What would a recipe be without garlic?
Today is National Garlic Day. Lots of people in New York state grow garlic either for their own use or for mass production. One such place is Williams' Garlic in Rome, NY.
According to the National Calendar Day website:
"National Garlic Day is celebrated
annually April 19. This day is about the awareness of the many uses
of garlic, known as nature’s wonder drug.
Garlic is a species in the
onion family. Used by humans for over 7,000 years, garlic is native to
central Asia and has been used for both culinary and medicinal purposes.
Garlic is claimed to help prevent heart diseases and certain cancers.
It is also thought that it might help to fight off coughs and colds.
Some believe garlic will ward off evil spirits."
For more information, go to http://www.nationalgarlicday.com/)
SUNY Cobleskill, in collaboration with the Natural Resources
Conservation Service, is offering a series of four grazing workshops
covering vital topics in pasture management, grazing management, animal
nutrition, and soil health beginning April 21.
The workshops aim to help local livestock producers — whether
small-scale mixed herd farmer, dairy manager, or beef herd owner — learn
more about rotational grazing opportunities. The workshops are free and
open to the public.
Two will be evening sessions and two will be daylong
events with a field component.
The first workshop will feature a lecture by Dave Roberts, state
grasslands specialist for New York with the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Roberts leads the
agency at the state level in planning and implementing pasture
management practices through improving forage quality and production,
increasing livestock performance and soil health while keeping farms
sustainable and protecting our resources and environment.
He is part of
regional and national teams to improve grazing practices around the
country on both pastureland and rangelands. He also travels overseas on
volunteer assignments with nonprofit agencies.
The workshops are funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. The first workshop will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. April 21 at SUNY Cobleskill’s Center
for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Room 110.
SUNY Cobleskill is also developing rotational grazing demonstration
plots to serve as models for those who want to adopt the practice on
their own farms. The grazing systems will include cows, horses, sheep
and goats, and will be developed with the aid of SUNY Cobleskill
students.
In addition to serving as models for farmers, the plots will
provide students with hands-on experience in pasture-based animal
production. Students will also help farmers develop their own rotational
grazing plans.
Here's some breaking news from the New York Apple Association:
"We generally stay out of politics because we don't like sour apples, but
we had to report on this: New York state's upcoming presidential
primary is in the news, and now so is one of our industry members!
"MSNBC
will broadcast live nationally this Thursday and Friday from http://www.flycreekcidermill.com/ Fly Creek Cider Mill near Cooperstown in Otsego County.
"We hope everyone who stops by to
exercise their civic right of free speech and civic duty to vote also
samples the wares from New York state. Cheers!"
Go to http://cnynews.com/breaking-news-nbc-to-cover-nys-primary-live-from-fly-creek-cider-mill/ to read more about it.
From the New York State Fair:
Empire RV Park on the state fairgrounds is now accepting camping reservations for the full 12 days of the fair.
Empire RV Park lies within the New York
State Fairgrounds, home of the nation’s first and oldest state fair and
host of about 150 public events each year.
The Empire RV Park
will be available during the Fair to those renting a space for the term
of the 12-day Fair. The Great New York State Fair runs for 12 days each
year, ending on Labor Day.
The Empire RV Park reservation
includes an RV parking site for up to a 16-night stay (includes water,
electric, sewer and garbage pick-up), one vehicle parking permit, and
two 12-day admission wristband passes to the Fair
The price is $600 plus a $9 reservation fee per site.
Any questions should be directed to 315-487-7711 or go to nysfair.ny.gov
Each year on April 10, we celebrate all those animals on the farm.
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| Sheep |
It's National Farm Animals Day. Annually observed April 10,
National Farm Animals Day was created as a day to raise awareness about farm animals and to find home for the abandoned and
abused farm animals.
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| Beef cattle |
For more information regarding National Farm Animals Day, see: http://www.farmanimalsday.com/
From State Sen. Patty Ritchie
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| Ritchie |
For the second year in a row, record funding is in thee final state budget to support New York’s all-important agriculture industry, averting millions of dollars in proposed cuts to farm programs and strengthening efforts to recruit the next generation of New York farmers.
The final state budget, enacted April 1, restores more than $12 million in budget cuts to farm programs. Restoring the cuts was listed as a top priority of state Sen. Patty Ritchie’s “Planting Seeds” 2016 farm initiative, which she unveiled earlier this year.
The budget also includes funding for a new Cornell-run “Vets-to-Farms” program to connect veterans and soldiers returning from war zones to pursue careers in agriculture. The program envisions a series of farms across the state where veterans can receive hands-on training and experience in operating and owning a farm.
The final budget also includes funding for a third round of “Beginning Farmer” grants. The $1 million grant program is open to farmers who are in business for less than 10 years, and provides help with purchase of land, building and supplies to help new farmers succeed.
“From producing the fresh food that ends up on our dinner tables to generating billions of dollars in economic activity for New York state annually, farmers have extremely important — and demanding — jobs,” said Ritchie, who is chair of the state Senate Agriculture committee.
“Once again this year, we were able to secure record funding for agriculture that will help our state’s hardworking farmers as they continue the very important work they do to grow New York’s leading industry," Ritchie said. "Through restored and added funding for key programs and initiatives, we’re not only helping the farmers of today succeed, we’re laying the groundwork so tomorrow’s farmers have every opportunity to follow in their footsteps.”
Other highlights of the state’s farm budget include:
*** Restoration of proposed cuts to dozens of farm programs, which support marketing, education, prevention of animal and plant diseases, and research;
*** A new “farm wage credit” to help boost farmers’ bottom lines by helping them control labor costs;
record funding for school-based FFA programs, which teach agriculture as well as leadership skills;
*** Record funding for rabies prevention and treatment, following an alarming rise in the number of reported cases of wildlife rabies, particularly in Central and Northern New York;
renewed funding to fight Eastern Equine Encephalitis, a mosquito-borne illness that is fatal to horses, livestock and humans;
*** For a second year, supplemental state funding for the highly successful Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, connecting 100,000 low-income seniors — including 3,000 from Jefferson, Oswego and St. Lawrence counties — to fresh foods at local farmers markets;
*** Renewed funding for student loan forgiveness for beginning farmers, and for business and transitional planning services available to retiring and new farmers through Cornell’s FarmNet;
*** Restored cuts to important, farmer-led research that aims to reduce diseases and increase productivity and profits, through such organizations as the Farm Viability Institute and Northern New York Agricultural Development.
Since 2011, when Sen. Ritchie assumed leadership of the Senate Agriculture Committee, she’s delivered more than $55 million in restored budget cuts and new funding for farm programs, above the amounts proposed in the Executive Budget, and has been honored to be recognized as a member of the New York Farm Bureau’s Circle of Friends each year.
A complete list of farm programs funded in the new budget is attached, and more information is at www.ritchie.nysenate.gov.
