Educational Programs Being Held in the North Country in March

From Cooperative Extension:

Four educational programs are taking place in the North Country this week and next.

*** Up to 4 NYS DEC core pesticide credits are available at each of two programs held in Canton and Malone this week.  Links to registration pages are highlighted.

·         Feb 27, Best Western University Inn, Canton.  Morning session, 2 credits, begins at 9:30 am.  Afternoon session, 2 credits, begins at 12:30 pm.  $20 per session, $40 for both.  Lunch on your own. 

           Feb 28, Franklin County Courthouse, 1st floor cafeteria, Malone.  Morning session, 2 credits, begins at 9:30 am.  Afternoon session, 2 credits, begins at 12:30 pm.  $10 per session, $20 for both.  Lunch on your own.

*** North Country Hay & Pasture School will be offered at three locations beginning this week.  Speaker lineup is similar, but not identical, at all three locations and the program runs from 9:30 am to 3 pm.  Lunch is included.  Registration is $25.  

Details are as follows and https://web2.login.cornell.edu/?SID=1B09C8BB3385911B&WAK0Service=https/apps.cce.cornell.edu@CIT.CORNELL.EDU&WAK2Name=NetID%20or%20GuestID&WAK0Realms=NetID,GuestID&ReturnURL=https://apps.cce.cornell.edu/1B09C8BB3385911B/cuwal2.c0ntinue&VerP=3&VerC=2.3.0.238/idmbuild@fox07.serverfarm.cornell.edu/CentOS7-64bit-58/2.4.6&VerS=Apache%2020180226-1203&VerO=Linux%20xcu-cce-02.mediathree.net%203.10.0-693.2.2.el7.x86_64%20%231%20SMP%20Tue%20Sep%2012%2022:26:13%20UTC%202017%20x86_64%20x86_64%20x86_64%20GNU/Linux%20%5cS&Accept=K2&WANow=1519668774&WAK2Flags=1&DualAuth=all&WAreason=2 the registration link is here.

Agenda details are https://nydairyadmin.cce.cornell.edu/pdf/event/pdf682_pdf.pdf at this link.

·        March 2, Friday, Farm Credit East meeting room, Rt 12, Burrville. 

·        March 3, Saturday, Best Western University Inn, Canton.

·        March 9, Friday, BERC Auditorium at Miner Institute, Chazy.

Contact Tatum Langworthy (315-788-8450 or tlm92@cornell.edu) or your local CCE office for details or to register. Preregistration is required so those running the programs know to have enough materials and lunches on hand.

Tech Valley High Students Visit State Food Laboratory

From the state Department of Agriculture and Markets:

Tech Valley High School students tour the state Food Laboratory Feb. 11.

Students from Tech Valley High School in Albany today (Feb. 11) visited the New York State Food Laboratory as part of their I-term experience.

More than a dozen students got an up-close look inside the state-of-the-art research and testing labs as part of their I-term experience, which allows the students to learn first-hand about careers at businesses and non-profits in the Capital Region.

Thursday morning, students toured the New York Food Laboratory, which provides expert, analytical testing capacity in the areas of microbiology and chemistry to support food safety and security programs, as well as protect consumer and agricultural interests in New York state.  

The Food Lab collaborates with federal and state organizations like the Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Agriculture and the state Department of Health’s Wadsworth Laboratory.  

In 2015, more than 20,000 food and pesticide samples were analyzed in the New York State Food Laboratory, leading to nearly 240 recalls of adulterated food products.

Students were able to get a first-hand look at the testing methods of food and beverage samples for specific health hazards, purity of a food product and accuracy of labeling. 

The visit to the New York State Food Laboratory builds on Tech Valley High School’s I-term experiences this semester. Tech Valley High School is a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)-based school, and the tour helped the students learn about the Department’s involvement in innovative, high-tech research and testing.

I-term is an annual project that gives Tech Valley High School students the opportunity to explore their interests and gain experiential learning in careers first-hand. The program is designed to foster direct workplace interaction between students and professionals to give students a realistic understanding of an industry or field of study. I-term starts freshman year and scaffolds to build in complexity over four years.

For more information about the Department of Agriculture and Markets’ New York State Food Laboratory, visit http://www.agriculture.ny.gov/FL/FLHome.html, and for the Bureau of Weights and Measures, go to  http://www.agriculture.ny.gov/WM/WMHome.html.

Cornell Study: Pesticides, Fungicides Used in Apple Orchards Threaten Wild Bees

News from Cornell University:

A new Cornell study of New York state apple orchards finds that pesticides harm wild bees, and fungicides labeled “safe for bees” also indirectly may threaten native pollinators.

The research, published June 3 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, finds the negative effects of pesticides on wild bees lessens in proportion to the amount of natural areas near orchards.

Thirty-five percent of global food production benefits from insect pollinators, and U.S. farmers have relied exclusively on European honeybees, whose populations have been in decline for decades due to colony collapse disorder. 

“Because production of our most nutritious foods, including many fruits, vegetables and even oils, rely on animal pollination, there is an intimate tie between pollinator and human well-being,” said Mia Park, an assistant professor at the University of North Dakota and the paper’s first author, who worked on the study as a Cornell entomology graduate student. Co-authors include professor Bryan Danforth and associate professor John Losey, both in entomology.

“With honeybee numbers in decline, relying on wild pollinators and encouraging the services they provide seem very important,” Park said.

The researchers studied 19 New York state apple orchards over two years, 2011 and 2012. They determined the health of bee populations by analyzing the numbers of wild bees and honeybees and the number of species for each orchard. They also created an index of pesticide use from low to high use, then quantified the amount of natural areas that surrounded each orchard.

“We found there is a negative response of the whole bee community to increasing pesticide use,” Park said, adding that fungicides also are contributing to the problem.

The effects of pesticides on wild bees were strongest in the generation that followed pesticide exposure, Park said, possibly suggesting pesticides affect reproduction or offspring. Park said her research only looked at one generation to the next, and more study is needed. 

The study found no effect of pesticides on honeybees, but European honeybee hives are brought in to an orchard for short periods during blossoming then removed. In addition, growers are careful not to spray while honeybees are in the area. “Honeybees may have shown a response if they were allowed to stay,” Park said.

“Our studies of wild bees in apple orchards are showing how important wild bees are for apple pollination in the eastern U.S.,” said Danforth. With more than 20,000 known bee species, native bees are abundant and diverse in many agricultural habitats, and likely pollinate watermelons, squashes, blueberries and other orchard crops, he said.

Pesticide Sprayer Calibration Workshop Set for Aug. 15 in Oswego County

Photo from New York Apple Association

A program to help farmers use the correct amount of pesticides on their crops is coming up Aug. 15 in Granby.

The Oswego County Growers Sprayer Calibration Meeting will be from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Sorbello & Sons Packing House, 630 County Route 8, Granby. Pre-registration is required by Aug. 13. Send in a registration form to Cooperative Extension of Oswego County in Mexico or call in a registration at 963-7286.

According to Cooperative Extension, inaccurate pesticide application rates, spray patterns and droplet size can lead to pesticide runoff, reducing the effectiveness of the pesticide and raising crop input costs. A recent study in Nebraska revealed that two-thirds of the applicators were applying pesticides improperly (application rate errors greater than 5 percent).

A similar study conducted in North Dakota indicated that 60 percent of tested sprayers had calibration errors greater than 10 percent. Although inaccurate tank mixing causes some of these errors, a majority of the problems result from improper spray equipment calibration and worn nozzles.

Runoff of pesticides also can be harmful to the environment. Agriculture is under intense economic and environmental pressure today. The high cost of pesticides and the need to protect the environment are incentives for applicators to do their very best in handling and applying pesticides.

This meeting will provide producers with information to learn how to calibrate sprayers in order to apply the necessary amount of pesticide where they want without undue harm to the environment.

On-Farm Workshop on Pesticides May 30

Go to http://blogs.cornell.edu/ccefieldcropnews/2013/05/17/on-farm-workshop-pests-of-seedling-corn-may-30-2013/ to find out more.