The Manager - March 2025
Nitrous oxide: No laughing matter
Karl Czymmek, Kirsten Workman, and Quirine Ketterings
Nitrous oxide (N2O) is an important greenhouse gas (GHG) but it often takes a backseat in discussions about GHG emissions. This might be because it ranks third for GHGs emitted in the U.S. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is by far the number one GHG, making up 80 percent of GHG emissions. Methane (CH4) comes in second with 11 percent of the U.S. footprint from all sources. But for agriculture, the importance of all three gases is somewhat different than the national footprint.
Putting your field data to work: New end-of-season assessment tool for nitrogen management of corn silage
Agustin J. Olivo, Kirsten Workman, and Quirine M. Ketterings
Optimizing nitrogen (N) management in corn silage production can help improve dairy farm profitability while reducing its environmental footprint. However, managing N remains difficult. Assessment tools and key performance indicators that show us how well N was managed during the cropping season once harvest is completed can be useful for fine-tuning N use over time. Recent work at Cornell University shows end-of-season N balance assessments could be a useful tool to improve N management over time. Comparing individual field results with feasible targets can help farmers identify opportunities to refine N management and support field experimentation through N.
Soil health and corn silage performance: Comparing grain and dairy field systems
Joe Lawrence and Kirsten Workman
Soil health is a key focus of corn growers who are working towards sustainability goals and safeguarding their operation against increasingly challenging growing conditions. Understanding the contributing factors that lead to resilient cropping systems in the Northeast is important for farmers to meet those goals. With funding support from the New York Corn Growers Association Corn Research and Education Program, soil health data was collected from the Cornell PRO-DAIRY’s NY Corn Silage Hybrid Evaluation Program in 2023.
The annual hybrid evaluation program offers the opportunity to compare the same hybrids in different growing environments. Measuring key soil health parameters at each location with the Cornell Assessment of Soil Health (CASH) test offered additional insight into the role of soil health in the overall performance of the crop grown at each location.
Corn silage performance: What we can manage
Joe Lawrence, Allison Kerwin, and Larry Chase
Sometimes diving deeper into a topic simply serves as a reminder to focus on the basics. The findings of a recent project largely align with this lesson. Corn silage yield is subject to many of the same factors as any other grain crop, including growing environment (soil characteristics and weather), soil fertility, pest management, plant genetics, and more. The nutritional value of the silage is affected by many of these same factors, with a growing body of evidence that growing environment is a leading factor for fiber digestibility, a key nutritive metric.
Seedcorn maggot (Delia platura) adult spring emergence in New York state
Chloe Yi-Luo Cho, Dan Olmstead, Mike Hunter, and Katja Poveda
For decades, neonicotinoid-coated seeds have been used to manage soil-dwelling insect pests in field crops. However, recently passed legislation in New York will ban the sale of neonicotinoid-coated corn, soybean, and wheat seeds beginning on January 1, 2029, unless a waiver is issued by the N.Y. Department of Environmental Conservation. As a result, the management options available to growers for soil-dwelling insect pests will change. Therefore, alternative management strategies will be necessary for future integrated pest management plans.
The best show around… is all about manure?!
Kirsten Workman
In mid-July 2024, a team of extension staff, farmers, manure applicators and agency staff from New York and Vermont partnered with Annex Media and the North American Manure Expo (NAME) Board to bring NAME to central New York. After more than a year of planning, the event held at Patterson Farms in Auburn, N.Y. on July 17 and 18 was the realization of many hours of planning, coordination, and plain old hard work. And what a two days it was!