Farm Credit East Provides Updates on Agriculture Economic Conditions

Farm Credit East recently launched a section on its website containing snapshots for nine Northeast agriculture industries. 

These snapshots provide industry-specific year-to-date updates on economic conditions in various sectors of agriculture.
 
Snapshots are available for the Northeast’s dairy, fruit, vegetable, nursery and greenhouse, cash field, timber, aquatic/fishing, and livestock industries, as well as an update and outlook on input costs for the region’s producers. 

These snapshots will be updated on a quarterly basis and also contain links to other resources and recent articles relating to each industry.
 
The most recent update reports that overall, U.S. agriculture, as well as that of the Northeast, continues to face some challenging market conditions, but there are also a number of bright spots and some improvements are in the forecast. 

Cash field crops in particular are dealing with adverse pricing and while dairy prices are improving, there continue to be marketing challenges in some areas. Nursery and greenhouse, which have had improving economic conditions for the past few years, are reporting relatively good spring results.
 
To dive deeper into industry-specific snapshots, visit FarmCreditEast.com.

New Agriculture Exhibits Planned for State Fair

From Empire Farm & Dairy magazine:

By DEBRA J. GROOM
dgroom@wdt.net
 

While the New York State Fair is jam-packed with fun and food, its primary emphasis always has been on agriculture, the biggest industry in New York state.
 
In fact, the New York State Fair is run by the state Department of Agriculture and Markets.
 
So, while running around the fairgrounds this summer checking out musical acts and the sand sculpture, exploring the midway, and scarfing down fried dough and sausage sandwiches, remember to check out the agricultural exhibits.
 

Vegetables that competed at last year's State Fair

Visit the animals in the barns. See the beautiful flowers, hearty vegetables, sweet honey and maple syrup and crunchy apples in the Horticulture Buildings. Look at the ever-popular butter sculpture and try some New York yogurt and ice cream in the Dairy Products Buildings.
 
And, as always, see how the entire dairy industry begins in the Dairy Cow Birthing Center.
 
Here are some new ag exhibits to check out at the 2017 New York State Fair:
 
** STEAM Exhibit. This is one of the most anticipated new items at this year’s fair and is located in the Science and Engineering Building.
 
The exhibit will highlight a number of technical careers and trades that are extremely popular today. Many qualified workers are going to be needed to fill these STEAM jobs in the future. Federal government statistics indicate employment in the science, technology, engineering and math fields will grow by 9 million by 2022.
 

Butter sculpture from a previous State Fair

STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. The exhibit will feature hands-on activities, workshops and demonstrations aimed at stimulating creativity in young fairgoers and encouraging them to consider careers in related fields. 
 
“The technical fields and the arts provide wonderful opportunities for our young people and for our economy while encouraging innovation and creativity,” said Troy Waffner, acting director of the New York State Fair. 

“This is an exciting new exhibit and I encourage everyone to stop by and see the amazing work being done in these industries now and the opportunities for the future.”
 
Examples of projects and fields to be displayed include drones, medical projects, advanced manufacturing, virtual reality, robotics, citizen science, wearable technology, soldering, 3D-printed prosthetics, architecture, stop-motion animation and more. 

There also will be a special Ag Career Day on Students Day Sept. 1. 
The exhibit will feature an area in which people with enthusiasm for particular topics will create projects as fairgoers watch.
 
** A number of the animal barns will have special signs this year providing a phone number. Fairgoers will be able to send a text to that number from their cell phones asking questions about anything they are curious about in the animal barns. 

They will immediately get a text back from the barn superintendent or perhaps even the state Commissioner of Agriculture and Markets with an answer to their questions.
 
“We want the fairgoer to have the right information,” said Mary Ellen Chesbro, New York State Fair coordinator and agricultural manager. “Sometimes they will ask a question out loud and someone standing near them will answer. But that might not always be the right information. With this, they won’t have to hunt down someone to ask — they will be able to get an answer and get it fast.”
 
So far, the text questions project will be up and running in the goats, sheep, swine and beef barns. Chesbro said she also is trying to get it set up in the dairy barn.
 
** If you want to know what’s going on during the horse shows in the Coliseum, check out the free headphones. Chesbro said there are 75 headsets available (simply look for the signs inside the Coliseum entrances). There will be an explanation of what is going on during the particular show going on at that time and fairgoers can text questions to the narrator of the horse show.
 
“We want them to leave not only wondering why, but knowing why,” Chesbro said.
 

A Holstein at a previous State Fair.

** Mark your calendars. Dairy Day is moving this year.
 
Usually the first Monday of the fair, the annual salute to everything dairy this year will be Thursday, Aug. 31. 

Chesbro said Dairy Day had to be mooooved because of the extra day at the beginning of the fair (the fair opens Wednesday, Aug. 23, not on a Thursday). This extra day means the dairy cattle would be changing places beginning Monday, Aug. 28, with some moving out and others moving in. This means there would be no dairy cattle in the barn on Aug. 28.
 
“You can’t have Dairy Day without dairy cattle,” Chesbro said.
 
All of the popular Dairy Day events will take place, including the parade, celebrity milkshake-making contest, cheese auction and visits throughout the fairgrounds by county dairy princesses and the New York State Dairy Princess. 

One new feature on Dairy Day is guests can enter a drawing to win Taste NY dairy gift baskets by answering trivia questions when they visit three popular dairy attractions on Dairy Day.
 
To participate, guests can pick up a copy of the questions at any of the fair’s six Guest Relations locations. 

A treat at the Yo2GO Yogurt Bar

They can find the answers by visiting the Milk Bar, Cheese Booth and Yo2GO Yogurt Bar. When a guest has completed the questions, they can drop off their answers at the Dairy Cow Birthing Center where they will be entered to win. Three winners will be selected at the conclusion of Dairy Day.
 
** There will be a Hot Beef Sundae competition on the dairy building stage at noon Aug. 24. Contestants are being lined up via social media.
 
** On Beef Day, Tuesday, Aug. 29, people will be able to participate in the Pound Out Hunger event. By paying $2, they will be given three strikes at an old car with a sledgehammer. The money raised through this event goes to a food pantry to buy hamburger for the needy.
 
** There are some new additions at the Witter Agricultural Museum. There is a beautiful back porch and handicapped ramp for visitors. There also are arbors complete with displays of growing hops and grapes.

It's National Seed Swap Day

It's National Seed Swap Day (always the last Saturday in January).

This has always been an important day for gardeners, who are always looking for new seeds to plant.

The website nationaldaycalendar.com states the seed swap is a fundamental part of human history. Seeds were one of the first commodities valued and traded. Today, modern gardeners collect and exchange seeds for many reasons ranging from cultivating rare, heirloom varieties to basic thrift. 

The exchange of seeds perpetuates biodiversity. It is an act of giving and the ultimate form of recycling.
 
Go to http://seedswapday.blogspot.com/2014/01/what-is-national-seed-swap-day.html for more information.

CELEBRATE
Exchange seeds with friends and use #NationalSeedSwapDay to post on social media.

HISTORY
The first annual Washington Gardener Magazine Seed Exchange was held in Washington, DC, on Jan. 26, 2006. Kathy Jentz, the editor/publisher of the magazine had the last Saturday of January named an official holiday and National Seed Swap Day was born. 

After that event’s success, seed swaps in other cities across the nation have joined in celebrating National Seed Swap Day each year on (or around*) the last Saturday in January.

Value of Northeast Horticulture Down in 2014

From the USDA:

The northeast region (New York, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania) horticulture survey shows value of all production for 2014 is down 6.6 percent from 2013.
 
The total crop value at wholesale for all growers with $10,000 or more in sales, is estimated at $598 million for 2014, compared with $641 million for 2013.
 
New Jersey continues to be the leading state in the region, with crops valued at $196 million. New York, the next largest producer, is down from the prior year to $155 million in wholesale value.
 
The number of producers with operations having $10,000 or more in sales for 2014, at 1,412, is down 23 percent in the four-state region, compared with the 2013 count of 1,821.
 
The number of producers with sales of $100,000 or more totaled 606 for 2014, down slightly from the 618 producers counted in 2013.

Morrisville State College Continues to Grow its Ag Offerings

Kara Budinock, of Wolcott, Wayne County, a recent graduate of Morrisville State College’s horticulture floral design program, prepares poinsettias for a sale at the college. Horticulture students grow the colorful flowers to sell for the holidays.

Morrisville State College was founded in 1908 to provide agriculture and technology education for men and women.
 
More than 100 years later, its focus hasn’t changed.
 
Today, though, there are many more subject areas Morrisville students can delve into and several more degree options than in the early 1900s. In fact, in the past 20 years, the college that started by offering only two-year associate degrees has expanded to include four-year courses of study and bachelor’s degrees.
 
“We began by offering ag degrees for men and home economics for women,” said Christopher Nyberg, dean of the School of Agriculture, Sustainability, Business and Entrepreneurship at 

Morrisville State. He said these days, men and women enroll in ag programs, from ag mechanics and engineering to equine science, aquaculture and renewable energy.
 

Morrisville State students receive direction from their professor during a solar panel installation in the community in the agriculture department’s renewable energy program.

Morrisville has a total enrollment of 2,800, with about 950 students studying in the School of Agriculture, Sustainability, Business and Entrepreneurship.
 
Morrisville prides itself on preparing students for the real world. Many degree programs allow students to graduate and then immediately start their own business or fit nicely into another business.
 
For example, men and women in the dairy science program not only learn how to care, milk and feed cows, they are taught how to run a dairy business. Nyberg said if they see milk production is down in the herd, they check all the statistics of what and how much the cows are eating and drinking and try to devise solutions to increase milk production.
 
“It’s a good ag-based school with a close-knit group of people,” said Kara Budinock, 20, of Wolcott, Wayne County, who received her associate degree in greenhouse production in May and will return to school in the fall to work on her bachelor’s in horticulture business.
 

Joelle Detrick, who graduated from Morrisville in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business development, gives a bath to one of the college’s Holsteins.

Budinock said Morrisville students get their hands dirty and have wide experiences in their chosen field.
 
“I loved the hands-on work,” she said.
 
One of the newest programs at Morrisville expands on the college’s ag programs to take in the local hops industry and craft brewing of beers.
 
Nyberg said a state grant and collaboration with Steve Miller, Cornell’s hops specialist for the state, resulted in:
 
** Morrisville housing a hops picker on campus (in a permanent enclosure designed and built by Morrisville students).
 
** The school’s ag students helping to rebuild the picker.
 
** Morrisville ag students designing and building their own hops picker, which will be used at the Geneva Experiment Station for its hops harvest this year.
 
** An agreement to build a brewery — in addition to the college’s restaurant, the Copper Turret — on campus so that local hops and barley can be used to create craft beers.

“Craft brewing and the craft beverage industry are growing,” Nyberg said. “There is an increasing demand for ag products for these, such as all the local barley and malt and hops.”
 
With this expansion, Morrisville students in the new Brewing Studies Program will be at the forefront of learning about brewing beer, growing hops and barley, and working in the brewing industry.
 
Bids for the brewing equipment and the design of the Copper Turret expansion are being sought. 

Nyberg said the Brewing Studies Program should be running for the 2016-17 academic year and will offer a certificate program with options in associate and bachelor’s degree programs.
 
Morrisville State also has been expanding its renewable energy curriculum, Nyberg said. Students are able to learn about solar, wind, hydroelectric, bioenergy and geothermal energy from installation of these systems to their design, operation and maintenance.
 
He said the college — which has had a methane digester for about 10 years to extract gas from cow manure to make electricity for the campus — will be getting a new digester that will use not only animal waste, but food waste also.
 
“We will take food waste from neighboring campuses (including Colgate University, Hamilton College and Cazenovia College) and other small agriculture industries and add it to our waste,” Nyberg said. “We can use that to generate heat and power for our campus, and it helps by keeping this waste out of the landfills.”

The agricultural degrees offered in Morrisville State College’s School of Agriculture, Sustainability, Business and Entrepreneurship:

ASSOCIATE DEGREES
Agriculture business
Agriculture engineering
Agriculture mechanics
Agriculture science
Animal science
Aquaculture and aquatic science
Equine racing management
Equine science and management
Horticulture
 
BACHELOR DEGREES
Agriculture business development
Dairy management
Equine science
Horticulture business management

Find Farmers' Markets, Greenhouses, Nursery Growers Online

More than 450 spring and summer farmers’ markets across the state as well as locations of licensed nursery growers and greenhouses are now available on the state’s open data website, found at www.data.ny.gov. 

This comprehensive data website provides New Yorkers in the market for locally grown products with a user-friendly avenue to find them quickly in their area. 

The Governor’s Open NY initiative is aimed at increasing citizen engagement with their government, and encourages New Yorkers to visit the State's comprehensive data transparency website,Data.NY.Gov, which highlights an array of resources and services for New Yorkers. With the summer tourism season rapidly approaching, some of the great things that can be found on the website include top fishing spots; wineries, breweries, cideries and distilleries; and places of historic significance.

The Farmers’ Market Dataset includes information detailing the hours of operation and location of markets as well as the name and phone number of the market manager.

A map of farmers’ markets across New York State can be found here, or by county here. 
A listing of nursery growers and greenhouses across New York State can be found here. 

The state Department of Agriculture and Markets will continue to provide updated information on farmers’ market locations for the website as they continue to arise throughout the summer. To confirm the hours and location before traveling, please contact the local market.

New York State Fair 'One Thing' Series -- Today's Feature, Floriculture

Garden display at the Men's Garden Club of Syracuse

While most people thing of agriculture as being a vegetable or a cow, one of the largest segments of agriculture in New York state is floriculture.

Yes, each spring when you head out to the nursery or greenhouse or garden center to pick up a tree, shrubs or some annual or perennial flowers to surround your home, you are participating in the floriculture industry.

New York state ranks ninth in the nation in floriculture, according to USDA statistics. Commercial sales from stores with more than $10,000 in sales totaled $169 million in 2012.

Bedding and garden plants was the largest segment of that at $102 million. That was followed by potted flowering plants, with sales of $26.6 million in the state.

There were 577 growers in 2012, using 25.2 million square feet of area to grow their flowers, plants, shrubs and trees.

I talked with Mary Haynes, of Syracuse, with the Men's Garden Club of Syracuse, at the club's display inside the Horticulture Building. She said the 'one thing' she wants the public to know is: "The backbone of all gardens is the soil." Without nutritious, properly worked soil, plants and flowers won't do well.

She went on to talk about the importance of knowing the sunlight, water and nutrition requirements of whatever you are planting.