When you have too many tomatoes in late August, you don’t just throw them away, right? You save them by storing them properly so that you can enjoy them at another time. As dairy farmers, our cows produce more manure than we can handle all at once. That’s because in winter there is snow covering […]
CONTINUE READINGWhen the weather breaks, the snow melts and the temperatures start to rise, farmers get the itch to get out and “play”. Whether it’s hooking the tractor up to the plows or harrows, seeing the stacks of seed waiting to be planted or the greening of the grass – it’s tough to hold a farmer […]
CONTINUE READINGCongratulations to Sheland Farms of Jefferson County for receiving the 2013 Agricultural Environmental Management Award, presented by Commissioner Aubertine at Empire Farm Days earlier. The Shelmidine family demonstrated that good stewardship of the land can help lower costs, improve efficiency and improve the global environment all in the same shot. They didn’t do it alone. […]
CONTINUE READINGFrom using old baler twine to fix anything on the farm to applying manure to fields as fertilizer, farmers are the original recyclers. Nothing goes to waste on a dairy farm – even the manure, which has proven to be one of the most beneficial so-called “waste” products. Today, dairy farmers recycle water used on […]
CONTINUE READINGDairy cows are amazing creatures! We all know how they provide us food…but now they provide us fuel! A handful of dairy farms in New York have taken advantage of anaerobic digesters – expensive technology that turns manure or organic waste into electricity. In fact, Governor Cuomo recently announced an initiative that increased and incentivized […]
CONTINUE READINGSustainable dairy practices have been implemented, perfected and passed down for generations. However, the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy is continually finding new ways to increase energy efficiencies, reduce water, save fuel and lower operating costs for dairy farms. See the Innovation Center’s publication, Sustainability in Practice, which includes stories from these New York State […]
CONTINUE READINGInnovations over the past 50 years have helped dairy farmers reduce their environmental impact by doing more with less. Today, milk is produced using 90% less land, 65% less water, 75% less manure, and resulting in a 63% smaller carbon footprint than in 1944. Dairy farmers are committed to reducing, reusing and recycling everyday. Their […]
CONTINUE READINGLand is the base of any farm, and dairy farms are no different. Farmers manage over seven million acres of farmland, pastures, woodlands and wetlands in New York, which is about a quarter of the State’s total land mass. In many instances, land is an asset that has been handed down from generation to generation, […]
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