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Catskill Regional Agriculture Conference 2024

Thursday January 11, 2024

SUNY Delhi, Delhi, NY

Come and join farmers from around the region for this premier agricultural event. Our top-notch speakers will be presenting timely information about Dairy, Livestock, and Horticulture production as well as Grazing Management with a focus on effective practices for farmers in the Catskill Region. Conference includes 15 workshops for all types of farms, a delicious local foods lunch, and opportunities to connect with like minded farmers from across our region.

Registration begins at 9:30 am with Early Bird sessions at 10:00 am. Dairy, Livestock, Grazing, and Horticulture tracts start at 11:00, 1:40 and 2:40

Registration $35 Deadline January 5

Early Bird Sessions 10:00 am

10:00 am Introduction to USDA Programs:

Brian Sheridan, Aaron Masters, USDA FSA, Tony Capraro, USDA NRCS

Aaron Masters, FSA Farm Loan Officer will speak on FSA’s lending programs, including eligibility and how to apply. Brian Sheridan, County Executive Director will give an overview of existing FSA programs, and how to get started with FSA programs. Tony Capraro, Asst. State Conservationist for Field Operations SE Area will give an overview of current NRCS programs, how to locate specific Field Offices for assistance, program eligibility, and how to apply for NRCS Programs.

10:00 am Economic Viability Farmer Grants:

Kristan Morley, WAC Economic Viability Program

Learn about Economic Viability Program initiatives in the NYC West of Hudson Watershed

1) the development of professional business plans to better position these businesses for improved economic profitability and sustainability

2) activities that enhance economic viability through marketing, training, staffing and event/mileage reimbursement grants

3) those seeking professional services in transition, estate planning or succession planning.

Dairy Track

11:00 am Transitioning a Farm Business to the Next Generation:

John Lehr, Farm Credit East

John J. Lehr, Farm Business Consultant with Farm Credit East will be presenting on the process of transitioning business ownership and management to the next generation of operator(s). Strategies for management succession will be shared as well as the cash flow considerations of maintaining smooth business operation during the transfer process. In addition, potential hurdles to succession and the softer side of management transfer will be discussed as well.

1:40 pm Mineral Nutrition for Dairy

Dr. Tom Tylutki, Agricultural Modeling and Training Systems

Minerals for replacement heifers… Do we really need to worry about them? Minerals play a key role in the performance we expect from our heifers. Be it growth, reproduction, or health, matching the animal’s requirements with the correct levels of minerals pays BIG dividends! Come explore how requirement levels match up with the minerals already supplied by your forages and grains. Once we know the nutrients naturally present in our feeds, we can develop a strategy to cost effectively supplement minerals and vitamins to achieve our desired outcomes.

2:40 pm The Hidden Costs of NOT Growing Your Heifers Right

Bill Prokop, DVM Attica Veterinary Associates P.C

Did you know that cows have a pretty specific number of productive days in their life? And that the older the heifer is at calving, the less potential productive days she has left? Or how about the fact that if we ‘insult’ a calf before it is born, her daughters will give less milk too? We typically hear only about the ‘cost’ of raising heifers in relation to age of first calving, but everything from how many heifers you need to raise, to milk production potential one to two generations from now are all impacted. It’s beyond costs.

Livestock Track

11:00 am Mineral Nutrition for Livestock

Dr. Tom Tylutki, Agricultural Modeling and Training Systems

Do we really need to worry about minerals for beef cattle, sheep and goats? Minerals play a key role in determining the growth, reproduction, and health of our animals. Matching the animals’ requirements with the correct levels of minerals pays BIG dividends. Come explore how the varying requirement levels by species match up with what our forages and grains naturally supply. Once this is known, we can develop strategies for minerals and vitamins that are cost effective and enhance the performance of our animals.

1:40 pm Emerging and Evolving Livestock Diseases

Dr. Mary Smith, DVM, Professor Cornell University

Dr. Smith will draw from her extensive knowledge and experience to cover several conditions of sheep and goats that are receiving increasing recognition in New York State. Symptoms and means of prevention will be discussed for common issues like predation, meningeal worm, and Lyme disease as well as less common ones like Cache Valley virus that can cause severe fetal malformations. Prevention of anthelmintic resistance will be discussed and how misguided attempts to prevent meningeal worm are adding to the resistance problem.

2:40 pm Successfully Selling Meat

JJF Farm, East Jewett, Albano Farms, Stamford, Evans & Evans Farm, Andes

Direct to customer meat sales have become an important source of revenue for many livestock farms. This panel will share how they have increased their sales and provide quality service to their customers. Following short presentations from each farm, there will be a moderated question and answer session.

Grazing Track

11:00 am Grazing Wet Areas of Your Farm

Russ Wilson, Wilson Land & Cattle Co.

Russ manages his 220 acres of pastures for over 300 days of grazing each year. Many of these acres have wet soil conditions for significant portions of his grazing season. Russ will explore and explain how he manages these areas with the goals of enhancing forage production considering the diversity of plant species while promoting wildlife and water quality conservation.

1:40 pm Watering Systems Design, Troubleshooting, & Maintenance

John Benscoter, Retired NRCS Engineering Technician, Russ Wilson, Wilson Land & Cattle Co.

John will provide key design considerations and management strategies that optimize watering efficiency for your animals on pasture while at the same time keeping the system functioning with a minimum of maintenance in all seasons. Russ will share how he uses cost effective strategies to address water challenges in his grazing system with a focus on ensuring a reliable water supply throughout the year.

2:40 pm Multi Species Grazing-What We’ve Learned

Ronald Kuck, CCE Cayuga County

Grazing two or more species of livestock, at the same time, in the same pastures is actually the most common farming approach in the world. Ron will explain the various ways that multi species grazing can be implemented and detail the benefits to your land with the additional management lessons learned on farms and from research. Multi-species grazing can increase pasture health and diversify your livestock sales with the ultimate goal of getting the most profit out of your pasture acres.

Horticulture Track

11:00 am To Bee or Not to Bee: Encouraging Pollinators on Flower and Vegetable Farms

Garet Livermore, CCE Herkimer County

This session looks at the emerging research on the competition between western honey bees (Apis mellifera) and native pollinators and whether keeping bees is beneficial or harmful. It also presents model practices to encourage native pollinators that includes an overview of native resident and migrating pollinators of upstate New York and their habitat needs.

1:40 pm Growing at Flower Hill Farm

Nicole Pitt, Owner, Flower Hill Farm

Nicole will discuss how a love for her land led to the formation of a flower farm and how social media garnered her small business a global audience. She also will talk about if social media is hurting or helping my business and discuss if flower farming is sustainable without other sources of income?

2:40 pm IPM Strategies for Vegetable and Cut Flower Producers

Betsy Lamb, NYS IPM Program, Cornell University

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) addresses key growing challenges and embraces recent technological advances, including biological control and the integration of disease resistant varieties. Coping with emerging pests, adaptation to climate change, innovations in pest monitoring, community engagement, and regulatory considerations all shape the evolving landscape of IPM, emphasizing sustainable practices and economic viability.

Lunch 12:00 noon

Managing the Changing Weather

Jeffrey Potent: Columbia University

Successful farming has always been about managing the changes around us. Jeff will describe a new research project working with farmers to adapt best management practices to protect water quality and farm productivity in response to anticipated changes in weather patterns.

1…2…3 Blades Go! Or Wait! Grazing Tips from the Point of View of the Grass and Weather

Every year it’s a game of hurry up and wait. In March, the pastures started to green up and thoughts of an early spring and early grazing turn out came to mind. However, by the end of April we had dipped back to being chilly, snow blanketed parts of the county, and 3 inches of rain was in the forecast. So when will we be able to turn out our cows, sheep, or goats. That answer is, it’s complicated.
From the plant’s point of view, the three-leaf phase is where the grass plant wants to be. The grass tiller or stem has grown to the point of having three leaves with a collar developed around the stem, like the collar of a shirt. At this stage, the grass plant has grown to the point where it has replenished its reserves and is getting most of its energy to grow through photosynthesis. At this phase of growth, the grass plant will be able to tolerate grazing and not be stunted when grazed correctly. It is important to leave enough solar panel, residual grass left after grazing, so that regrowth happens quick and the plant doesn’t have to use its reserves to push new growth. Residuals of 3-6 inches will allow you to start grazing earlier the following year and shorten rotation times. Figure 1 shows the variations in grazing management with orchard grass.

Figure 1 shows the changes in grazing management and the effects on yield and growth rate
Source: Geoffry Brink, US Dairy Forage Resource Center

Figure 2 shows the grass stem at the three-leaf stage.

Field conditions are another set of factors that dictate when or where to graze the animals in spring. If the plant is ready but field conditions risk pugging up the soil, it might be best to leave them on the barnyard or sacrifice paddock a little while longer. This way other parts of the farm aren’t destroyed and production hindered for the rest of the year. If animals have to go out, try grazing your animals on the driest part of the farm or flash grazing pastures. Flash grazing allows the animals to eat the tops of the plant but are moved fast enough that they are unable to walk back over their initial grazing spot a second or third time. Controlling that second pass is important in preventing pugging in the pasture.

Source: Agriculture Victoria, Pasture Recovery from Pugging Damage

Just remember if there is an option to buy or feed extra home grown hay, there is nothing wrong with leaving animals on their concrete barnyard or sacrifice paddock a little longer but we need to plan accordingly, especially if animals will start to calve, kid, or lamb in that area. This may mean cleaning manure more often or allowing some of the hay being fed to be used as bedding as well. Make sure there is a plan A, B, and C and keep a watchful eye on your stock.

Happy grazing!
Ben Hepler
Nutrient Management Community Educator, CCA

Thinking about Our Spring Pasture

We seem to be getting an early spring this year. As I write this at the end of April, my average grass height in the pasture is almost 5”. The fences have all been checked and the water system is up and running. In fact, I have had my sheep out on pasture for about two weeks already (but not just pasture).
So, let’s review the decision making process for making the decision to transitioning your cattle, sheep, or goats to pasture. We need to think about it both from the perspective of the plants and the perspective of the livestock.
Let’s start with the livestock. They are going to transition from a stored feed that may be relatively dry and is high in effective fiber to a lush young grass shoot that is as high as 85% water, very high in protein, and is very highly digestible with little effective fiber. If the transition is made to quickly, your animals will have very watery manure and will likely lose weight as their rumens struggle to make the change. So the key is to make the transition slowly over the course of 10 days to 2 weeks. In my case, I am providing supplemental hay on pasture within a very limited pasture area. With each passing day, I give them another small area of pasture. This allows my animals to adjust to the change in diet while I start managing my pasture system for the coming year.
Now the plant’s perspective. Remember, in spring the plants are at their lowest energy reserves and are using those reserves to build their ‘solar panel’. Grazing these plants before they have developed a full set of “grazing panels” can weaken the plant and typically reduces the total amount of dry matter production on those fields for the current year. However, one of the greatest challenges of waiting until the grass is 8”-10” tall before starting grazing is that all of your pasture is then at the same stage of production and setting up a rotational system is more challenging. So, by starting ‘early’ in a specific area of the pasture helps to develop what is called the grazing wedge. A grazing wedge refers to having your pasture subdivisions or paddocks at varying stages of re-growth. Just make sure that you don’t come back to these ‘first grazed’ paddocks until the plants have fully recovered. Also, switch up where you start your spring grazing every year to avoid permanently setting back the productivity of that paddock.
So, in order to have a safe transition for both the plants and the grazing livestock, it is best to make the transition over the period of a few weeks. Here are some techniques commonly used in this area to make the transition:

Set aside some pasture the previous fall to be used as spring stockpile. In addition to having some fibrous dry matter from the previous season available to the animals, the plants in these pastures will have been able to build larger energy reserves for the winter months and will actually green up faster in the spring.
Continue to have highly palatable yet higher in fiber dry hay available to the animals as they are first turned out on pasture. Mid-summer second or third cut hay is often higher in fiber and yet still very palatable. Your livestock may not appear to eat much of it, but they will eat enough to maintain their rumen mat.
Find a way to limit the time on pasture. Start by letting them out of the barn for only a few hours a day, build to leaving them out for half days, and ultimately for the entire day. Make sure you have appropriate quality hay still available to them in the barn or lot.
Feed a high energy/low protein concentrate. Remember that the early spring grass has a lot of protein – more than the animal actually needs. If there is sufficient energy in the diet, the rumen bugs can capture this protein where it can be used as energy further down the digestive tract. If energy is lacking, this protein ends up in the bloodstream as ammonia and ends up in the liver where it is converted to urea. This takes energy, which the animal often may pull from their fat stores. This is why some growing animals appear to lose weight as they are turned out to pasture.

The 2020 grazing season is off to a great start. With thoughtful management, your animals will benefit from the spring flush and your pastures will be set up for a good year of grazing!