample letters.

USDA NAD Appeal https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/general-information/staff-offices/office-hearings-and-appeals/national-appeals-division/nad-appeals

A downloadable factsheet is available at our BUSINESS heading at the top of our webpage.


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



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


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


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