labor

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  • The Financial Benefits of Going Grass-Fed with Sheep

    Ulf Kintzel 

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    How to weather inflation of agricultural inputs. A common expectation is that grass-fed market lambs should fetch a premium price, a price that is higher than conventional grain-fed lamb. That is not always the case unless you are able to tap into a niche market. Sales barns or livestock markets do not pay a higher…

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  • Growing Latino Leadership in Suffolk County with Futuro en Ag

    Mildred Alvarado

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    Something peculiar was happening at the Cornell Small Farms Program’s Futuro en Ag farm management skills course in Suffolk County in January. The flowers set out in the conference room stayed in pristine condition throughout the course – they didn’t show signs of stress even after several days. We finally discovered why. By Mildred Alvarado,…

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  • NYS Farm Outlook for 2021

    James Dean

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    Experts predict scarce labor and higher wages this year.  New York state farm operators can expect a tight labor market and rising wages in the year ahead, in addition to continued pandemic precautions, debate over immigration reform and potential changes to overtime pay, according to a Cornell agriculture expert.  “Ag labor is going to remain scarce due to ……

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  • Can Farm Employers Require Employees to Wear Face Coverings/Masks?

    Richard Stup

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    Can Farm Employers Require Employees to Wear Face Coverings/Masks? The science about wearing face coverings/masks to reduce the spread of novel coronavirus is increasingly clear; wearing a mask dramatically reduces the amount and range of virus particles that an infected person emits into the air to potentially infect other people. Wearing a mask to protect…

  • Cornell Farmworker Program Mobilizes Protections for NY Farmworkers

    Kelly Merchan

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    Supporting NY farmworkers with masks, COVID-19 information and Q&A with Mary Jo Dudley.   More than 55,000 farmworkers across New York play critical roles sustaining the local and global food supply. Many of these essential workers – who often live in close quarters and work side by side – have continued to work without face…

  • Identifying Risk is the First Step to Managing It

    Mary Kate MacKenzie

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    Not only is risk unavoidable in agriculture, but managing it well is an essential function of any farm operation.   Most of us live in a culture that values comfort and control. Modern technologies give us the ability to meet our basic needs and modify our environments from the convenience of our living rooms. We…

  • Building Resilience With Labor and Workforce Planning

    Kacey Deamer

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    Offering a curated list of resources on labor and workforce issues for farmers and employees to navigate COVID-19. Whether you hire labor or rely on your family to support a farm’s operations, or you work on a farm, you need to be prepared for the possibility that you or others working beside you may fall…

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  • USDA Puts Northeast Organic Dairies at a Disadvantage

    Fay Benson

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    Raising an organic dairy heifer can be costly.  The first year of a dairy heifer’s life has the highest per day costs mainly due to the whole milk fed and labor required for young calves. This fact is the reason why the inaction of the USDA to close a known loophole in the National Organic Program (NOP) has allowed certain dairies to raise their young stock with conventional methods…

  • Upcoming Workshop in Geneva: Navigating the Ag Labor Maze

    Carli Fraccarolli

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    Do you hire, or are you considering hiring, migrant or foreign-born labor? Do you want to improve your skills in supervising employees who come from different cultures, especially workers from Mexico and Central America? If yes, this workshop is for you! On April 12 from 11:30am-5:00pm, learn how to build better relations between farmers and…

  • Securing a Labor Force at Sweetland Farm

    Elizabeth Henderson

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    A vegetable farm raised wages to $15 an hour and lived to tell the tale! Early in 2016, Evangeline Sarat at Sweetland Farm, in Trumansburg, NY, announced that she would paying wages to her employees at the Tompkins County living wage level.  Evangeline explained, “For me, it is very pin pointed: if my employees work,…

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