Sorry. Online registration has closed.
Sorry. Online registration has closed.
Corn and/or Dairy Days 2024
Join us for one of these commodity-specific, full-day events. Each event includes a trade show, lunch, and plenty of networking opportunities! DEC credits will be available for Corn Day. FSA New Borrower Training Credits available at all events.
Event Details

Date
February 21, 2024
Time
9:30am - 2:30pm
Location
Otesaga Resort
60 Lake St
Cooperstown, NY 13326
Cost
Registration : $50.00
(addl attendee $50.00 ea.)
Host
Central New York Dairy and Field CropsErik Smith (315-219-7786) & Nicole Tommell (315-867-6001
Corn Day 2024
Hear the latest updates on herbicide-resistant weeds across NY, emerging diseases, corn silage variety trials, and an in-depth look at ongoing corn seed treatment research and seedcorn maggot risk. Come early for the trade show and coffee hour, and enjoy the Otesaga's famous lunch buffet.
2.25 DEC Pesticide recertification credits available, Cat. 1A, 10, 21, or 23
3.0 CCA CEU credits available: 2.5 IPM, 0.5 Crop Mgmt
FSA New Borrower Training Credits available.
Trade show, registration, and coffee hour starts at 9:30am.
Agenda
9:30-10:30 am Registration; Coffee hour at the Trade Show
You must be present by 10:30 and have your Applicator ID with you upon signing the roster to receive credit.
10:30-11:00 am Are you seeing Corn Rootworm resistance? The Success Story of Biological Control Nematodes in the North Country - Mike Hunter, Cornell Cooperative Extension
11:00-11:30 am Herbicide Resistance Screening in Central NY and Around the State - Dr. Vipan Kumar, Cornell University
11:30 am-Noon Corn Disease Update: Tar Spot in NY - Dr. Gary Bergstrom, Cornell University
Noon-1:15 pm Lunch & visit the Trade Show
1:15-2:00 pm Update on Research into Seed Treatment Options for Seedcorn Maggot - Ken Wise, NYS IPM, Dr. Katja Poveda, & Dr. Jennifer Thaler, Cornell University
2:00-2:30 pm Corn Silage Variety Trial Results and How to Use Them - Joe Lawrence, PRO-DAIRY
2:30-2:45 pm Attendees receive DEC certificates and ADJOURN
Deadline for registration is Wednesday, January 24th, Noon. NO EXCEPTIONS.
For more details and information, contact Erik Smith: eas56@cornell.edu. For registration questions, contact cnydlfc@cornell.edu or call 315-866-7920.
Event Details
Date
April 3, 2024
Time
10am - 3pm
Location
Otesaga Resort
60 Lake St
Cooperstown, NY 13326
Cost
Registration : $50.00
(addl attendee $50.00 ea.)
Host
Central New York Dairy and Field CropsErik Smith (315-219-7786) & Nicole Tommell (315-867-6001
Dairy Day 2024 (Otesaga)
Milking Forages for All They're Worth
Includes lunch and trade show!
FSA New Borrower Training Credits available.
SCHEDULE:
- 10:00 a.m. Trade Show Opens, Registration, Coffee & Danish
- 11:00 a.m. Ev Thomas: "Producing high quality corn silage." Including hybrid selection, chop height, starch content.
- 11:30 a.m. Rick Grant: "Feeding and feed-bunk management to unlock the energy in your silage." including NDF digestibility and chop length/particle size of crop and TMR; starch affects response to fiber digestibility; feeding management to get the most from your forage.
- 12:15 p.m. Lunch & Trade Show
- 1:30 p.m. Ev Thomas: "Managing alfalfa and grass: HarvXtra, cutting height, harvest schedules." Also a brief discussion of fertilization of grass vs. alfalfa.
- 2:15 p.m. Rick Grant: "Target the right forage to the right cows." High quality vs. right quality forage; benchmarks for NDF and NDF digestibility, sugars; optimal alfalfa-corn silage ratios; legumes vs. grasses.
- 2:45 p.m. Final wrap up questions & discussion.
- 3:00 p.m. Adjourn
Our speakers, Rick Grant & Ev Thomas, will have sort of a Miner Institute reunion. Rick has just retired as President of Miner Institute. Ev retired from Miner several years ago, but now operates Oak Point Agronomics, a crop consulting business. You have most likely read articles they have written in Hoard's Dairyman and Progressive Dairy. They often answer questions in Hoard's "Questions from our Readers" section on dairy and crop production. Both of them bring a lifetime of experience in research and the practical application of making management decisions at Miner Institute. Located in Chazy NY, The William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute's principal function is the economic improvement of agricultural operations through research, education, and demonstration. Miner Institute conducts research programs that apply basic science to contemporary problems confronting the dairy industry. The areas of focus include the crop-animal-environment interface, milk analysis as a herd management tool, cow comfort and behavior. While conducting research, the 625 cow herd boasts a nearly 32,000 lb. herd average with 4.2% butterfat and 3.1% protein!
Dr. Grant received his B.S. degree in Animal Science, with a dairy science emphasis, from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. He received a Ph.D. in Animal Science-Ruminant Nutrition from Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. Subsequently, Dr. Grant was a post-doctoral scientist at the US Dairy-Forage Research Center located at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, working with Dr. Dave Mertens on measuring and modeling rumen forage degradation and passage. From 1990 to 2003, Dr. Grant was a Professor and Extension Dairy Specialist in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Since 2003, he has been President of the William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute, Chazy, NY, a non-profit educational and research institution focused on dairy cattle, forage, equine, and nutrient management.
Ev Thomas has worked as an agronomist in Northern NY state since 1966, first with Cornell University Cooperative Extension, then with the William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute in Chazy, NY, including managing its 680-acre crop operation. He's semi-retired but still works for Miner Institute, including writing and editing its Farm Report newsletter. He's had over 600 articles published in various farm magazines including over 160 in Hoard's Dairyman. Ev's speaking and consulting activities, still on-going, have taken him to Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and throughout North America. In a world of specialists he considers himself one of the last generalists, which he defines as "knowing a little bit about a lot of stuff". His focus is the cow-crop interface, or "speaking crops with a cow accent".
For registration questions, contact cnydlfc@cornell.edu or call 315-866-7920.
Event Details
Date
April 4, 2024
Time
10am - 3pm
Location
CCE Saratoga County
50 W High St
Ballston Spa, NY 12020
Cost
Registration : $50.00
(addl attendee $50.00 ea.)
Host
Central New York Dairy and Field CropsErik Smith (315-219-7786) & Nicole Tommell (315-867-6001
Dairy Day 2024 (CCE Saratoga)
Milking Forages for All They're Worth
Includes lunch and trade show!
FSA New Borrower Training Credits available.
SCHEDULE:
- 10:00 a.m. Trade Show Opens, Registration, Coffee & Danish
- 11:00 a.m. Ev Thomas: "Producing high quality corn silage." Including hybrid selection, chop height, starch content.
- 11:30 a.m. Rick Grant: "Feeding and feed-bunk management to unlock the energy in your silage." including NDF digestibility and chop length/particle size of crop and TMR; starch affects response to fiber digestibility; feeding management to get the most from your forage.
- 12:15 p.m. Lunch & Trade Show
- 1:30 p.m. Ev Thomas: "Managing alfalfa and grass: HarvXtra, cutting height, harvest schedules." Also a brief discussion of fertilization of grass vs. alfalfa.
- 2:15 p.m. Rick Grant: "Target the right forage to the right cows." High quality vs. right quality forage; benchmarks for NDF and NDF digestibility, sugars; optimal alfalfa-corn silage ratios; legumes vs. grasses.
- 2:45 p.m. Final wrap up questions & discussion.
- 3:00 p.m. Adjourn
Our speakers, Rick Grant & Ev Thomas, will have sort of a Miner Institute reunion. Rick has just retired as President of Miner Institute. Ev retired from Miner several years ago, but now operates Oak Point Agronomics, a crop consulting business. You have most likely read articles they have written in Hoard's Dairyman and Progressive Dairy. They often answer questions in Hoard's "Questions from our Readers" section on dairy and crop production. Both of them bring a lifetime of experience in research and the practical application of making management decisions at Miner Institute. Located in Chazy NY, The William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute's principal function is the economic improvement of agricultural operations through research, education, and demonstration. Miner Institute conducts research programs that apply basic science to contemporary problems confronting the dairy industry. The areas of focus include the crop-animal-environment interface, milk analysis as a herd management tool, cow comfort and behavior. While conducting research, the 625 cow herd boasts a nearly 32,000 lb. herd average with 4.2% butterfat and 3.1% protein!
Dr. Grant received his B.S. degree in Animal Science, with a dairy science emphasis, from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. He received a Ph.D. in Animal Science-Ruminant Nutrition from Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN. Subsequently, Dr. Grant was a post-doctoral scientist at the US Dairy-Forage Research Center located at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, working with Dr. Dave Mertens on measuring and modeling rumen forage degradation and passage. From 1990 to 2003, Dr. Grant was a Professor and Extension Dairy Specialist in the Department of Animal Science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Since 2003, he has been President of the William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute, Chazy, NY, a non-profit educational and research institution focused on dairy cattle, forage, equine, and nutrient management.
Ev Thomas has worked as an agronomist in Northern NY state since 1966, first with Cornell University Cooperative Extension, then with the William H. Miner Agricultural Research Institute in Chazy, NY, including managing its 680-acre crop operation. He's semi-retired but still works for Miner Institute, including writing and editing its Farm Report newsletter. He's had over 600 articles published in various farm magazines including over 160 in Hoard's Dairyman. Ev's speaking and consulting activities, still on-going, have taken him to Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and throughout North America. In a world of specialists he considers himself one of the last generalists, which he defines as "knowing a little bit about a lot of stuff". His focus is the cow-crop interface, or "speaking crops with a cow accent".
For registration questions, contact cnydlfc@cornell.edu or call 315-866-7920.
Upcoming Events
Open Forum to Discuss Newly Approved DOL Trade, "Butcher"
October 2, 2025 : Open Forum to Discuss Newly Approved DOL Trade, "Butcher"
Partners from New York State Dept. of Labor, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Southern Tier West, and Workforce Development will be in the space to provide an overview of the new program, discuss the roles of hosts and apprentices, review the benefits of hosting an apprentice, and setting the vision for building a corps of highly skilled, modern trained Butchers and validating this career as a skilled trade with respectful earning potential.
Silvopasture on a Shoestring
October 7, 2025
Franklinville, NY
Join Joshua Greene, Director of Education at Trees For Graziers, Jonathan Bates, Statewide Agroforestry Educator, and Lynn Bliven, owner of Wild Geese Farm for a full day training event that will include classroom and hands-on sessions. The focus will be on DIY silvopasture projects on small grazing farms. We will address the practical considerations of tree establishment, protection, and maintenance while learning how silvopasture can help address your farm's resource concerns and enhance livestock grazing.
Optimizing the Economic Return of Pasture-Raised Slow-Growth and Conventional Broilers - Webinar
October 15, 2025 : Optimizing the Economic Return of Pasture-Raised Slow-Growth and Conventional Broilers - Webinar
Over the past three years, Cornell Cooperative Extension has worked with nearly 40 small farmers across NYS to gather information on the true costs of raising broilers (meat chickens) on pasture. This presentation is a summary of the findings of this research project.
Announcements
No announcements at this time.