Back

Discover CALS

See how our current work and research is bringing new thinking and new solutions to some of today's biggest challenges.

Share
  • Field Crops
  • Organic
  • PRO-DAIRY
  • Dairy
  • IPM

The New York Certified Organic (NYCO) dairy and field crops farmer-to-farmer meetings will finally return to the Jordan Hall auditorium on the Cornell AgriTech campus in Geneva. The meetings had been held in this location for many years, but COVID-19 forced the group to try alternate formats the past few years. 

Meetings were typically the second Tuesday in January, February, and March, but the group is skipping January this year to focus on two meetings – February 14 will be focused on dairy and March 14 will be focused on field crops. Both meetings will run from 9am to 1pm and participants are encouraged to bring a dish to pass for lunch. The meetings are free to attend and all farmers are welcome.

Both meetings will include farmer-to-farmer discussions of any current challenges and potential solutions. The dairy meeting will also include presentations from Kirsten Workman, ProDairy, and Cheryl Cesario, a dairy farmer and NOFA board member, who will each discuss ways to deal with the rising costs of organic feed. 

The field crop meeting will include a presentation by well-known farmer, Carmen Fernholz, on his crop production and marketing in Minnesota. Ken Wise, an educator with NYSIPM, will discuss ways IPM can be used in organic field crops. And a farmer panel moderated by Kristen Loria will discuss their efforts in trying to reduce tillage.

The second-floor auditorium is accessible by elevator and there is a wheelchair entrance on the north side of the building. For more information, contact Bryan Brown (315-787-2432, bryan.brown [at] cornell.edu (bryan[dot]brown[at]cornell[dot]edu)). The NYCO planning committee also includes Emily Reiss, Ph.D. Clarence, N.Y. and Luke Gianforte of Gianforte Farm, Cazenovia, N.Y.

---

NYCO winter meetings have grown from a gathering of six organic grain producers in the Martens Farms farmhouse kitchen in 1992 to filling the auditorium at Cornell AgriTech in Geneva. To send a message to the group, email it to bryan.brown [at] cornell.edu (bryan[dot]brown[at]cornell[dot]edu) and he will send out yours and any other messages once a week. Please tell others to subscribe by emailing NYCO-group-L-request [at] cornell.edu (NYCO-group-L-request[at]cornell[dot]edu) with "join" as the subject and no text in the body of the email. Unsubscribe by emailing NYCO-group-L-request [at] cornell.edu (NYCO-group-L-request[at]cornell[dot]edu) with "leave" as the subject and no text in the body of the email.

Date & Time

February 14, 2023
9:00 am - 1:00 pm

wooden sign

Meeting Agenda

  • 9:00am - Welcome and Introductions
  • 9:15am - Strategies for Organic Farms to Maximize Their On-Farm Nutrients. Kirsten Workman, Pro-Dairy, Cornell University
    Kirsten will discuss the best ways to maximize on-farm nutrients for optimal yields and forage quality. With high feed and fertilizer prices, having adequate volume of high-quality crops to feed your livestock will be key to profitability in 2023 (and every year). In addition to some ‘tried and true’ strategies, we’ll brainstorm some innovative ways to efficiently grow the nutrients your livestock need.
  • 10:00am - Find the Money: From the Grass Up. Cheryl Cesario, Consultant, Common Sense Solutions
    Without silver bullets, how can we find opportunities and try to reduce costs on our farms? Cheryl will discuss ideas from the ground level to the 30,000 foot view on ways we can try to realize more profit from our businesses. She will also discuss the value of setting aside time to work ON your business rather than just IN your business. Both are critical, but one can lead us to breakthroughs if we prioritize its importance.
  • 11:00am - Announcements from Industry and University Attendees
  • 11:10am - Farmer Roundtable Discussion: What’s going well, what isn’t, and what do we do about it?
  • 12:00pm - Potluck Lunch with Continued Discussion
  • 1:00pm - Adjourn

More information about this event.

Contact Information

Mr. Bryan Brown

Speaker

Kirsten Workman, Cornell PRODairy

Cheryl Cesario, NOFA board member

Departments

PRO-DAIRY

Related Events