Posts by Kacey Deamer
Time is valuable. Time is money. And time is of the essence at the height of the busy season! We know that the ability to manage people effectively is a critical skill for a successful farm business. An efficient crew can make or break the bottom line during harvest. So why not invest in your…
Read MoreNews from the Cornell Small Farm Program A Growing Team The Cornell Small Farms Program has experienced incredible growth in the last year, including the addition of three new team members. Over the summer we welcomed Nicole Waters and Kacey Deamer. Nicole joined us as the Beginning Farmer Coordinator, which has her working on our…
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Strategies applied at Climbing Tree Farm can be applied to other farm businesses to enhance operations. Colby and Schuyler Gail didn’t realize that when they acquired their first eight sheep in 2007 that they would eventually become farmers. Schuyler viewed the sheep as a way to manage grass on her grandmother’s property and provide meat…
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This excerpt is from Fred Provenza’s book Nourishment: What Animals Can Teach Us About Rediscovering Our Nutritional Wisdom (Chelsea Green Publishing, 2018) and is reprinted with permission from the publisher. Feedback from the Gut Microbiome In 1968, near the Department of Defense’s Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah, 6,400 sheep were killed instantly by aerially applied…
Read MoreIt is generally accepted that anaerobic digesters (AD) are efficient technologies for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from livestock operations. In addition, AD technology has a number of other potential benefits including: energy production for use on the farm and for sale, separation of manure solids for ease of use or export off farm, pathogen…
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A farmer recently completed a USDA Northeast SARE funded project to demonstrate a hydraulic press used to make fuel briquettes from manure and bedding. The machine, dubbed the “Biomass Beast” by its creator, Rose Marie Belforti, was built for $5,766 and produced briquettes at a rate of 90 dry pounds per hour for 3 cents…
Read MoreLetter from the Director It has been quite a year for the Cornell Small Farm Program. We have grown to ten amazing, committed staff who actively work to support the viability of small farms through education, outreach and research. Each works closely with many partners, especially Cornell Cooperative Extension Educators, toward our mission of helping…
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New York farmers experienced a wet, then dry, then wet 2018 growing season that brought a number of challenges. How did those conditions affect the quantity, look and taste of apples, grapes, vegetables and other locally sourced products on grocery shelves and dinner tables? Answering that and other questions is the focus of the “Extension…
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The Northern New York Agricultural Development Program has posted a research update with data to help maple and birch syrup producers respond to variable climate conditions. “Maple, and now birch, syrup producers are on the front lines of dealing with the effects of climate change and the variations that have increased the unpredictability of when…
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