The Annual Summer Crop Tour will resume in person on August 5th, 2021 at Catalpa Farms in Canandaigua, NY. They are excited to welcome Rob Sharkey, better known to his many followers as The Shark Farmer, as the keynote speaker this year!

Women for the Land Learning Circle - Conservation Action, followed by a bus tour at Table Rock Farm in Castile, NY

Open to all women involved in agriculture in New York, AFT invites you to join us for a peer-to-peer Learning Circle and Farm Tour this August. Our focus is Conservation in Action. Attendees will meet at an immersive photograph exhibit featuring western New York female farmers. We will hear about how conservation is put into action from a certified crop consultant who specializes in on-farm conservation planning. Then we will board a bus and head over to an award-winning family-run dairy, Table Rock Farm, that is at the forefront of agricultural innovation, to see it all in person. Meghan Hauser, a co-owner of the farm, will lead us through the efforts she and her team have implemented to make their 100+ year old farm an environmentally and economically thriving operation. After the tour, we will reflect on the experience and discuss action steps we can take to achieve our own conservation goals.

FACILITATORS: 

Stephanie Castle, American Farmland Trust
Joan Petzen, Cornell Cooperative Extension Northwest New York Dairy and Livestock Team
Lorie Ames, Western New York Crop Management Association
JoBeth Bellanca, USDA-NRCS
Meghan Hauser, Table Rock Farm

The 2021 Cornell Field Crops annual field day will be held August 12th highlighting the latest field crops research across CALS and providing an opportunity for in-person exchange of ideas and experiences. This year's program offers a wide variety of content from no-till planting into rolled cover crops to the use of unoccupied robotic vehicles to monitor plant growth and health.

For those who cannot attend the in-person circle on August 9th, we will have a virtual meeting covering the same material. We will outline action-focused conservation steps and will be joined by Meghan Hauser, who will provide our group with her real-farm perspective. In the virtual meeting, we will have the opportunity to informally interact with one another and reflect on goal-setting and personal learning experiences.

American Farmland Trust invites you to join us for a Soil Health Field Day on August 31, 2021 at Mulligan Farms in Avon, NY. They will share practical, field-tested results of advanced soil regenerative practices targeted to dairy, field and specialty crop farmers. Come learn from producer Forrest Watson about his evaluation of planting green to minimize herbicide use, improve soil health, and maintain productivity. A panel of Genesee River farmers will discuss how soil regenerative practices have impacted their farm's profitability, and there will be a special presentation to  provide a background to carbon markets on agricultural land. 

The CCE NWNY Dairy, Livestock, and Field Crops Team will be working with Keystone Mills in Romulus, NY to put on a Dry-Down Day on September 3rd, 2021 from 10:00am to 2:00pm. Farmers in the local area are encouraged to cut a bundle of 3 stalks from each corn field that they would like to be tested for dry matter, and bring them to the mill between 10:00am and 2:00pm on that day.

Join us for a pasture walk at Valley View Devons, the farm of Phil Race and Sharon Pierce, 2765 Mt. Morris Nunda Townline Rd, Mt. Morris, NY. They raise Devon cattle, pastured pigs and laying hens on rotationally grazed pasture and have worked closely with JoBeth Bellanca with NRCS for farm improvement cost share opportunities.

Join the CCE NWNY Dairy, Livestock, and Field Crops Team in Bliss, NY for a Dry-Down Day on September 9th, 2021 from 10:00am to 2:00pm.

Hemdale Farms is proud to host a farm tour focusing on cow comfort and transition cow facilities as it relates to a NY Farm Viability Institute grant project over the last two years.