2025 Winter NYCO Meetings
Combined dairy and field crop meetings hosted by New York Certified Organic (NYCO).
Event Details
Date
January 14, 2025
March 11, 2025
Time
10 AM - 2 PM
Location
Jordan Hall, Cornell Agritech Geneva campus
630 W North Street
Geneva, NY 14456
Host
New York Certified Organic
Bryan Brown
email Bryan Brown
2025 Winter NYCO Meetings
Jordan Hall @ Cornell Agritech Geneva campus
Tuesday, January 14th
10 - 2pm, potluck lunch
Topic: Organic Grain and Dairy Market Outlook; Alternative Marketing Approaches
10am - Welcome and coffee
10:15am - Organic grain market update - Heath Dewey, USDA
10:30am - Organic dairy market update - Dan Mezzoprete, Wegmans
10:45am - Experiences with new or alternative markets
- Chris Johnson, Tuscarora Grain Company (Bloomsburg, PA)
- Direct market dairy - in communication with several speakers
Noon - Potluck lunch
1:00pm - Guided breakout group discussions based on the morning topics as well as agronomic challenges and any new topics of interest.
2:00pm - Adjourn
Tuesday, March 11th
10 - 2 pm, potluck lunch
Topic: Alternatives for Organic Fertility Management
10am - Welcome and coffee
10:15am - Vipan Kumar, Cornell - harvest weed seed destruction
10:45am - Lightning talks: experiences with alternative fertility sources
- Jean Bonhotal, Cornell Waste Management - On-farm composting
- Adam Murray, PRO Dairy - Integrating animals in a grain rotation
- Thomas Bjorkman, Cornell - Selecting the most suitable cover crops for fertility
- Emily Reiss, CCA - How to compare fertility sources, including off-farm manure
Noon - Potluck lunch
1:00pm - Guided breakout group discussions based on the morning topics as well as agronomic challenges and any new topics of interest.
2:00pm - Adjourn
As always, meetings will have lots of time for open discussion. We will not be having separate dairy and grain meetings this year.
There is no registration required for this year's event, but to receive updates on possible weather-related changes, contact Bryan Brown at bjb342@cornell.edu or leave a message at 315-787-2432.
Participants are encouraged to bring a dish to pass for lunch.
Field Crops
Dairy
Business
Livestock
Grains
Upcoming Events
Driving Efficiency in Dairy & Exploring the Irish Experience
September 29, 2025
Rock Stream, NY
This workshop series will feature in-depth presentation and discussion led by Dr. Padraig French who is the Head of Livestock Systems and the Dairy Enterprise Leader at Teagasc (the Irish version of USDA). Dr. French will focus on the critical success factors for Irish dairy, which include pasture utilization, labor efficiency and managing for seasonal calving. The discussion will focus on ways that U.S. dairy farmers can use some of the Irish dairy techniques to become more profitable with grass farming.
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.
Announcements
No announcements at this time.