Year: 2012
Vermont’s red barn, once the hallmark of the small family dairy farm, is now the centerpiece of a changing agricultural landscape. It is being reframed and reformed for new, often unusual enterprises. While dairy production still tops the agricultural economic scale in Vermont, the actual number of dairy farms is declining due to new technologies,…
Sheepfolds, pigpens, chicken coops, and smoke houses: on a farm with animals, these places have meaning. Cynthia G. Falk writes about the agricultural and architectural diversity of historic farm buildings in her new book: Barns of New York: Rural Architecture of the Empire State (Cornell University Press, 2012). This is a beautiful book about the…
By Noreen Atkins & John Flocke Nathaniel Thompson approached the Cortland NY FSA Credit Team in 2006 for loans to purchase a 5 acre parcel of land and build a barn in an attempt to expand his business. Nathaniel is an organic vegetable farmer, specializing in salad greens and root crops. He markets his produce as…
Each year, NYAITC and New York Farm Bureau sponsor an opportunity for Pre-K through middle school students across the state to discover more about where food comes from and why agriculture is important. The contest is divided by grade level, and each level has a specific topic to create a piece of art, poem, or…
This article was one of four winning entries in a writing contest sponsored by the New York State Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI). GLCI is led by a Steering Committee of farmers and agricultural professionals to promote the wise use of private grazing lands, and is funded by the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service. James and…
“Where did you get these steaks? They’re fantastic!” is the usual reaction from friends from out-of-town to eating beef at my dinner table in South Central Wisconsin. Some of these dinner guests have even asked me to mail meat to their homes in places as far away as Miami and Atlanta because they loved it…
In the beginning of our humble American nation, we had strong communities tied around local family farms. As we grew in population, the farms decreased along with the community connection. There is a resurgence lately to not only source locally, but to once again re-establish our communal connections to farms and each other. Growing your…
by Cathy Heidenreich and Laura McDermott There are many reasons that growers would choose to extend the cropping season for berries. The earliest berries notably capture the best market prices – which is what growers strive for. On the latter end of the season, there may be late season marketing opportunities, and certainly creating as…
As a veteran grazier, I’m concerned about the phrases, “The 300 year flood, Peak Soil, Peal Oil, Climate Change and The New Normal” frequently heard in the news. Should I discount them as just an anomaly or should I be planning on how this will affect my grazing operation? For me, it boils down to…
This article is the third in a series highlighting distributors of New York State farm-grown products. For our third spotlight, I spoke to Marlo Capoccia, the Owner of Garden Gate Delivery, located in Ithaca, New York. I wanted to feature Garden Gate as they recently made the decision to shift their business model to focus…
