Small Farms Quarterly
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This article is the first in a two-part series. In the winter article I will highlight some real-life success stories of working with landowners in partnership with NRCS and Audubon Vermont. Audubon Vermont is working with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) on two exciting programs, called the Forest Bird Initiative (FBI) and Champlain Valley…
Read MoreThe Northeast Livestock Processing Service (NELPSC) is a company that was started by 5 farmers with a notion to help their fellow farmers with livestock processing problems. Now in business for 6 years, NELPSC has evolved from a totally grant supported notion to a self supporting viable LLC owned by those same farmers who became…
Read More4H teens learn about the hard work and creativity needed to run a successful small farm during Career Exploration Days on the Cornell University Campus. A “Fruitful” Adventure Through the 4-H program, I have been able to travel to Cornell University and choose a career class. I chose “A small Farm Dream!” Living on a…
Read MoreWith farmers retiring faster than they’re being replaced, a lot of people are worried about who will be feeding America in fifty years. There is growing interest among young people in farming careers, but they are experiencing significant barriers that are keeping them from realizing their potential in agriculture—and preventing the nation from renewing its…
Read MoreMessage from the Managing Editor I am writing this note just days after Hurricane Irene caused disastrous flooding to many areas in our readership. We at the Cornell Small Farms Program send our deepest sympathy to the hundreds of farmers and homesteaders that lost crops, livestock, buildings, roads and precious topsoil. As I look back upon the 2011 issues of Small Farm Quarterly, a reoccurring…
Read MoreBill and Joanne Casey of Apulia Station, NY own a 60 cow organic, grass based dairy farm. Management intensive grazing is essential to feeding the herd. Pastures, which are both grazed and mechanically harvested as baleage, only receive manure deposited by the cows. The Caseys also compost manure and spread it in the fall on…
Read MoreThe first things that come to mind when starting a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farming operation probably relate more to the what, where, when, and who of growing crops than to planning your website and writing newsletters. But the C in CSA does stand for community and getting and keeping members is essential to your…
Read MoreThe practice of Silvopasturing is causing quite a buzz these days. It was a fairly new concept to me until a year and a half ago, a concept that brings together forestry management and grazing management into one single system of sustainable woodland grazing. It can diversify income by tapping into products of trees, tree…
Read MoreWe are pleased to introduce the community supported fisheries model in this edition and to feature two of the producers and one distributor who are creating the roadmap for direct consumer access to fresh, healthy fish from local waters. In subsequent issues we will feature more ‘boat to fork’ stories. They are inspiring examples of…
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