new research identifies cold weather strategies to avoid respiratory illness in calves

 

credit: creativecommons.org

As winter approaches, research funded by the farmer-driven Northern New York Agricultural Development Program has identified cold weather strategies for attention by regional dairy calf managers.

“Winter weather poses a natural challenge to raising young animals. Respiratory illness in calves can negatively impact weight gain, age at their first calving, first lactation milk production, farm revenue and costs,” says project leader Kimberley Morrill, Ph.D., a regional Cornell Cooperative Extension dairy specialist, Canton, NY.

northland sheep dairy seeking apprentice for 2018 season.

Northland Sheep Dairy in Marathon NY are seeking a teamster apprentice for the 2018 season. Northland is the oldest continuously operating sheep dairy in the United States. Their farm operates in a traditional pastoral style, making sheep milk cheeses seasonally from their small flock of 100% grass fed ewes. Their cheeses are truly handmade in small batches from their own raw sheep milk. They use organic lamb rennet and cave age all of their own cheeses. The work on the farm is done with draft horses and mules and they pay homage to these great work partners. They also offer 100% grass fed lamb  seasonally and sheepskins and wool products.

To apply for the position or to find out more, contact Donn Hewes by email: tripletree@frontiernet.net or phone: 607-849-4442.

job: full time teaching farm manager position in upstate ny

North Country School and Camp Treetops seek a full-time Teaching Farm Manager to oversee a year- round farm program intended for both food production and education of middle school aged children.

North Country School is an independent boarding and day school for grades 4-9, and Camp Treetops is a seven-week, overnight summer camp. They share a spectacular 200-acre campus in the Adirondack High Peaks region of upstate New York. The farm operation includes five acres of mixed vegetables and flowers, 35 acres of pasture, two commercial-size greenhouses, 500-tap maple sugar operation, and a multi-barn complex that houses animals raised both for consumption and for teaching purposes. Our animals include pigs, chickens, turkeys, sheep, goats, and horses. For more than 75 years, students and campers have benefited from active participation in the care of barnyard animals and the growing and harvesting of food. Nationwide, we are one of only seven Founding Programs of Alice Waters’ Edible Schoolyard Project. In recent years, the farm has served as nexus for much of our sustainability education.

The teaching farm manager is responsible for the care of all animals; vegetable and flower production; hiring and managing farm interns; and farm record keeping. He or she also works with School faculty and Camp counselors to integrate the farm and garden into academic curricula and daily activities, including preparing children for community-wide events like chicken and potato harvest. Applicants should have experience working in schools or other child-centric teaching environments, and should have demonstrable ability to manage a small staff and to delegate. A strong background in agriculture, knowledge of animal care, background in herd management, and competence with farm machinery are required. The qualified applicant will have experience with horse management and an ability to work closely with the NCS/CTT riding staff, who oversees a robust camp and school riding program. Supplemental farming skills, including basic carpentry, masonry, plumbing, electrical, and mechanical are a plus. Compensation and Benefits: Compensation and benefits include housing and meals; access to campus facilities including a lake, rock climbing crag, rope tow and ski hill, forest trails, wood shop and arts studios; group health insurance and retirement plan. Salary is commensurate with experience.

Minimum Qualifications:
• A desire to work at an educational institution with animal and plant production systems
• A demonstrable ability to coordinate complex tasks in a rapidly changing environment
• A desire to work with teaching faculty and camp counselors to integrate farming systems into a middle school curriculum and camp programs
• A demonstrable ability to supervise and mentor interns
• A demonstrable ability to plan production systems through time
• A demonstrable ability to operate a variety of hand tools, power tools and farm machinery • A desire to work outside in a variety of weather conditions

General Responsibilities:
• Depending upon the season, coordinating and accomplishing all aspects of greenhouse and field plant production systems and/or animal care at the barns and/or maple syrup production

• seeding, transplanting, weeding, harvesting, soil building
• acquire and sell horses, acquire and coordinate the harvest of production animals
• lead morning and afternoon work crews

• work within a budget and provide accounting of all purchases within numerous budget lines
• coordinate school or camp community work projects
• develop and coordinate garden/barn program activities
• application of organic pesticides
• collaborate with our kitchen staffs to produce food for the community
• daily mentorship and supervision farm/garden interns
• provide multiple teaching and learning opportunities for interns
• maintain written records pertaining to the farm
• maintain a 500 bucket sugar maple stand and coordinate with our school program staff to work with students in the production of maple syrup
• daily barn chores and other related barn activities such as animal maintenance, stall cleaning
• general carpentry with respect to maintaining farm buildings and pasture fences

  To apply, or for more information, send an email to: applicant@ncstreetops.org, or send a request via U.S. mail to: Attention: Farm Manager/Educator Search Committee, North Country School and Camp Treetops, 4382 Cascade Road, Lake Placid, NY 12946.

growing american ginseng in new york

Join Ginseng Expert Bob Beyfuss on Wednesday September 13th from 5-8 PM for a classroom presentation designed to teach beginner how to get started growing their own American ginseng on forested land. The presentation will be followed by woods walk where you will see for yourself how to assess the suitability of a forested site for growing wild simulated ginseng.

The cost for the class is $25/person and you must pre-registration is required due to  the limited number of spaced. Participants will receive a copy of ‘The Practical Guide to Growing Ginseng’ by Bob Beyfuss.

To register please mail a check, payable to CCE Allegany County to: 5435A County Rd 48 Belmont, NY 14813 to register. Active or Retired NYS Military Veterans may apply for stipend to cover cost of attending.

For more information, please contact Lynn Bliven 585-268-7644 ext. 18 or email lao3@cornell.edu 

watch: everybody’s coffin – ken crane

Ken Crane, a farmer, forager and hunter, speaks about the process of building his own coffin and about his life spent living off the land in upstate NY. Ken reminds us of the importance of inter-generational dialogue to share resources, stories and experiences.

With thanks to Elise McMahon.

Northern NY Bee Health Survey Results Reveal Insights Into Colony Loss.

 

Bee colony loss is an increasingly serious issue for the entire beekeeping industry causing in some cases an unsustainable loss of 1/3 of beekeepers operations. In response to increasing levels of colony loss, the first ever survey of parasites and pathogens in regional bee colonies has just been carried out and released by the Northern New York Agricultural Development Programme. The survey participants included 31 beekeepers of all stripes, from hobbyists to commercial beekeepers. Project leader Emma Mullen, a Honey Bee Extension Associate with Cornell University, Ithaca, NY explains that “this project documents for the first time the levels of key parasites and viruses in commercial and hobby bee colonies in Northern New York”. The aim of the project was to contribute to regional knowledge of pathogens affecting bees, and to educate regional beekeepers about ways to protect against relevant pathogens relevant to protect against economic and colony loss. The replacement of a colony can cost between $100 and $200.

swell jobs at groundswell in ithaca, ny

Looking for rewarding work in upstate New York? The Groundswell Center in Ithaca is hiring! They have a range of full-time, part-time, and seasonal positions, including Farming and Business Specialist, Development and Fundraising Manager, Farming Assistant, and Educator. Get those typing fingers and applications going – they’re looking to hire by the end of February or early March. One look at their mission will tell you that it’s a fabulous place to work:

Our mission is to engage diverse learners and empower them with skills, knowledge and access to resources, so they can build sustainable land-based livelihoods and equitable local food systems. We help people become successful small-scale farmers and homestead food producers through practical, on-farm training. Our peer-to-peer networks build community and foster skills-sharing among farmers, homesteaders and “food citizens.”

Learn more about the positions and Groundswell by clicking HERE.

documentary: the hand that feeds

The Hand That Feeds trailer from Robin Blotnick, a film on reforming the food system by organizing from the ground up for fair wages, fair working conditions, and collective bargaining rights. This is a rare story in which workers, with tenacity beyond imagination, are actually able to defeat the giant. It is also a good reminder that food justice work in the United Staes should be inherently intertwined with immigration reform.

brian dewan sings at windham civic center

Brian Dewan will sing

with electric zither, accordion and autoharp accompaniment.

This Saturday

May 28th at 8:00 pm

at the Windham Civic Center (Former Presbyterian Church)

5379 Route 23

Windham, NY  12496

Suggested donation $5

march for farmworker justice continues

Read our blog post from yesterday for more info! Today the walkers are walking from Garrison to Wappingers Falls.

new york farm workers rally and walk for bargaining rights and decent working conditions

Enter a caption ruralmigrantministry.org

Walking the 200 miles from Long Island to Albany, protesters stopped at City Hall in New York City last Saturday chanting si se puede. According to Democracy Now!, the protesters are walking in support of the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act (more about this from the ACLU), asking that farm workers have the right to collective bargaining, an optional day off every week, and overtime pay– rights people in virtually every other industry in the US take for granted. The walkers are led by Rural and Migrant Minstry, a NY-based nonprofit that supports rural and migrant communities in the state.

“I would like to say, each time you are eating, or each time you have something in your hands that you are going to eat, remember us, who do not have the rights that other workers have. And if you can, support us. We are going to be marching for another week and a few days. If you see us, it would be good if you support us by walking with us, maybe a couple of hours, one hour, for a day if you can. That would be very good.”

–Heriberto Gonzalez, former farm worker, and fellow at Rural & Migrant Ministry

Greenhorns! Let us join them where we can! They will be marching until May 31 and you can find their schedule, route, and updates here.

HVYFC spring mixer at kinder hook farm, may 28

Anna will give us a tour of the lambing operation where she’s raising 300 lambs this year. Then we’ll enjoy a BBQ with Kinderhook meat and beer from Captain Lawrence Brewing Company. Bring a side dish if you can and plate/cup/utensils.

Kinderhook Farm (1958 Co Rd 21, Valatie, NY 12184)

All farmers, friends and family welcome! If you’re not able to bring food, come anyway!!

See you then,

HVYFC team

ny: the battery fair seeking an herbalist

This June, The Battery Conservancy will celebrate the grand opening of The Battery Oval with a weekend fair to engage the public in  our region’s biodiversity and its emerging food and plant producers.

The Battery Conservancy has created The Fair to fulfill the following goals:
– Showcase innovations in agriculture, horticulture, food, and craft.
– Emphasize the connections between food production and plant production.
– Support and connect small batch entrepreneurs in the Northeast region.

The Fair will feature small batch purveyors who are defining alternative, sustainable systems of natural production without compromising taste and beauty.  Vendors will exhibit and sell. Currently, they are seeking an herbalist. To learn more, click HERE!

 

adirondack region sugarhouses welcome 2016 maple weekends visitors

Clinton, Essex, Franklin Counties, NY.  Tours from sap to syrup, tree to table, by tractor and horse-drawn wagon ride or on foot: maple sugarhouses in Clinton, Essex and Franklin counties are ready to welcome visitors from 10 am to 4 pm on the March 19-20 and April 2-3 NYS Maple Weekends. Visitors who collect stickers or stamps from at least six of the sites will be entered into a drawing for a maple gift basket to be awarded April 12.

Pancake breakfasts are begin offered all day all four days at Maple Brook Farm in Essex and from 8 am to 1 pm all four days at Parker Family Maple Farm in West Chazy. Pancake breakfast will be served on Saturday, March 19 from 9 am to 12 pm at Moon Valley Maple in Malone, and from 9 am to 11 am at The Wild Center in Tupper Lake.

open source mapping through ny public library

The Lionel Pincus & Princess Firyal Map Division is very proud to announce the release of more than 20,000 cartographic works as high resolution downloads. We believe these maps have no known US copyright restrictions.* To the extent that some jurisdictions grant NYPL an additional copyright in the digital reproductions of these maps, NYPL is distributing these images under a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. The maps can be viewed through the New York Public Library’s Digital Collections page, and downloaded (!), through the Map Warper. First, create an account, then click a map title and go. Here’s a primer and more extended blog post on the warper.

To read more, click HERE!