WGXC volunteer Tanya Blue interviewed Donna Willliams, who is starting Field Goods, a new business designed to deliver food from area farms directly to local and regional consumers. So far they are working with Otter Hook Farm in Greenville, and Hudson Locale in Hudson. So far the new business only has two drop-off locations, Elliott Acupuncture & Chinese Herbal Medicine at 876 Columbia St. in Hudson, and at Sleepy Hollow Lake, just north of the Village of Athens, but they hope to connect with large companies in Albany. Field Goods operates much like any other multi-farm community-supported agriculture farm with drop-off sites, pre-paid shares. Like a CSA, subscription customers receive a delivery each week of fruit and vegetables. The contents of the delivery will vary each week depending on what is in season and crop conditions. Click here to listen to the interview with Williams.
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Tags: agriculture, csa, farming, farms, local audio
Congressman Chris Gibson is not claiming any credit, but is crowing that the Environmental Protection Agency indicated Wednesday that they won’t treat spilled milk under the same rules that govern oil spills. Gibson met with EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck Wednesday Feb. 16 to discuss a host of issues affecting the 20th Congressional District, including EPA dairy regulations. The EPA proposed to regulate milk because it contains a certain percentage of animal fat, which is a non-petroleum oil, and thus would be covered under the Oil Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure program. Dairy farmers would have been responsible for developing a spill prevention plan for milk equivalent to an oil spill prevention plan. But that is not going to happen. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: agriculture, Chris Gibson, dairy, dairy farms, farming, milk
Congressman Chris Gibson, who represents Greene and Columbia counties in the U.S. House of Representatives, released a statement Wednesday evening saying he is trying to secure disaster aid for local farmers hit hard by heavy snow this winter. “Several farms have experienced barn collapses, loss of livestock, and other damages,” Gibson’s statement said. “My office is working with the USDA to seek the disaster designation for the counties impacted to ensure that relief is available for those that need it. My staff is also available to assist farmers in 20th District wherever possible, and I encourage anyone who has questions regarding federal assistance to contact my office.”
Tags: agriculture, Chris Gibson, farmers, snow
Milk Thistle Farm will move from Ghent to Stuyvesant as part of its growth to include a new organic interstate dairy.
Tags: agriculture, dairy, dairy farmers, farms
Urban farming envisioned for Detroit, as pictured on the Gas 2 website.
Tags: agriculture, farming, farms, organic farming
Columbia County's biggest industry is agriculture, as seen in this image from the Columbia Land Conservancy.
Tags: agriculture, Columbia Land Conservancy, Farmland Protection Program, Hudson Valley AgriBusiness Development Corporation, land conservation, surveys
A staff report in The Columbia Paper says the U.S. Department of Agriculture has designated Columbia, Greene, Dutchess, and Rensselaer counties in the state as natural disaster areas due to losses caused by a drought that began June 13, 2010 and continues. Columbia is also among 19 counties around the state designated by the USDA last week as natural disaster areas due to losses caused by frost, freezing, high winds, hail, excessive snow, excessive rain and cold temperatures that occurred from February 15 to May 12, 2010. “President Obama and I understand these conditions caused severe damage to a wide variety of crops including fruit and vegetable crops, and we want to help,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a December 20 press release announcing the drought declaration, as reported in The Columbia Paper. “This action will provide help to farmers who suffered significant production losses,” said the secretary. He visited the region earlier this year during the campaign season at the request of Congressman Scott Murphy. All counties listed above were designated natural disaster areas December 17, 2010, making all qualified farm operators in the designated areas eligible for low interest emergency (EM) loans from USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), provided eligibility requirements are met. Local farmers have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. FSA has a variety of programs, in addition to the EM loan program, to help eligible farmers recover from adversity. Interested farmers may contact their local USDA Service Centers for further information on eligibility requirements and application procedures for these and other programs. Additional information is also available online at http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov. The Department of Enviromental Conservation says current drought conditions are normal.
Tags: agriculture, drought, farms, loans
Governor Andrew Cuomo today announced $3.2 million in grants through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) for farmers to save on energy costs. The program provides financial incentives to support 75 percent of the cost of electricity and gas efficiency investments. Farms that are eligible for the grants include: orchards, dairies, vineyards, maple producers, egg and poultry farms, grain, specialty crops, and others. Upgrades covered in the grants include: process improvements, lighting upgrades, and high-efficiency fan, pump, and motor systems, and other measures. Small farms could be eligible for free energy audits to assist in identifying energy efficiency projects. “The state’s agricultural sector helps fuel our economy and put food on our table, and we have a plan to make New York farms even more competitive,” Governor Cuomo said. “These grants will improve the energy efficiency of farming operations and lower costs for farmers. This not only protects farming jobs, it creates green jobs for the people making the improvements.” Past NYSERDA programs demonstrate that a typical dairy farm can save 20 to 30 percent of its energy bill with cost-effective energy efficiency improvements at an average seven-year payback. The Agriculture Energy Efficiency Program can provide a typical dairy farm with $2,700 to $4,000 per year in savings from a farm investment of $4,800 to $7,000. For more information about the Agriculture Energy Efficiency program, visit www.nyserda.org/programs/agriculture, or call 1-800-732-1399.
Tags: agriculture, Andrew Cuomo, energy, farms, grants
Gene Logsdon in The Atlantic reports that there may be a glimmer of hope for struggling dairy farmers, not in the milk they can’t get much for, but from the other thing livestock produce in abundance:
“The main reason that manure is suddenly seen as a science is that chemical fertilizer prices are on the rise. The price of a specialty fertilizer like ammonium polyphosphate is nearly $1,000 a ton as I write. Deposits of potash in Canada, which we have long relied on for potassium fertilizer, are dwindling, and there is no other known supply as readily available. It has taken us about 100 years to reduce soil organic matter to dangerously low levels—from about 5 percent, on average, to below 2 percent—and experts say it might take at least that long to build them back up again using organic methods on a large scale. Getting all the manure and other organic wastes needed to maintain yields high enough to support rising populations without a full complement of commercial fertilizers would be an enormous challenge requiring new agricultural and cultural attitudes…. The laugh of the day now is that maybe manure will become more pricey than food—that the confinement operations will become, in fact and not in jest, manure factories that just happen to produce meat, milk, or eggs as by-products. “
Tags: agriculture, farms, manure
Photo from CLC taken Nov. 30, 2010 at land being protected by William and Deborah Cohan in Ancram.
Photo from CLC taken Dec. 9, 2010 of Joe and Diane Haley's protected land.
Tags: agriculture, Columbia Land Conservancy, development, farms, Hawthorne Valley, wetlands
New York landowners, farmers, and forestland owners have until January 14, 2011 to apply for 2011 conservation program funding from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, including the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Initiative (CBWI), the Agricultural Management Assistance Program (AMA), and the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP). These conservation programs were authorized by Congress under the 2008 Farm Bill to provide funding and technical assistance to landowners who voluntarily implement conservation practices. These practices improve natural resources and wildlife habitat on privately-owned agricultural land and forestlands. The Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) offers funding assistance in the form of engineered structures, such as manure handling facilities, and conservation practices such as grassed waterways. Focus areas within the EQIP program include livestock waste, cropland, and grazing. Private forestland owners have opportunities to improve forest health and productivity under the woodland program focus area. The Chesapeake Bay Watershed Initiative (CBWI) assists producers to help minimize excess nutrients and sediments in order to restore, preserve, and protect the Chesapeake Bay. In New York, the Bay program offers funding and technical assistance to producers in the priority areas of the Upper Susquehanna Watershed. The Agricultural Management Assistance Program (AMA) focuses on improving irrigation efficiency. A primary goal of the program is to assist agricultural producers in mitigating risk through production diversification or installation of conservation practices. The Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP) focuses on improving habitat for at-risk shrub-dwelling birds. Additional funding for this program was received as part of the New England/New York Forestry Initiative. Another focus within the program is establishing and enhancing grassland habitat for declining bird species, pollinators, and other wildlife. Applications for EQIP, CBWI, AMA, and WHIP are competitive and ranked based on national, state, and locally identified resource priorities, and their overall benefit to the environment. Interested landowners can apply for all programs at their local USDA-NRCS office. For sign-up details or additional conservation program information contact your local USDA-NRCS office or visit www.ny.nrcs.usda.gov.
Tags: agriculture, farm, farming, forests, land conservation
Mark Twentyman, recently retired from the Office of Real Property.
Paul Freeman, founding partner of Freeman/Howard Law Firm.
Chameides writes:
“I wish we had attended a workshop like this three years ago,” noted landowner and panelist Dwayne Powell who leases 46 acres to Threshold Farm. The workshop featured experts in tax code, law, and insurance who gave advice on how to avoid the common pitfalls that farmers and landowner face when leasing land. Mark Twentyman, who recently retired from the Office of Real Property, spoke about the tax benefits related to farming. Landowners with working farms often pay less in property taxes. The tax code is fairly complex and ultimately depends on the assessment determined by the local tax assessor.
Kirk Kneller, insurance specialist.
Twentyman was followed by Paul Freeman, a founding partner of Freeman/Howard Law Firm, who spoke about lease agreements between farmers and landowners. Some of the important keys to a good working relationships are communication and expectations. Freeman emphasized that a good contract will make it clear to both parties what everyone expects and provides a blueprint for the business deal. Insurance specialist Kirk Kneller spoke next. Kneller stressed the importance of the farmer obtaining farm insurance and naming the landowner on the policy. Home insurance will not cover incidents off the property and may not cover farm incidents on the property. Insurance protects the landowner and farmer from unforeseen damages as well as lawsuits. While there are challenges in creating in creating an effective lease agreement, panelist Hugh Williams of Threshold Farm advises, “It’s not difficult at all and not expensive. It’s all manageable and doable.”
The workshop is part of CLC’s farm land support program. Every three days a farm in New York is lost to development and CLC prioritizes the conservation of farmland and particularly works to ensure that working farms remain a central part of Columbia County. Through work with the NY State Farmland Protection Program, CLC has secured more than $6 million in state and private funding on behalf of towns and local farmers, ensuring the protection of approximately 5,280 acres of working farmland. CLC holds conservation easements on over 20,000 acres which ensures the permanent protection of the land. Almost one third of that land is used for working farms. CLC also supports farmers in a number of ways by participating in local committees that address and promote farming, networking, and sharing resources. CLC’s Farmer-Landowner Match Program matches farmers without land to landowners who want their land farmed. CLC helps the farmer and landowner create a lease agreement that is mutually beneficial. Farmers may provide services, money, or crops in exchange for access to quality farmland. “Everybody wins, including local residents who have increased access to local, healthy food,” explains CLC Senior Land Manager Marissa Codey.
Cynthia Creech, a cattle farmer hoping to relocate to Columbia County, was the final speaker. “We have an obligation to take care of the land. Whether you own it or use land that someone else owns. Anybody not involved in farmland, you should get involved because it will make your life better,” says Creech.
Hugh Williams, Threshold Farm; Dwayne Powell, landowner and leaser to Threshold Farm; and Cynthia Creech, cattle farmer.
Tags: agriculture, business, local audio
Pete DiStefano, owner of DiStefano’s Barber Shop, plans to sue the Village of Catskill for for reparations of lost revenue because the village moved the Saturday morning farmers’ market to Main St. this summer, closing a part of the main strip to all vehicles, routing them around at least a block away. Susan Campriello’s story in The Daily Mail includes this remarkable exchange between Village Trustee Brian Kehoe and DiStefano:
“I think it is a shame that you are bringing this suit,” Kehoe said. “So do I,” DiStefano responded. DiStefano said the village had more than two months to consider a petition signed by several Main Street merchants who urged the board to move the market and allow traffic to pass on Main Street. DiStefano said he also spoke with Village President Vincent Seeley about the traffic issue and Seeley said the market would not be moved.
WGXC has a booth at the market. Read the entire story in The Daily Mail.
Tags: agriculture, Brian Kehoe, business, Catskill Farmers' Market
From The Business Review (Albany):
The apple harvest this year will be early and the crop will most likely be smaller, according to the New York Apple Association. Apple growers expect a crop of 27 million bushels this year, down from 33 million bushels last year, ranking New York second to Washington State. The decline in this year’s crop was attributed to some frost damage, when some trees bloomed early and were then damaged by a deep freeze in early May. The association, based in Fishers, New York, said the consensus of New York’s apple growers is that this year’s crop got off to the fastest start in recent history because of record temperatures in April. Apple picking will begin 10 days to two weeks earlier than last year, said Jim Allen, president of the New York Apple Association.
New York’s crop numbers for the past five years:
2009: 32.8 million bushels
2008: 29.8 million bushels
2007: 31.1 million bushels
2006: 29.7 million bushels
2005: 24.7 million bushels
Source: The New York Apple Association. Read the entire story in the Business Review.
Tags: agriculture, apples, business
Capitol Confidential and the New York Civil Liberties Union just tweeted that the Farm Workers Fair Labor Practices Act was defeated tonight 31-28 in the New York State Senate. Capitol Confidential quotes, in a tweet, New York State Senator Steve Saland, who represents Columbia County, on farm workers bill: “Why would you want to dance on the grave of upstate New York?” Both local senators, Saland and James Seward voted against the bill. and local Assemblymen Tim Gordon, Pete Lopez, and Marc Molinaro all oppose the bill. The NYCLU was quick with this statement: “Today’s Senate vote is painfully disappointing given our state’s proud tradition of supporting justice and equal rights,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “The Farm Workers Fair Labor Practices Act is basic civil rights legislation. Farm workers are New York’s least protected laborers. Our farm workers deserve the same labor rights that workers across New York have enjoyed for 100 years.” The bill would have mandated minimum salaries and maximum hours, and benefits for farm workers.
Tags: agriculture, James Seward, jobs, Steve Saland, Tim Gordon
The Daily Mail has a story without a byline (although contact info for reporter Susan Campriello is listed at the end of the article) about how the Greene County Legislature voted last week to oppose the Farm Worker Fair Labor Act. The bill before the New York Senate would mandate farmers allow laborers at least 24 consecutive hours off, a 10-hour work day, overtime pay at 1.5 times the normal rate and provisions of unemployment insurance. The article never says what the legislatures vote was, or who voted for or against the for-show resolution. The article does say, “Greene County’s state representatives Sen. James L. Seward, R,C,I-Oneonta, Assemblyman Tim Gordon, I-Bethlehem, and Assemblyman Pete Lopez, R,C,I-Schoharie, have all voted against earlier versions of the legislation.” The article quotes a spokesman for farmers, but does not quote a similar representative for farm workers. Read the entire story in The Daily Mail.
Tags: agriculture, James Seward, jobs, Pete Lopez, Tim Gordon
From Lissa Harris in Watershed Post:
Bad news, gardeners: Late blight, which cut a swath of destruction across the Northeast last summer, is back in upstate New York again. Cornell Cooperative Extension sent out a press release yesterday confirming the deadly tomato plague has been found in Norwich, Chenango County. Here’s the details:
Late Blight was confirmed on both tomatoes and potatoes on July 27, 2010. Grown in a home garden in the city, the sample was collected on July 25 after the entire crop of tomatoes died almost overnight. Nearby potatoes are also infected. In an effort to avoid the catastrophe that happened last year, please monitor your tomatoes and potatoes in earnest. Look for dark watery lesions on the leaves, stems and fruit. Late blight spreads quickly. Cornell recommends “If late blight becomes severe, remove diseased plants by digging them up. Destroy these plants immediately by one of the following: burying them deeply in an area away from the garden, burning them, or by bagging them in a plastic bag and discarding the bag. These steps will help avoid production of a larger number of spores. Harvest all potato tubers in the garden. If late blight occurs when the tubers have already ‘sized up’, harvest the crop as soon as possible to avoid post-harvest tuber rot. Again, destroy diseased foliage and stems.” There are fungicides that can be sprayed to prevent infection, but once severe infection has taken hold, chemical controls will not work. Commercial growers please check: http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/recommends/ for the latest pesticide recommendations. Home gardeners can follow these recommendations if diagnosis is confirmed: use azoxystrobin (not near apples), Bacillus subtilis, chlorothalonil, copper soap (copper octanoate), or copper sulfate. Protectant fungicides (chlorothalonil or copper products) should be used at first appearance of disease according to the label instructions. The fungus that causes late blight has become a major threat to home gardens and commercial growers because of the migration of new strains (genotypes) into the United States. Verification of a late blight diagnosis and implementation of prompt control measures are highly recommended. The newly arrived strains are more aggressive than previous strains. Current information about late blight and its management can be found at http://blogs.cornell.edu/lateblight/ and great webinars on late blight for home organic gardens and organic farms can be found at http://www.extension.org/article/24989. Details on submitting a sample to the Cornell Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic can be found at http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/. Read the entire story in Watershed Post.
Tags: agriculture
From Julia Reischel in Watershed Post:
It’s downy, it’s mildew-ey, and it’s out to wilt your basil, the Times Herald-Record reports:
It’s called downy mildew, and it’s infecting basil plants across New York, as well as other states. The disease is harmless to humans. But it turns basil leaves an unsightly yellow, as well as leaving purplish-gray spots of spores on the leaves’ undersides. Eventually, the leaves die. And the disease spreads quickly, either through contaminated seeds or wind-swept spores.The Cornell Department of Plant Pathology is asking for reports of all sightings of downy mildew, which it says first appeared in the northeast U.S. in 2008. There’s no doubt about it — it’s a bad bug. Read the entire story in Watershed Post.
Tags: agriculture, environment
Wayne Johnson won Bell’s Cafe‘s pancake eating contest at the Catskill Farmer’s Market today eating 4.5 pancakes in four minutes.
Tags: agriculture, festivals, WGXC
Catskill Farmer’s Market, Saturday on Main St. 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.
FARMERS
Don Baker Farm (Hudson)
Berkshire View Farm (Hannacroix)
Bulichs’ Creekside Farm (Leeds)
Catskill Orchids (Catskill)
Eck’s Produce (Coeymans)
Eight Mile Creek Farm (Westerlo)
Elderberry Mary (Berne)
Greenpoint Farm (Catskill)
Hudson-Chatham Winery (Chatham)
Meacher’s Farm (Germantown)
Mountainside Products (Athens)
ARTISANS
Don Boutin
Eileen Bump
Adrian Forester
Itoko Kobayashi
Jennifer Madlem
Victor Miller
Mark Sonzogni
Kipp Yost
NON-PROFITS
Thomas Cole National Historic Site
WGXC: Hands-on Radio
Tags: agriculture, WGXC
The sixth issue of the Greenville Mountain View weekly newspaper’s “The Hilltown’s” spread on page 10 and 11 is easily the best reason to pick up the paper. Renssselaerville, Westerlo and environs are rarely covered by any print media, so news of the Hilltown Farmer’s Market 4-7 p.m. Fridays at Jimmy Walker’s Greenhouse on Route 145 in Preston Hollow, and publisher Andrea Macko’s take on Rensselaerville’s highway budget are welcome. No website.
Tags: agriculture, farmer's market
Lissa Harris in the Watershed Post has an excellent story:
Sullivan County planners have been looking into building a small creamery, hoping to help the county’s few dozen remaining dairy farms survive. Not so fast, says local economic consultant Marc Baez. The Sullivan County Democrat reported last week:
According to Baez’s calculations – using what he termed “very favorable assumptions” – a creamery would be lucky to break even unless it diversified beyond simply processing and shipping fluid milk. “The economies of scale work against all but the smallest and most specialized operations (e.g. on-farm cheese production) developed incrementally from the ground up or the very largest of facilities such as operated by the major players in the market,” Baez wrote in his report. “Small- to medium-size operations focused on fluid milk do not work, and even specialized facilities only work at a tiny scale. Your best bet,” he told the IDA board, “is to focus on yogurt, cheese and premium ice cream.”Baez mentioned Hudson Valley Fresh as a success story…. Another local dairy venture that’s making forays into both cheese-type things and “milk with a story”: NYmilk, an all-organic brand that’s been gaining some traction on grocery shelves lately. NYmilk co-founder Dean Sparks has got a blog, which you can find here. And here’s a Q&A with Sparks and farmer Dan France, on the Mindful Eats blog. Read the entire story at Watershed Post.
Tags: agriculture, dairy
Julia Reischel in the Watershed Post:
National rural-issues website The Daily Yonder ran an article yesterday exhorting rural businesses to form “clusters” if they want to thrive. The thrust of the story is counter-intuitive — the author, Stuart Rosenfeld, argues that rather than competing for customers, similar small businesses operating near each other seem to attract more business for all. He cites Vermont’s booming sustainable agriculture economy as an example:
Though the second smallest state in population, Vermont stands head and shoulders above every other state based on its per capita concentrations of local farms, CSAs (community supported agriculture), organic farms, and farmers markets. This is important because groups of related businesses — clusters — are now thought to be essential for economic growth. Businesses are more efficient when they are clustered. Workers generally earn more. Related business clusters can feed off each other.The last section of the article has tips for how to build a cluster. Food for thought for the Catskills, perhaps?
Agriculture is no longer just crops and animals in Vermont. Except for the largest dairy farms, economic survival and growth depend on rural families finding ways to supplement their income from the food they produce though other innovative market opportunities. They may offer weekend farm stays, start catering services, process their own foods, direct sales to local markets, create artisan products and brands or produce renewable energy by selling biomass, wind power, or operating methane digesters.
Tags: agriculture, business, development
Tags: agriculture, business
Th Hudson Valley Film Commission says a feature film looking to shoot this summer in the Hudson Valley region seeks a horse farm, “with a masculine/rustic looking home, a barn, stables/paddocks and smaller caretaker’s home. The house itself should have a rustic feel. It would also help if there was some type of water on the property, such a pond, brook or stream. Inside the house, there should be a very country feel–although they are willing to production design, the director wants a cinema verite look to the film. Ideally, a lot of wood trim, a darker color palette and a less modern look with more of a country feel to it.” Watershed Post says the films seems to be “Second Child,” by Chilean director Sebastian Silva, who won a Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2009 for “The Maid.” From an interview with Silva on Ion Cinema: “The title is ‘Second Child’ and it’s a fiction movie about an eight year-old boy who is gay and falls in love with his uncle during a family vacation. His family wants him to like his little cousin but he is more interested in his uncle.” Please email photo suggestions of locations with contact info to filmcommission@me.com
Tags: agriculture, movies
Marc Heller in the Watertown Daily Times reports:
In the next few years, dairy farmers are likely to see big changes in the safety net that protects them from crashing milk prices — including a first-ever comprehensive system to limit milk production, the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee said. Rep. Collin C. Peterson, D-Minn., said he believes the past year’s deep decline in milk prices will result in momentum for fundamental changes in dairy policy when Congress considers the five-year farm bill in 2012, as long as farm groups can find common ground and opposition from milk processors can be kept to a minimum. Mr. Peterson outlined his expectations in an interview at his Capitol Hill office in which he also disputed widespread criticism that the dairy industry is plagued by price manipulation and discussed the role Rep. William L. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, may play on the committee, to which he was named two weeks ago. Mr. Peterson’s committee already has begun weekly field hearings on the farm bill, which have generated hundreds of comments from farmers around the country. The farm bill sets farm, food and nutrition programs, as well as rural development initiatives. Read the entire story in the Watertown Daily Times.
Tags: agriculture, dairy
Instead of completely closing down Main St., or putting stalls in parking spaces, the Village of Catskill will close one block of Main St. between Thompson Street and the entrance to the municipal parking lot at Willard Alley from 7:30 a.m. to at least 2 p.m., for the Catskill Regional Farmers’ and Artisans’ Market Saturdays from June 19 to Oct. 30, Susan Campriello in The Daily Mail reports. The farmer’s market had been held at Dutchmen’s Landing on the Hudson River, rather than downtown, and Village President Vince Seeley is also spearheading a similar move of the town’s July 4 fireworks, both in an effort to stimulate downtown business. WGXC Radio Council member Hudson Talbott is curating the non-farmer’s booths at the market.
Tags: agriculture, business, Hudson Talbott, Vince Seeley
WGXC’s Kaya Weidman will have a table about community radio at the first day of this year’s Hudson Farmers Market, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. today in the parking lot at the corner of Columbia and 6th Sts. Master Gardener Donna Peterson will be available on the market’s opening day to help customers choose and care for the right plants for Mother’s Day gifts or for the start of the new growing season.
Tags: agriculture, WGXC
Blight on tomato leaf.
The good news for gardeners is that they are starting with a relatively clean slate this year. Phytophthora infestans, the fungus-like pathogen that causes late blight in tomatoes, potatoes and other tomato-family plants (Solanaceae), currently requires living plant tissue to survive overwinter in the Northeast. That’s why the disease is relatively rare in the region. The bad news is, potato tubers are living plant tissue. So any late-blight-infested potato tubers that survived in your soil, compost pile or root cellar could harbor the pathogen and give it an early start again this season. “Destroy leftover potatoes and any volunteer potato plants as soon as they sprout,” McGrath urges. “Do not wait until you see symptoms. By then, new spores likely will have already developed and spread to other gardens or farmers’ fields.”Other tips
Keep plants dry. The late blight pathogen thrives in cool, wet weather. That’s because it requires moisture to infect plants, grows best when it’s cool, and clouds protect spores from lethal UV radiation when they are dispersed by wind. Even in absence of rain, the pathogen can infect plants if the relative humidity is 90 percent or more. If plants need watering, water the soil – not the foliage.Be vigilant. Inspect plants at least once a week – more often if weather is cool and wet. Immediately remove and bag foliage you suspect might be infected.
Act quickly. If symptoms continue despite removing infected foliage, consider removing plants entirely – sooner rather than later.
Dispose of plants properly. To reduce disease spread, remove infected plants during the middle of a sunny day after leaves have dried, if possible….Seal plants in garbage bags and leave them in the sun for a few days to kill plants and the pathogen quickly before placing in the trash or burying underground or deep in a compost pile.
Read the entire story here.
Tags: agriculture
Diane Valden in The Columbia Paper attempts to see the point of view of Hillsdale farmers Jim Clapp, 76, his wife Ida, 74, and their son Charles, 49, who were each charged last week with 33 misdemeanor counts of failure to provide proper sustenance to some of their dairy animals by Columbia-Greene Humane Society investigators and Sheriff’s deputies. (They pled not guilty Wednesday.) While the Clapps are not talking, Valden did speak to local veterinarian George Beneke who was at the Clapps’ Sunny Mead farm when humane society officials visited:
“It’s complicated,” he said of the situation. The Clapps “have had it tougher than a lot of other farmers,” said Dr. Beneke, who has over 40 years of experience in the field. “They haven’t had any excess money for treatment and vaccinations, and I wished they had wormed them, but there was feed in front of those animals, though there was not money for grain,” he said. “Some of the animals looked very well and others looked very thin, but there are a lot of thin animals in the county right now, if you look closely,” Dr. Beneke said. “They were trying to do the best with the feed stuffs they had–haylage and corn silage–but some of it had spoiled. Though they tried to use only the best of it, it was very difficult.” Before the sale of the milking herd, the three of them were trying to take care of 175 head, which is more than they should have been doing, he said. The family hoped to make it through the winter, waiting for the spring grass so they could pasture the animals. The dead animals died of gangrene, mastitis, giving birth and scours–none of them died of starvation, the vet confirmed. “Their judgment could have been better,” says the vet who remained sympathetic to the difficulties the family faced. Still “it takes some source of income” to pay for an adequate parasite treatment and vaccination program, he said. Ron Perez, humane society president and investigator, agreed the “economic woes” of dairy farmers is a factor in the case, but he said that the Clapps are experienced dairy farmers and should have asked for help from the humane society and the local dairy community. Read the entire story in The Columbia Paper.
Tags: agriculture
Congressman Scott Murphy will host a “Buy Local Agricultural Conference” on Friday, April 30 at Tymor Park, 249 Duncan Road, in Lagrangeville, in Town of Union Vale. Murphy will speak with, “farmers, consumers, and community leaders to discuss different approaches and strategies to help local farms and agriculture businesses succeed in the new and increasingly global economy.” Murphy is running for re-election against Republican Chris Gibson.
Tags: agriculture, Chris Gibson, Scott Murphy
On Tuesday the State Senate’s Agriculture Committee voted down the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act. Among features of the bill, farmers would have had to pay over time to laborers who work more than 60 hours a week or 10 hours in a day and farm workers would gain the right to form a union if they work at the state’s largest farms. Some farmers protested that the mandates in the bill would be costly. Six of the committee’s nine senators — Darrel J. Aubertine, Michael H. Ranzenhofer, James L. Seward (who represents Greene County), David J. Valesky, George H. Winner Jr. and Catharine M. Young — voted against the bill. On Seward’s website he says, “Defeating the so-called, farm worker labor bill is a clear victory for our upstate farmers, farm workers and the agriculture industry,” said Senator Seward. “The bill, supported mainly by New York City politicians, would have forced farms to close, while driving up costs for the few survivors.” The bill would have granted collective bargaining rights to farm laborers; required employers of farm laborers to allow at least 24 consecutive hours of rest each week; provided for an 8 hour work day for farm laborers; required overtime rate at one and one-half times normal rate; made provisions of unemployment insurance law applicable to farm laborers; provided a sanitary code that would have applied to all farm and food processing labor camps intended to house migrant workers, regardless of the number of occupants; provided for eligibility of farm laborers for workers’ compensation benefits; required employers of farm laborers to provide such farm laborers with claim forms for workers’ compensation claims under certain conditions; required reporting of injuries to employers of farmworkers.
Tags: agriculture, James Seward, jobs
From The Watershed Post:
The image above is a detail from a map from the USDA, showing growth and decline in farming between 2002 and 2007. Each red dot represents 20 farms lost during those five years; each blue dot is for 20 new farms. Read the entire article in The Watershed Post.
Tags: agriculture
Michael Ryan in the Windham Journal writes:
Thousands of dollars were handed out when the Schoharie Watershed Advisory Council awarded its second round of Stream Management Program funds, last week, during a meeting at the Windham Country Club. SWAC members awarded $77,627 to seven entities in Greene and Delaware counties for projects aimed at preserving water quality in the New York City reservoir system and increasing awareness of watershed related issues. All of the funds are provided by the Department of Environmental Protection, which has set aside $2 million to be distributed over a 5-year period, with two years having passed on the contract, administered by the Greene County Soil and Water Conservation District. [Greene County] Funds were allocated in round two as follows:
—EDUCATION AND OUTREACH: The Mountaintop Arboretum in Tannersville, $6,810, with a $750 In-kind contribution to create landscape design plans for a Wooded Walk outdoor classroom, accommodating approximately 45 people. The natural amphitheater will offer year-round outdoor programming on ecological and natural history topics relating to the watershed such as wetland plants, insect and wildlife along riparian areas, birding, stream health and leaf pack workshops to learn about geology.—EDUCATION AND OUTREACH: Greene County Cornell Cooperative Extension, $1,884 with a $498 In-kind contribution to set up a rain barrel workshop that will be held at the Sugar Maples Arts Center in Maplecrest. The hands-on workshop will take place during Schoharie Watershed Week, May 17-23, 2010, providing materials and instruction for approximately ten families, teaching them to construct a rain barrel for home use. While the rain barrels will be fun to build, they will also be functional. The workshop will also introduce participants to methods of stormwater control, non-point pollution prevention and conservation of water resources in a residential setting.
—EDUCATION AND OUTREACH: the SWAC Education and Outreach Committee, $5,100 with an In-kind contribution of $4,125 to conduct a series of events, activities and workshops for people of all ages during Schoharie Watershed Week, taking place throughout the region. On tap will be a watershed-related film series (at the Hunter Theater in the town of Hunter), fly-fishing demonstrations, downspout disconnect programs, an Adopt-A-Stream clean up, a watershed scavenger hunt and kayak and canoe demonstrations.
—RECREATION/HABITAT IMPROVEMENTS: the Town of Windham, $15,000 with an In-kind contribution of $6,536 (and a potential to raise more in community contributions) to be used toward the creation of a multi-use, non-motorized trail on the Batavia Kill. The 1.1 mile loop trail will be built on a 68-acre parcel owned by the town at the former Police Anchor Camp, along Route 23, on the eastern outskirts of the hamlet district, allowing for improved access to the popular fishing stream. Bridge and boardwalk materials are needed to cross over a wetland and a tributary. A trail committee of local residents and business owners is planning the Windham Path with assistance from the Greene County Soil and Water Conservation District.
–PLANNING & ASSESSMENT: the Town of Hunter, $35,000 with an In-kind contribution of $5,000 to conduct a detailed review of current land use regulations with an intent to adopt revisions and write new regulations and/or guidelines promoting low impact design, climate smart and smart growth principles. In the absence of zoning, the town is seeking to investigate, and adopt as appropriate, innovative land use practices which will be an incentive to achieve desirable future growth related to private housing, development and commercial enterprises.
–PLANNING & ASSESSMENT: the towns of Ashland, Jewett, Lexington and Windham and the villages of Hunter and Tannersville, $12,000 with an In-kind contribution of $21,500 from the Catskill Watershed Corporation to hold “Mountaintop-wide Better Site Design Plan Workshops.” The workshops will guide each community through a comparison of the local codes against model development principles using a consensus building approach. Model principles will then be compiled into a General Guide for Mountaintop Communities, facilitating specific recommendations for each community.
SWAC has thus far awarded a total of $518,957.50 in the first two rounds of programming, leaving $1.481,042.50 for future projects. The application deadline for round three is August 2, 2010, with approvals formally taking place on October 27, 2010. Projects awarded funding in round one included improving stream access along the Schoharie Creek in the town of Prattsville by constructing a parking area and installing floodplain drains under Vista Ridge Road in the Town of Jewett, reducing backwater conditions causing channel aggradation. Stormwater retrofits were approved at the Mountaintop Library in the village of Tannersville and Town of Hunter, reducing the quantity of, and improving the conveyance of, stormwater runoff, vastly improving water quality.
Tags: agriculture, environment, fishing
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4XeTSVaQT0&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]
(The Watershed Post interviews George and Duane LaFever, Catskill maple syrup producers.)
The Watershed Post reports on the lack of maple syrup production this spring:
It’s the peak of New York’s annual maple festival, and local tappers are saying the maple syrup yield in the Catskills is worse than it’s ever been. Sugar producers in the Catskills are collecting under a quarter of the sap that they usually do at this time of year, says Helen Thomas, the executive director of the New York State Maple Producers Association. Production is down across the board in the warmer parts of New York, she adds, including at her own Syracuse farm. But the Catskills are seeing the most dramatic sap shortage. “It’s pretty universal in the Catskill region that you’re just doing lousy,” she says. Jessica Ziehm, a spokesperson for the New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets, confirms that because the Catskills are the southernmost syrup-producing region in the state, they “might be a little worse-off than others.” But it’s been a bad season for syrup all over, she adds. At Catskill Mountain Maple, a sugar house in Delancey, 74-year-old George LaFever, a second-generation syrup-maker, says that this is the worst maple season in memory. “It’s been a horrible season,” says his son, Duane LaFever, who owns Catskill Mountain Maple with business partner Tom Kaufman. “We’re probably at maybe 25 percent of normal.” “Pretty much everybody I know in about a 50-mile circle from here is having the same type of terrible season,” says Kaufman. “Nobody can figure out exactly what’s going on.” This winter’s intense blizzards, which have been chased by freakishly early warm weather, are probably playing a role, says Thomas, who spoke with the Watershed Post by phone as she was cleaning her sap lines in an attempt to boost her own forest’s yield. “The nights have gotten way too warm way too fast,” she says. “It’s supposed to warm up slow. That way the trees wake up slow.” “We haven’t had the freezing nights,” Kaufman says. “And it seems like when we have had the freezing nights, it’s still going wrong.” But there might be another factor at play: the forest tent caterpillar, or as George LaFever calls them, “maple worms.” Forest tent caterpillars eat leaves and can kill trees. Cornell’s Sugar Maple Research & Extension program advises maple producers to spray for them if the defoliation is bad enough to hurt sap production. Kaufman says he has sprayed for tent caterpillars three times in recent years. However, according to Ziehm, there have been no studies showing a link between tent caterpillars and sap reduction in the maple industry.
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Tags: agriculture, trees
Click here to listen to or download mp3 of Andy Turner speaking at Eco Faire.
Andy Turner, the Executive Director for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Greene County, speaking Sun. Sept. 13 at the Cairo Eco Faire in Cairo Town Park, streamed live on WGXC Online Radio. Turner is also on WGXC’s Radio Council, the board overseeing the community radio station. He speaks about sustainability at the Eco Faire, which was put on by the Cairo Chamber of Commerce.
Tags: agriculture, environment, local audio, town meetings
New Department of Social Services proposal?
From The Register-Star
“There will be a press conference at 4:30 p.m. today in the Supervisors’ Chambers at the county office building on 401 State St., Hudson, on the future placement of the county Department of Social Services. Board of Supervisors Chairman Art Baer, the Board of Supervisors, the Hudson Common Council, and Mayor Richard Scalera will discuss the future of a new home for the DSS staff and facilities.”
Nonprofit’s report cites lack of slaughterhouses in New York
From The Register-Star
Andrew Amelinckx writes an excellent story based on a report by Washington D.C. based consumer watchdog group Food and Water Watch that finds not enough slaughterhouses in New York state and blames federal policies that, it says, favors larger operations. There are two USDA certified slaughterhouses in Columbia County, Van Wie in Stockport and Hilltown Pork, Inc. Robert Beckwith of Hilltown Pork says he is backed up with animals until 2010. “People want to know where their meat is coming from,” he said. “There aren’t enough USDA facilities to meet the demand.”
Murphy plans steps to help dairy farmers
From The Columbia Paper
With milk prices falling to 1979 levels and New York dairy farmers expected to lose $650 million this year, new U.S. Rep. Scott Murphy plans to introduce legislation to help. The proposed legislation would further subsidize dairy farmers, and create a herd retirement program meant to curtail supply. “This proposal works two-fold, by providing immediate relief to our struggling dairy farmers today, and stabilizing the dairy industry for tomorrow. Before more small farmers are forced out of business, we need to bring fast relief and stability to the industry.”
Lates poll: Maloney 33% Gillibrand 27%
From Rasmussen Reports
In a very early poll, New York City congresswoman Carolyn Maloney leads appointed Senator Kristen Gillibrand with 33 percent of the vote to 27 percent and nine percent preferring some other candidate. Thirty percent are undecided.
Tags: agriculture, Art Baer, Col. Cty. DSS, Kirsten Gillibrand, Rick Scalera, Scott Murphy
Local housing groups get $650,000 in grants
From The Daily Mail
The Hunter Foundation, in Tannersville, and the Catskill Mountain Housing Development Corporation, in Catskill, were notified Thursday that they are each a recipient of grants — $300,000 and $350,000, respectively — from NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR), the administrator agency for federal U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds. The money is part of a statewide package of $31.4 million in housing grants announced by Gov. David A. Paterson Thursday.
Wilzig track foes win latest round in court
From The Columbia Paper
State Supreme Court Judge Patrick J. McGrath handed down an interim decision last week denying Alan Wilzig’s petition for dismissal of a complaint filed by the Granger Group in regard to his private motorcycle track. Mr. Wilzig received site plan approval and designation as a permissible recreational use from the Town of Taghkanic’s Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Board earlier this year. But he was unable to proceed with paving the track because of an injunction against further construction on the facility. The injunction was obtained by the Granger Group, an association of citizens opposed to the track and concerned about enforcement of town zoning law, and by neighbors to the Wilzig property who believe that the track is not allowed under the zoning laws.
Hudson antique dealers struggling
From The Register-Star
Antique sales in Hudson are down around 20 to 30 percent, according to Hudson Antiques Dealers Association president Frank Rosa. Jennifer Arensksjold, co-owner of Arenskjold Antiques Art and Modern Design says sales actually fell more after the recession associated with the World Trade Center attack, which also coincided with a change in buyers’ tastes.
Falling dairy prices strain farmers
From The Daily Mail
A top official at the U.S. Department of Agriculture defended his agency’s response to tumbling milk prices as “extremely aggressive” but showed little appetite Tuesday for immediate and far-reaching measures that some lawmakers say would keep thousands of dairy farmers in business. The Daily Mail story does not mention New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s work on this issue:
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is introducing legislation that would increase the amount farmers get through the Milk Income Loss Contract — or MILC –program. MILC pays dairy farmers cash when milk prices fall below certain levels. When demand is up, prices tend to be up as well. The program is aimed at helping small and midsize dairy farmers weather low prices. But Gillibrand says that under the current pricing structure, farmers aren’t receiving enough income to cover the costs of staying in business. She’s introducing a bill this week that would double the amount of money farmers get from the MILC program retroactive to the low point of the pricing crisis in March. Another bill would increase the MILC rate to account for inflation.
Outbreak of Fungus Threatens Tomato Crop
From The New York Times
A highly contagious fungus that destroys tomato plants has quickly spread to nearly every state in the Northeast and the mid-Atlantic, and the weather over the next week may determine whether the outbreak abates or whether tomato crops are ruined, according to federal and state agriculture officials.
Trippi’s weird “apology”
From The Albany Project
“Joe Trippi, who has been working secretly for Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (NY-14) in her primary challenge to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand for more than a month, posted an odd “apology” for his deception (which occurred at Daily Kos, Huffington Post and with several reporters) on his website yesterday.” This comes after PolitickerNY found Maloney’s second quarter FEC filing and found a $10,500 check to Trippi dated June 5, well before he stopped writing about Maloney as if he was an unpaid observer.
LIVE TONIGHT:
Mark Eitzel will perform at 8 p.m. Jason’s Upstairs Bar, 521 Warren St. in Hudson.
Tags: agriculture, development, music
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